"Johnny Betts is a rude 'abnoxious' jerk who needs to be 'punced' in the face."- A grammatically-challenged non-fan  
Movie Review - Welcome to Mooseport  

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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

PLOT

Welcome to Mooseport 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.

JOHNNY'S TAKE

Johnny Betts "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.

Best Manicure "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.

MAMA'S APPROVAL

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?

TRAILER COMPARISON

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.

THE GIST

Raymond "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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