Madeline Carroll Tagged Articles at Cinematical

It must be a horrible, wonderful thing to be a movie star in this modern age -- rewarded and yet tightly caged by the public's perception of you. Stay within the expectations of the ticket-buying public, and you're likely (or, more accurately, more likely) to not fall off the public's radar; at the same time, that gilded cage must, at some point, feel more and more like a prison. I mention this in talking about Swing Vote because Kevin Costner manages a somewhat nifty trick in his performance as Bud Johnston, a New Mexico ne'er-do-well who, thanks to a close-fought election and a voting machine error, gets to pick the next president. Oh, sure, we all do that on voting day -- but, due to a electoral college tie and a tie in New Mexico, it turns out Bud's vote will be the deciding one. For, well, everyone. Before this is established by Jason Richman and Joshua Michael Stern's screenplay, though, we get a sense of Bud -- and, at first, Bud seems like another in a long line of Kevin Costner likable rascals from Bull Durham's Crash Davis to Tin Cup's Roy MacAvoy. But Bud is something more interesting -- a man whose charm can't quite cover up the holes in his soul. Bud's a drunkard. Bud's lazy. And if it weren't for his daughter Molly (Madeline Carroll), Bud would be even more adrift and frayed. Early, Bud tells his civic-minded daughter that " ... voting doesn't count for a goddamn thing." Bud's the kind of guy who's wrong a lot -- and he knows it -- but, thanks to the gentle contortions of Swing Vote's plot, never more so than now.

Talk about a wacky supporting cast, Variety has just announced the names of folks who have just signed on to star opposite Kevin Costner in Swing Vote -- and the list is about as diverse as they come. Dennis Hopper, Nathan Lane, Kelsey Grammer, Stanley Tucci, George Lopez and newbie Madeline Carroll will join Costner in a comedy that revolves around a working-class single dad who becomes the most important man on the planet when the entire presidential election comes down to his vote. I'm not sure how on earth that would ever happen (is he voting after all the votes are counted?), but I'm sure writers Joshua Michael Stern and Jason Richman found a way to make it somewhat believable. Perhaps they can work some of that magic and also make Kevin Costner a bankable star again? Or is that asking a bit too much?

For their part, Hopper and Grammer will play the Democratic and Republican candidates respectively, with Lane and Tucci as their campaign managers. Lopez will show up as a local TV station manager for the town that gets caught up in all the hoopla. Dennis Hopper for President? I can certainly dig it. The film, which will be directed by Joshua Michael Stern, begins shooting in Albuquerque, New Mexico on July 23. I'm curious to see how they spin this one -- will Grammer play villain; the guy who will do just about anything to win Costner's vote? Or will they decide not to choose sides, and simply play up to the difficult decision one small town guy eventually has to make? Costner financed the film himself through his Treehouse Films, and we'll all get to see who the next big-screen President will be when the film hits theaters next year (just in time for our next real presidential election).