Jon Stewart moved the needle on political discussion with his Comedy Central show The Daily Show immensely during his January 11, 1999, until August 6, 2015 run. By the time he left, Stewart had ushered in the political news entertainment stalwart to a point where it was the voice of an entire generation politically. The show has done well with host Trevor Noah, and Stewart has been championing the cause of 9/11 first responders in their battle with Capitol Hill for benefits they deserve. Since that bill finally passed and became law, Stewart put pen to paper and wrote a script called Irresistible, and it appears that the societal commentator still has a lot to say.
Sadly, it’s just not laid out in the Steve Carell-Rose Byrne starring political satire that finds a pair of DC political operatives converging on a small midwestern town to ensure the right person is elected mayor. Chris Cooper (a stellar, Oscar-winning character actor) plays Colonel Jack Hastings, a man that Carell’s Gary Zimmer feels could be the future of the Democratic Party. Zimmer last worked with Hilary Clinton on her White House run and after feeling stung by the election of 2016, this is the first time he’s felt inspired to get behind a candidate. The thing is, does the Colonel even want to run?
When word leaks that Zimmer is in Wisconsin for this mayoral race, the GOP sends in its top operative, Faith Brewster (Byrne), to the small town as if the fate of the country hangs in the balance. The set-up is all there for a wide-spanning commentary on politics in America, what with Super-PACs, image consultants and every other facet that adds zeroes to the cost of running any campaign in today’s political landscape.
Yet, Stewart muddles his message through a few stereotypical tropes that are surprisingly low-hanging fruit for such an astute observer of the human political entity. For those seeking a Bob Roberts or Nashville type of Hollywood goes to Washington experience, Irresistible is not it.
Part of the disconnect, I’ll admit, for me comes from expectation-hyping marketing that had my heart racing in anticipation. After witnessing the Irresistible trailer, this writer got all sorts of excited for Stewart’s piercing comedic commentary to be applied to the cinematic. The film that was teased, is not what the writer-director delivered. His film is not a bad one, or even a disappointing one—it’s just a different animal altogether. There is a twist that, given what was teased in the teaser, felt like a cop-out. Upon further reflection, that was exactly what Stewart was going for the entire time. That’s fine, but still, there can be a disheartening hangover when looking over the seriousness of the time we live in and how much of it stemmed from a failure of leadership out of the White House. One could argue that countless lives have been lost due to that fact and for one of our great political satirists to take a safer route to a presidential election year film, it seems like the wrong time to play both sides for a film that takes a third route to political debate resolution.
With some time to think about what Irresistible is versus what it was thought to be, Stewart’s film is charming and certainly timely. The Daily Show reunion of Stewart and Carell was everything I thought it would be in terms of the command of their message. It also had a twist that I absolutely did not see coming. It was such a twist that, initially, it dampened my enthusiasm for the film. Upon further review, Stewart sought to go another route. Irresistible is not a scathing indictment via envelope-pushing comedy showcasing the lengths to which certain political parties will go to stay in power, via voter suppression, misinformation, and other elements that sour a swath of the public’s appetite for getting involved. That being said, it’s easy to see why such a stellar cast sought to be a part of the writer-directors’ ensemble. The top three are top-notch, Carell, Byrne, and Cooper. The supporting ensemble includes Mackenzie Davis as the Colonel’s daughter, Will Sasso (The Three Stooges) portrays one of the first locals that Zimmer meets, Topher Grace (BlacKkKlansman) is a tech-savvy consultant who works with Zimmer and Brent Sexton (Deadwood: The Movie) is every bit the small town incumbent mayor.
Even if Irresistible isn’t the searing political satire that we need—or even has as many laughs as one would expect from that filmmaker and that cast—Stewart’s film still has its merits. It’s great to see Carell return to comedy on film and he and Byrne do give off a lot of sparks. Perhaps in such a contentious time, the filmmaker sought to embrace a different message rather than alienate a segment of the movie enjoying public. Folks expecting a Daily Show-like mirror to the political jungle we currently are living through, might want to look elsewhere.
Grade: B-