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Movie Review - Welcome to Mooseport
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Donald Petrie |
| Starring: |
Ray Romano, Gene Hackman, Maura Tierney, Marcia Gay Harden, Rip Torn, and
Fred Savage (Go Kevin Arnold!) |
| Rated: |
PG-13 (some profanity and old guy nudity) |
| Length: |
111 minutes |
| Genre: |
Comedy |
| Website: |
Welcome to Mooseport |
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PLOT
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The most popular president in history (Gene Hackman) retires to the small New England town of Mooseport.
After the city mayor dies, the city council convinces Hackman to run for the position. However, unbeknownst
to the city council, a local handyman (Ray Romano) has already entered his name in the race. Political hijinks
and sitcom-level jokes ensue.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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"Welcome to Mooseport" stars Ray Romano acting like, get this, Ray Romano. Over half of you should now know
whether or not you want to see the movie. If you absolutely love Ray Romano, then you'll probably enjoy the
movie. If you hate the guy, then don't bother.
Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the guy, but he can be OK at times. And that's precisely what this movie was.
It wasn't great, it wasn't awful, it wasn't memorable, but it was OK. Not surprisingly, Gene Hackman was the
best thing about the movie. I also liked Maura Tierney, but I didn't really buy into the relationship between
her and Romano. They just didn't really go together. The funniest moment in the movie was when Hackman tried to
kiss Tierney at the end of the date but got shot down. The play-by-play on the news and the "A little rusty, Mr.
President?" comments from the reporters elicited the biggest laughs of the night from me. Other than that, the
movie was peppered with good-natured chuckles but no real rolling-down-the-aisle-while-holding-your-side
guffaws.
"Welcome to Mooseport" is a "cutesy" movie that will play most favorably to an older crowd, as evidenced by the
positive reaction of the geriatrics in attendance at the screening. The teenagers will be happier with
"50 First Dates."
I read a recent interview with Ray Romano in which he claimed the success of this movie will determine how long
he'll stick with his TV Series. He said if "Welcome to Mooseport" makes over $100 million then he's gone.
Welcome to TV Land, Ray. I hope you're comfortable because you'll be staying a while.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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This is pretty harmless stuff for the most part. There's not much profanity, but I would like to address one
issue: *ahem* PLEASE STOP SHOWING US OUT-OF-SHAPE OLD GUYS RUNNING AROUND NUDE! Sheesh, that's two movies in a
row that's contained this. No frontal nudity this time, but still. Is this a new trend that I'm not aware of?
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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This is yet another trailer that left me thinking, "We'll see." No big differences between the trailer
and the movie, but I was kind of hoping that the movie would exceed expectations. I'd say I got about what I
expected from watching the trailer.
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THE GIST
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"Welcome to Mooseport" is moderately enjoyable, but it just feels like a made-for-TV movie. And that's
probably what it would've been without Gene Hackman's appearance. If you love Ray Romano and cute movies with
all of your little heart, then go enjoy the movie. Otherwise, I can't recommend spending money to see this at
the theater. It'll be on TV soon enough, and you can give it a look then.
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