''Irresistible'' is a 2020 American

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

written and directed by

Jon Stewart Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted ''The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts ''Th ...

. It stars

Steve Carell Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He played Michael Scott (The Office), Michael Scott in ''The Office (American TV series), The Office'' (2005–2011; 2013), NBC’s adaptation of the The Office (B ...

in the lead role,

Chris Cooper Christopher Walton Cooper (born July 9, 1951) is an American actor. He has appeared in several major Hollywood films, including '' American Beauty'' (1999), ''October Sky'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), '' Seabiscuit'' (2003), '' Ca ...

Mackenzie Davis Mackenzie Rio Davis (born April 1, 1987) is a Canadian actress, producer, and model. She made her feature film debut in '' Smashed'' (2012). In 2013, she appeared in ''Breathe In'' and '' The F Word'' (for which she was nominated for the Canadia ...

Topher Grace Christopher John Grace ( ; born July 12, 1978) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Eric Forman in the Fox sitcom ''That '70s Show'', Eddie Brock / Venom in Sam Raimi's film ''Spider-Man 3'', Pete Monash in '' Win a Date with Tad H ...

Natasha Lyonne Natasha Bianca Lyonne Braunstein ( ; born April 4, 1979) is an American actress, director, writer, and producer. She is known for playing Nicky Nichols on the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019), for which she r ...

, and

Rose Byrne Mary Rose Byrne (born 24 July 1979) is an Australian actress. She made her screen debut in the film ''Dallas Doll'' (1994), and continued to act in Australian film and television throughout the 1990s. She obtained her first leading film role i ...

. The film follows a Democratic strategist who tries to help a candidate win a local election in a small

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

town. Originally set for a theatrical release in May 2020, the film was delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the Uni ...

, and then released on Premium VOD and selected theaters on June 26, 2020, by

Focus Features Focus Features LLC is an American film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as part of Universal Pictures, a division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and foreign films in th ...

. It received mixed reviews from critics, who called it "a soft political satire".

Plot

Plunged into despair by the results of the 2016 presidential election, veteran

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

campaign consultant Gary Zimmer is shown a viral video of retired Marine Col. Jack Hastings giving a speech in support of the illegal immigrant population of his hometown of Deerlaken,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. Calculating that getting Hastings elected as a Democrat in Deerlaken's upcoming mayoral election will help him convince the American people in the heartland to vote Democrat in the next presidential election, Zimmer travels to Wisconsin to persuade Hastings to run. Arriving in Deerlaken, Gary experiences the vast cultural divide between his home of

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and the townspeople's more rural mannerisms and political beliefs. Gary soon meets Hastings and his daughter Diana and pitches his idea. Hastings initially declines, considering himself more of a conservative and having no real interest in politics, but later relents and agrees to run under the condition that Gary serve as his campaign manager. Hastings recruits his friends and neighbors as volunteers for the campaign. However, setbacks soon arise such as limited

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...

xenophobia Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...

, social conservatism, and the fact that the incumbent mayor, Braun, is being funded by the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in fu ...

. The RNC also sends Faith Brewster, Gary's nemesis, to counter Gary. As the race heats up, Gary takes Jack to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

so they can recruit fundraisers for the campaign to match Faith's money and resources. Jack gives a powerful speech to the possible donors about how he needs their help for his small town, which inspires Gary. Their donations allow Gary to upgrade their campaigning methods. Soon the election polls show the two candidates neck-and-neck, although the Hastings campaign takes a dive when one of Gary's team members advertises a pro-

contraceptive Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

platform to a group of single women who turn out to be nuns. When Gary starts berating his teammates, Diana convinces him to apologize and that if he is going to run her father's campaign, he needs to be nice. When it starts to look like Faith and Braun are going to win, Gary tries to convince Jack and Diana to play dirty and start exploiting Braun's skeletons. Diana is horrified that Gary would play dirty and secretly goes to Braun for advice. The two decide to secretly reveal a bigger scandal about Braun so Gary will not go after Braun's brother, which was his original plan. The scandal, however, proves to be false. On Election Day, almost no one votes (only two votes are cast, with one vote going to each candidate, resulting in a tie), which confuses both Gary and Faith. It quickly becomes clear that the election was actually a setup. Diana reveals she masterminded the entire scheme, filming the video of her father's immigration speech (which was carefully scripted) so that the Democrats and Republicans would pour thousands of dollars into the election; the town has been quietly siphoning the money to get through its financial troubles due to the recent closure of a nearby military base. Gary is shocked that Diana would play him and Diana then counters by explaining the town had no choice but to set him up because D.C. politicians play small towns like theirs all the time while doing nothing to help when times are tough. When Gary reveals that he has feelings for Diana, she rejects him, pointing to their age difference. Later, Diana becomes the mayor of Deerlaken after a special election. The film ends with three scenes leading into each other, each with its own set of cast credits: Gary and Diana embrace at a construction site for a new public building; until Gary is snapped out of that thought to reveal Gary and Ann, the pastry chef, in bed, discussing plans for a new bakery; until Gary finally snaps out of that to show Gary and Faith kiss and discuss their investment portfolio in their kitchen. A

post-credits scene A post-credits scene (commonly referred to as a stinger or credit cookie) or mid-credits scene is a short clip that appears after all or some of the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV series, or video g ...

shows a short interview with

Trevor Potter Trevor Potter (born October 24, 1955) is a lawyer, former commissioner and chairman of the United States Federal Election Commission. He is the Founder and President of the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit organization which works in the areas ...

, an official of the

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency of the United States whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in United States federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Cam ...

, discussing the shortcomings of oversight over elections fund-raising. The screen shows the title IRRESISTIBLE fading into the word RESIST.

Cast

as Gary Zimmer *

as Faith Brewster *

as Marine Colonel Jack Hastings *

as Diana Hastings *

as Kurt Farlander *

as Tina De Tessant *

Will Sasso Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

as Nick Farlander * C.J. Wilson as Lowell * Brent Sexton as Mayor Braun *

Alan Aisenberg Alan Aisenberg (born March 18, 1993) is an American actor and television producer. He is best known for his role as Baxter Bayley on the Netflix original series ''Orange Is the New Black''. Life and career Aisenberg was raised in Englewood Cli ...

as Evan *

Debra Messing Debra Lynn Messing (born August 15, 1968) is an American actress. After graduating from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Messing received short-lived roles on television series such as '' Ned and Stacey'' on Fox (1995–1997) and ...

as Babs Garnett * Christian Adam as Michael * Will McLaughlin as Captain Ortiz * Jason Vendryes as YAWM * William Smith as Hofbrau Bar Fly. This was Smith's final film before his death in 2021. *

Candy Crowley Candy Alt Crowley (born December 26, 1948) is an American news anchor who was employed as CNN's chief political correspondent, specializing in American national and state elections. She was based in CNN's Washington, D.C. bureau and was the anc ...

as Herself *

as Himself *

Joe Scarborough Charles Joseph Scarborough (; born April 9, 1963) is an American television host, attorney, political commentator, and former politician who is the co-host of '' Morning Joe'' on MSNBC with his wife Mika Brzezinski. He previously hosted ''Scarbo ...

as Himself *

Mika Brzezinski Mika Emilie Leonia Brzezinski Scarborough (; pl, Brzezińska; born May 2, 1967) is an American talk show host, liberal political commentator, and author who currently co-hosts MSNBC's weekday morning broadcast show ''Morning Joe''. She was forme ...

as Herself *

William Tokarsky William Tokarsky is an American character actor known for his recurring role as Len on ''Welcome to Flatch''. He is also known for playing the Demon William on the Adult Swim series ''Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell'', and the Killer in the cult ...

as Campaign worker

Production

It was announced in October 2018 that

was planning his next directorial effort, with

in talks to star, contingent on scheduling. In March 2019,

entered negotiations to join the film. That same month,

joined the cast of the film, with

acquiring distribution rights. In April 2019,

, and

joined the cast of the film.

, CJ Wilson,

, and

joined in May. In June 2019, Brent Sexton joined the cast of the film. Production began in April 2019 In

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia. Filming took place mostly in Rockmart, Georgia.

Release

The film was released digitally in the United States through Premium VOD, as well as in selected theaters on June 26, 2020. It was originally scheduled for a wide theatrical release on May 29, 2020, but due to movie theater closures that started in mid-March because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

restrictions, it was cancelled. The film made an estimated $100,000 from 238 theaters in its domestic opening weekend. It was released in France on July 1, 2020, where it grossed $52,673 from 117 theaters.

Reception

VOD sales

In its debut weekend, ''Irresistible'' was the top-rented film on the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

and fourth on

FandangoNow Vudu is an American digital video store and streaming service owned by Fandango Media, a joint-venture between NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery. The company offers transactional video on demand rentals and digital purchases of films ...

(although since the service reports totals by the week it was likely first over the three-day frame). In its second weekend the film fell to fourth iTunes and fifth on FandangoNow, but ranked first on

Spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...

's weekly chart, then placed sixth on Fandango and 10th on Spectrum the week after that. In October 2020, ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' said the film was the eighth-most popular PVOD title amid the

Critical response

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critics consensus reads, "A soft political satire that proves frustratingly less than the sum of its talented parts, ''Irresistible'' is anything but." At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 47 out of 100, based on 49 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Owen Gleiberman Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for ''Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for ''Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 2014. ...

of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' said that "''Irresistible'' scores points yet feels behind the curve. You wish it were a bold satirical bulletin, or maybe just Stewart's pricelessly amusing version of a

Christopher Guest Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest (born February 5, 1948) is an American-British screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor, and comedian. Guest is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed, and starred in ...

movie. Instead, the film is a lot like a politician: It makes a big show of leading the viewer, but without rocking the boat." David Ehrlich of

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

gave the film a "C" and, although praising Byrne's performance, wrote: "A Capra-esque moral comedy that unfolds with all the subtlety of sky writing and none of the same panache, ''Irresistible'' is a perverse bid for clarity that feels like it was left behind like a relic from some long-distant past." The ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

''s G. Allen Johnson called it "perhaps the most lamebrain, ham-fisted and insulting movie of the year" and that the film is "unfunny on top of taking wide swings, which miss, at both rural Midwesterners and East Coast elites".Johnson, G. Allen
Review: ‘Irresistible,’ Jon Stewart’s political comedy, is one of the most insulting movies of the year
''

'', June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020.

Mark Kermode Mark James Patrick Kermode (, ; ; born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician, radio presenter, television presenter and podcaster. He is the chief film critic for ''The Observer'', contributes to the magazine ''Sight & Sound'', prese ...

gave a fairly positive review of the film in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', comparing it to ''

Wag the Dog ''Wag the Dog'' is a 1997 American political satire black comedy film produced and directed by Barry Levinson and starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro. The film centers on a spin doctor and a Hollywood producer who fabricate a war in Al ...

'' and '' Local Hero'', saying: "there's something reassuringly nostalgic about ''Irresistible''... Stewart is back on home ground, opening with a TV show-style segment about the falsehoods of the 'spin room' ('I look forward to lying to you in the future') that we now take for granted."Kermode, Mar
Irresistible review – subtle satire from Jon Stewart
''

'', June 28, 2020. Retrieved July 8, 2020.

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 9076562 2020 films 2020 comedy films 2020s English-language films 2020s political comedy films American political comedy films Films about elections Films directed by Jon Stewart Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films set in Washington, D.C. Films set in Wisconsin Films shot in Atlanta Focus Features films Plan B Entertainment films 2020s American films

Plot

Cast

Production

Release

Reception

VOD sales

Critical response

See also

References

External links