Welcome to a flat, slow comedy

TRICIA BEHLE

In “Welcome to Mooseport,” former U.S. President Monroe “Eagle” Cole

(Gene Hackman) has decided to retire to his vacation home in

Mooseport, Maine.

Of course, he didn’t have much of a choice, since his ex-wife

Charlotte (Christine Baranski) got their Baltimore estate in the

divorce settlement. In a rather absurd plot twist, Cole agrees to run

for mayor of the small town of Mooseport, since that will help him

protect his house from Charlotte’s claims on it.

Cole thought he would be running unopposed, but it turns out the

owner of the local hardware store, Handy Harrison (Ray Romano), also

filed to run for mayor. At first, Harrison agrees to withdraw from

the mayoral race, but reenters it after Cole asks Harrison’s

girlfriend Sally (Maura Tierney) out on a date. Events get

increasingly complicated as the election campaign goes on.

The idea of a U.S. president versus a plumber in a small town

mayoral race could be the setup for a lot of great humor and

commentary on the American election process, but that never happens.

The script squanders many opportunities, and settles for silliness

rather than reaching for cleverness.

The whole film is flat and slow. There are a few laughs here and

there, but not enough. It’s sort of sad that “Mooseport” doesn’t work

better. There are so many talented actors in this film (Hackman,

Baranski, Tierney, Marcia Gay Harden and Rip Torn) doing their best,

but even they can’t do much to rescue the weak script. It’s a waste

of a great cast.

“Welcome to Mooseport” isn’t a bad film; it’s just not a

particularly good film. It has some cute moments and is mildly

amusing, but doesn’t have as many laughs as you would expect from a

comedy.

* TRICIA BEHLE lives in Newport Beach and works as a software

validator.