Swing State (2017) User Reviews

Charlie Weaver

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 15 February 2017]

Back as a lad I remember on the old Tonight Show that Jack Paar hosted he used to have Cliff Arquette but as the character he created as Charley Weaver from Mount Idy. Fictional name, fictional town, but you never saw Arquette out of character. His little small town homilies were filled with wit if you read between the lines he had some devastating humor. There's a bunch of Arquettes acting today and they are his descendants.

Charlie was a lot funnier than this film Swing State who has quirky disc jockey Alex Beh create this fictitious radio guest who is supposed to be a satire on Rush Limbaugh types. The idea was great, but the execution falls flat as the Trump electorate feels they've found a John the Baptist type crying in their wilderness. Also a whole lot like Meet John Doe where Barbara Stanwyck and James Gleason create a fictional John Doe and then have to find someone to give him flesh and bones.

Frank Capra's film was a whole lot more serious than Swing State, still it had its funny moments.

Beh had a good idea, but it just doesn't gel.

Just bad

[bomay · 1/10 · 2 November 2016]

We rented this movie and others for a transcontinental flight. As it goes with long flights we were desperate for entertainment of any sort. We watched one great movie, one average movie and then this... and this was bad. It was so bad my gf suggested we turn it off. We tried for a few minutes to give it a fair go but this movie is unwatchable.

The writing is not funny. There is no way to say this better. It's kind of dumb college humor that maybe your bonehead 20 year old brother would think was funny if very drunk. For someone with half a brain this movie will not be funny. The story was predictable. We knew what was going to happen almost exactly because it was such a lame script. The acting was very bad. Alex Beh overplayed this one. In fairness to Beh the part was crafted poorly giving him not much to work with. The other actors were...forgettable. The soundtrack was just annoying.

In summary, don't even watch this if you're desperate.

unoriginal and not comedic

[stgood-14126 · 1/10 · 6 November 2016]

My buddies and I read a review of this in our college newspaper. We are in our late 20s and in grad school and 3 out of 4 of us thought this movie was one of the worst we have seen and 1 person just thought it was eh. We study political science and film and find this movie to have no merit as a political piece or as a work of art. The humor is corny and played, the story hackneyed and the acting canned. The director really relished in instructing his cast to be over the top and it did not work. Alex Beh was particularly terrible but all of the acting was disappointing. There was something really off about the sound and the music and it was a distraction. I can't say I am disappointed in the movie but I am definitely disappointed in my college newspaper for encouraging me to rent this film. Usually movies that are direct VOD are direct VOD for a reason.

Top fifty worst

[slaw-89071 · 1/10 · 12 December 2016]

I rented this movie after seeing an interview with the writer/director Jonathan Sheldon. There were two red flags during the interview and I should have heeded the warnings. The first is that Sheldon is painfully inarticulate. He repeatedly referred to things as "Molotov Cocktail-like". I did not hold this against him until I saw the movie and realized that inarticulate did in fact translate to an unintelligent and terribly crafted script. Secondly, in the interview, Sheldon had the audacity to compare his film to Tootsie. I'm an old guy, so I got the reference, but for the younger crowd, Tootsie is probably considered one of the top fifty comedies of all time. For Sheldon to compare his ridiculous, poorly acted, poorly directed film to one of the best movies of all time is insulting to cinephiles, writers, directors, actors and those who are intelligent. Swing State might make a top fifty list, but it is more likely the top fifty worst political comedies of all time. I urge you not to spend money renting this movie. It is insulting in every regard.

Don't see it

[movieking44375 · 21 September 2016]

This was the worst film I have ever seen. I saw it at a terrible LA film festival so should have known. The acting was awful; the writing was worse. I don't know whose idea it was to cast a bunch of washed up celebrities in a movie and think that would either make it good (it didn't) or make it worth seeing (it wasn't). The plot was not funny, so whatever stupid one liners existed fell flat. It was a really dumb film and it's sad that the industry supports real BS like this film and not quality stuff. The music was really bad and really distracting and the sound quality was poor. This film has nothing going for it. Posting this review so you save your money.

bad

[angtimm · 1/10 · 6 November 2016]

Rented this because of some of the has been actors. The story is nothing short of ridiculous. It is absurd but not in a funny way in a really childish stupid way. The writer of this film seems simple. The script and the characters have no complexity. I get that it's supposed to be satirical but the writing is just so bad it's a movie with a dumb plot and no humor. It was tough to watch these actors struggle under such poor direction and with such a flimsy script. Attempted to watch this in one sitting but had to punish myself and my boyfriend by drawing out the pain over two sittings. Hope the writer has some other job because writing is not his or her strong suit. And the actors should really retire or do tanning salon commercials or Nutribullet infomercials. No talent in any area of this movie.

See it, it's funny

[artrouble21 · 6/10 · 13 February 2018]

I was sure from all the one star revues this had to be some kind of political disaster movie. I thought 'skip it' but then I hit all the ten out of ten revues and suddenly I was interested. What could have upset all the One Star reviewers? Why this dichotomy? They attacked the actors (?) and almost every aspect of the direction. Yet the 'Tenners' all seemed to have seen a quite different movie and their criticisms seemed a little more nuanced. In fact when I went back and reread the 'Oners' they all seemed to have the same basic nasty tone and could easily have been written by the same person. I watched the preview movie and got enough of a chuckle out of it to commit to viewing the whole deal. After all the last movie that was called "the worst movie ever" is now a "classic" bad movie and the director/auteur is all over the internets. Pretty soon you'll see why the 'Oners' failed to appreciate this film, it's a humorous take on the right-wing radio show and the kind of faint hearted and barely educated version of humanity it espouses. Is it a great movie that cuts the knees from under the right-wing-nut-job agenda? Certainly not. It's a bit clumsy in places is about the worse I can say but it's actually quite well written, mostly, and the actors all put in a good comedic turn. And it's funny. And that it got up the nose of some of it's maga-minded audience is hardly surprising. Alex Beh is a standout in how he manages to change his entire character for his "role" without dieting, prosthetics or a fake accent. I hope he has a great career ahead. Yes the story is kinda dumb but I imagine the underlying conclusion the director wants the audience to take away is how lacking in scruples and morality the right wing talk radio pundits are. And he succeeds by making a funny not perfect movie. See it, the one star revues are way off base but those kind of people are known for poor decision making and seeing this movie was for them just one more bad move.

Poorly made movie

[bobbyparkfilm · 1/10 · 17 February 2017]

I tried very hard to find something good to say about this film, but it's not possible. This film is a satire of sorts, but it is rooted in sexism, unintelligible dialogue and really tired stereotypes. It is possible that some may find this funny,but for a satire this really lacked any sensitivity or insight and instead came across as a movie of ridiculous one-liners. Whomever wrote this seems to have a very rudimentary understanding of human nature. of politics and of relationships because the characters just say and do idiotic things. The acting in this film is beyond bad. Beh is garish and unrelatable and the rest of the cast equally so. This seems to be a shortcoming in the directing, but it is hard to tell. The editing and sound make it feel like a movie my high schooler made. I didn't care for the music, but by the time I noticed how bad it was I had already determined the movie to be a flop. Not worth seeing.

Great work!

[rufflemark · 10/10 · 17 November 2016]

I don't know whats better, the fact that someone decided to finally make a movie about politics that took a shot at both sides or that It happened to be released at a time where we are all surrounded by political debates. This movie was directed well in my opinion, It took a look at both extreme sides of the political scale and came out the other side by creating a structure of humor that I think both sides can resonate with. I saw this movie at a festival and out of all the other movie this one stood out to me and was my favorite. I think people get to caught up in getting offended over the representation of "their political side" and forget to look at the quality of the movie and how its just a fun loving comedy at the end of it.

Bad movie

[afish-49924 · 1/10 · 15 November 2016]

Alex Beh and Taryn Manning really went astray with this one. Alex Beh completely overplayed this role, making him seem like an ignoramus, which is what the director intended, I assume. The directing and writing of this film are seriously deficient. It's quite alarming that this could be deemed a political film when it's not smart enough to be placed in that genre. Aside from the really overdone acting, the writing of the movie is just bad. There's no other way to say it. I read this is the filmmakers first feature length film as a writer and director and I think this should be his last. I rented this movie on VOD and was really blown away by how this film wreaked of the entitled younger generations of this country. I think everyone involved should take a few political science courses, read a few more books and never make a movie again.

Political satire gone wrong

[templeveronica · 1/10 · 18 November 2016]

I saw this at a small film festival. It was a real disappointment as a movie. It is not funny. I think that is the biggest problem. It was written for a viewer who does not read or think about issues deeply. The writing of the movie was so bad that even talented actors could not save this film. The directing was very off too. I think this film was done in a hurry by someone who is not a writer, someone who is not a director and a group of actors who used to be famous and now must be desperate for parts. This disaster of a movie has no other explanation. I probably won't go back to the film festival either since the quality of the films was really bad this year. This was the worst of the bunch.

god awful

[rjb-29662 · 1/10 · 11 November 2016]

The ignorant, small-minded bigot who wrote this movie should know that it is his disgraceful, mocking tone and his peers incessant bashing of the rest of America that helped swing the election, bravo. I have been voting since 1960 and have seen many elections unfold. This kind of pretentious liberal drivel is hateful. I went to DC to protest this week and am quite certain the writer of this shameful film, the director and the actors were doing nothing but whining in their Hollywood mansions. You are the problem. This film is an embarrassment to real liberal Americans. I hope you reconsider your cheap shots and low level humor and make a movie of substance that does not denigrate others. Congratulations on making one of the worst political films that this country has seen.

Trash

[moorebmoore · 1/10 · 18 November 2016]

This movie is an artistic failure, a political joke (not in the good way) and a complete waste of time. The writing is colossally bad. This was not written by a great mind, but definitely by a small mind. The writer has no understanding of politics, at least not a nuanced understanding. This was a movie of stock characters, corny jokes and offensive caricatures. This film has the worst dialogue of any that I have seen and the characters had zero substance. This was supposed to be clever and sharp, but it was moronic and flat. It's really difficult to comprehend that anyone with half a brain could review this movie favorably. The directing was terrible. The actors really fell from grace in being a part of this stupid film and under the direction of someone who had no business directing movies. The editing was really off, as was the sound. In every possible way, this movie fails. #sorrynotsorry

Skip this worthless movie

[andyolivier · 1/10 · 18 November 2016]

Swing State was destined for VOD and it doesn't even deserve that. It's unclear to me how movies like this, really bad movies, get made and seen while really excellent films that are shown in legitimate festivals (i.e. Toronto vs. Catalina) are too obscure to be seen. This movie could not get worse. I watched it with friends from film school and we were all shocked at the quality of the film from the perspective of writing, directing and editing and that the acting could be as bad as it was. Another reviewer mentioned the soundtrack which we all found to be incredibly grating. The characters in this movie had no substance. This was meant to be a film poking fun at the conservatives, but as someone else pointed it out it only made liberals look like clowns. The writing of this movie is not at the level of a feature film. This looked more like a student film written by someone who will never write another film. We all found the directing to be disturbing. Alex Beh was awful, but it seems more a flaw of the director than the actor. This character was written poorly, had stupid lines and was directed to act like an idiot. Bad movie. Really really bad movie.

Awful movie

[mwilsony-38419 · 1/10 · 8 November 2016]

This movie is terrible. It is poorly written and poorly acted. It is one big caricature of conservatives. The fact that there are so many reviewers saying how good and relevant it is, just shows how so many on the left have a complete lack of knowledge and understanding of the other side and what they actually believe. I am a conservative and I am no stranger to being unfairly and inaccurately made fun of by Hollywood and I've never had a problem ignoring it for a good and entertaining show or movie, but this movie is laughable. It isn't believable, it isn't funny, and it makes all conservatives out to be Alex Jones types, aka not a conservative. If you are interested in something of this style, try the show Braindead. It also has caricatures of conservatives, but is actually funny and a pretty good TV show. Don't waste your time with this one.

The worst movie I have ever seen

[oronbird · 1/10 · 15 November 2016]

Swing State is a terribly written film made worse by weak directing, overacting and a soundtrack that made me want to tear the few hairs remaining on my head out. The writer of this film is very clearly not apprised of modern US politics. His simplistic caricatures are insulting the intelligent and well-read audience. My friends who saw this with me agreed that this film is made for a group of unthinking liberals who want their beliefs regurgitated back to them on screen. There is nothing clever or unique about this movie except in its complete worthlessness as a piece of art or a political commentary. The directing was wildly off. We actually felt sorry for the actors in this film because it is a blight to their film catalogs. This won't spark debate of any kind because it is one-dimensional. I wish independent film were better represented.

go see it

[rogermarco · 10/10 · 17 November 2016]

I loved this movie, I thought It gave a great representation of how stupid the political world can be sometimes right to the point, It could not of been any better. I get so sick and tired of people going back and fourth about right wing and left wing, this movie took a great approach with the humor and I just thought it had a really really good story line. The way the director played both sides kept it interesting and fresh. I never really knew too much about any of the cast before watching it but I couldn't say anything bad about any of them, the whole movie seemed to be very well put together. Great job, I give the movie a 10 out of 10, hope to see movie like this!

Shameful unintelligent liberal blindness

[stano-30119 · 1/10 · 22 January 2017]

We watched this on inauguration weekend looking for some relief from the madness and instead were left dumbfounded. The movie Swing State is a very very very bad movie. The writing, including the dialogue and the overall story are among the worst I've ever had the misfortune of experiencing. The writer of this film needs to never make a movie again. The story is ridiculous, stupid, so low level and unintelligent. It is shocking that this crass, ridiculous film that stinks of liberal privilege has any audience at all. It would be great if the writer of this film understood people at all. This movie attempts to satirize the conservative right, but instead is embarrassingly cursory and idiotic in its treatment of American politics. The director of this movie made the terrible writing even worse by making the characters behave like idiots. The acting is terrible! This is a dumb film and the dialogue is so stupid that the actors look just plain stupid fumbling through this silly script. The editing is a disaster. Was this even edited? The soundtrack, well, my ears bled.The faux soulful voice, the childish pop sound and the lyrics were among the worst in a film ever. I hope this film dies soon. It makes liberals look really ignorant and perhaps that is the truth. You have contributed to the alienation of many people in this country by making this stupid movie.

loved it

[wanluiverez · 10/10 · 17 November 2016]

In my opinion people are giving this film too many bad reviews, almost like they never even saw what I watched, I thought it was great. At the end of the day It had great humor and was entertaining all the way through. Even going past the political issues this movie had a good cast and well written script. It has a great perspective on modern day politics and had me thoroughly entertained. It was great to see familiar actors throughout the whole film. Taryn Manning killed this role! I've always enjoyed watching her performances but this one put the icing on the cake for me. Go check this movie out, one of the best independent comedies I've seen this year!

Great

[pencilmike · 10/10 · 17 November 2016]

Swing state was a great film from start to bottom and it is not all the time I get to say that about a movie. I always love going to these independent film festivals and checking out the movies but It was cool to see one that took a comedic approach to all the political issues we have going on right now. But besides the gist of the movie I thought the actors did a great job and they all fit into their role so well and I really enjoyed the way the story proceeded throughout the entire film. The whole project seemed to be a light, comedic heart felt story that came at a wonderful time. I would suggest anyone to go and watch it if they have not already.

Loved This!

[stevencoco-19549 · 10/10 · 17 November 2016]

The film was done well for being an independent flick, well casted and entertaining. I'll just start off by saying the things I enjoyed about the movie. I thought whoever picked the cast did a great job, I liked how the characters developed throughout the whole film. It seemed like everyone fit in their role well and it showed. I also like the setting of the movie, It might just half to do with me being a Washington native ha. All aspects seemed to come together at the end to make it a funny, interesting and different film than most I see now days, majority of those being independent. I think there might of been some points during the film where It exaggerated the right wing a bit, but it kept me laughing and was in good heart, well done!

Check it out!

[prestonhawk · 15 October 2016]

What a great watch. It couldn't of been releases at a better time. I saw it for the first time at an independent film festival a few weeks back in downtown. I thought the cast was great. The film had great humor that kept me laughing most of the time. The plot was entertaining and keeps you engaged during the whole film. I also enjoyed the music as well as the sound production of the movie. It isn't hard to tell that a lot of time and effort went In to making this film possible. From the writing to directing, this film carried a passionate perspective on politics. while adding a fun witty flare and keeping it light. If you have the chance go and check out the film for yourself. It will be worth it!

Never underestimate the ignorance of the American voter.

[i-40438 · 10/10 · 2 November 2016]

If you get a chance, should definitely check this film out. This film has as many metaphor moment as House of Cards but many more funny comedy moments shared with our main actor withe his 'concubines'. Also here is the best time for this movie. I like tone of Swing State by using a small announcer POV, telling nowadays absurd politics time. If you love House of Card, You deserve to have a look! The story is about a liberal Seattle DJ uses his on-air charisma to create a fictitious conservative radio personality whose over-the-top antics turn him into an overnight sensation. Never underestimate the ignorance of the American voter.

Go See It

[devincrater · 10/10 · 17 November 2016]

What a wonderful tale of the true deviance of America's political parties. I was very impressed by the approach the director took in this film to really step out from the norm and create something that was thoroughly entertaining while at the same time questioning both sides of modern politics. But setting political issues aside I just flat out enjoyed watching this movie. The cast was well chosen for each character and I loved the way the script panned out through the whole film. Much props for the director for once again stepping out of the norm and putting together such a great and well written project. I would recommend this film to anyone who has a interest in politics and just straight up like comedy's. Great job to everyone who was a part of this film.

Perfect Timing

[bellio · 18 October 2016]

You should definitely check this film out. It's a great political comedy that couldn't have come out at a better time during election season. The film is full of good writing and witty humor that anyone can relate to. The cast was great with some very talented actors and they all performed very well. The humor flows so well and lets you laugh at the problems we face in the real world today. I was able to catch it at a film festival in downtown L.A. and enjoyed every minute of it. If you get the chance to check it out I highly recommend it, you won't be disappointed. It gives a great perspective on radio broadcast shows and is a great setting for this kind of content. The writing and directing was spot on and really dove into this political turmoil we are in. Also, the soundtrack in the movie is outstanding featuring some great tunes that just help carry the film even further. Check it out!