When someone asks me to name the best film directed by Ivan Reitman, I immediately respond with 1993’s political comedy Dave.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Aug 4, 2023

Pulls off the rare feat of being rooted in politics without displaying any partisanship. Sophisticated but relatable and smart, it is a comedy with endless charm and an ability to impart a common sense message without standing on a soap box doing so.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Mar 6, 2022

"Dave" is the very model of a modern Capraesque comedy, being the story of a little guy who triumphs, through pluck and luck, over a corrupt system.

| Oct 26, 2020

It's a high-concept premise that's employed to watchable yet erratic effect by Ivan Reitman...

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 16, 2019

Layering this sweet comedic story with some sharp, editorial barbs, screenwriter Gary Ross has fashioned an engaging, brainy comedy.

| May 8, 2018

It's the spritely comic timing of the fine Hollywood ensemble that keeps Dave percolating. This affable, well-built comedy is Reitman's best since Ghostbusters.

| Feb 19, 2018

Paying an homage to the prior work of the great Frank Capra, Dave offers a fresh contemporary take on a classic trope.

| Feb 19, 2018

It's opportunistic, superficial, and great fun.

| Dec 7, 2017

A genial, expertly played political comedy proves that the spirit of Mr. Smith still lives.

| Aug 2, 2013

It's impossible to say whether Dave will play as wonderfully over the decades as it does right now, but this smooth-as-silk comedy could not be more timely, or connect more hopefully with our current national consciousness.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Aug 2, 2013

[A] delightful, gentle satire on the Washington political scene.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 2, 2013

While it's sloppy and draggy in parts, Kevin Kline, in the title role, delivers an ingratiating comedic performance.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 2, 2013

Dave isn't too careful about filling plot holes. It does a pretty fair job, however, of making jokes at the expense of the D.C. political scene.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 2, 2013

As Kline begins to take his presidential duties seriously, the comedy seeps out, a listless civic-mindedness drifts in like fog off the Potomac.

| Aug 2, 2013

Despite the familiar echoes, the film works more often than it should. Without the charming Kevin Kline in two roles, plot problems would yawn like sinkholes.

| Aug 2, 2013

Kline is so polished and resourceful that he can glide his way through even the creakiest bits and make them seem fresh.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 2, 2013

Though replete with amusing situations and clever lines, its strongest suit is the delicately pitched comic performances of its actors, most especially star Kevin Kline.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Aug 2, 2013

After the promisingly nasty beginning, the filmmakers settle into a sort of campaign mode, lulling and flattering the audience with a fairy-tale vision of the common man's victory over the Washington establishment.

| Aug 2, 2013

Despite its predictability this is one of director Reitman's best films, a gentle satire which provides Kline with one of his most likeable characters.

| Aug 2, 2013

Kline gives a tremendously likable performance as the ersatz president, and Sigourney Weaver brings charm and elegance to the role of First Lady who's as ignorant of the switcheroo as the rest of the country.

| Aug 2, 2013