"Dave" is a film whose plot is somewhat familiar. However, this is not a complaint as the movie makes the most of it and it's one of Kevin Kline's and Sigourney Weaver's best.

Dave is a guy who is offered the job of a lifetime...to fill in for the President of the United States! It seems that President is in a coma and they want Dave to temporarily fill in...and no one will be the wiser. However, there is a problem...Dave is a nice guy and soon finds he's fallen in love with the President's wife...and vice-versa! This is because the President turns out to have been a real creep...and he cheated on his longsuffering wife. What's to become of this unexpected love story?

As I said, this story isn't exactly uncharted territory. In many ways, it's the plot of "The Prisoner of Zenda" updated to modern times. But it's so enjoyable and nice to watch that you probably won't mind.

President Bill Mitchell (Kevin Kline) is a hard man who has a disgruntle relationship with his wife Ellen (Sigourney Weaver). Dave Kovic (Kevin Kline) runs a temp agency who also does impersonations of the president. The secret service hires him as the president's double. When the president falls into a coma while sleeping with his assistant (Laura Linney),his chief of staff Bob Alexander (Frank Langella) devises a scheme to replace the president with Dave in a bigger plan to get the presidency for himself.

Director Ivan Reitman has made a charming little rom-com with the presidency. This was when politics still had some likability, and naivety. I doubt this movie would work quite as easily today. Kevin Kline is that charming nice guy who is also gullible enough. There are hurdles of believability to overcome, but it has that Capra feeling to it. It's a political fantasy that works.

Kevin Kline dominates the screen as a man, hired as a lookalike to the President of the United States, takes the job when the real President is totally incapacitated. The powers that be need someone who can attend meetings, make pronouncements, speak to the nation, but under their total control. The man he is replacing is an insensitive jerk (imagine that) who has alienated people, but who has ruled with a big stick. The problem for the advisers and those in the cabinet is that Dave begins to see the bad things that are being done. Of course, at some point he is going to do something that will begin to cause problems for the people trying to control him. The cool thing about this movie is that things aren't simple. It's not like Groucho Marx has become President. Dave is a sensitive, realistic guy who has to face the consequences of his rebellious stances. See this. It is an underrated gem.