In light of the United States’ assault on Iraq, these are truly uncertain times. What makes matters worse is that politicians are satisfied with supplying the public with superficial banalities, and concealing underlying information. Head of State is by no means a perfect movie, but what it does is brilliant: a comic, entertaining attack on an electoral system where candidates don’t say what’s really on their minds. And for that, I applaud it.
The movie is humorous on a variety of levels; even its premise is amusing in a subtle way. The presidential and vice presidential candidates of an unnamed party, clearly the Democrats, are killed when their planes collide two months before the election. In an effort to attain a replacement candidate, the party finds Mays Gilliam (Chris Rock), an obscure Washington, D.C. alderman who spends his time with minimum-wage workers of the slums.
He functions as their voice, and comes to their aid when cats are stranded in burning buildings, and “double-shootings” occur. Sen. Bill Arnot (James Rebhorn) knows the situation is hopeless-he merely wants to exploit the token black candidate and gain approval from minorities, so points can be gained for the next election.
Since Mays has got nothing he has nothing to lose-so he adopts a genuine, commendable strategy: instead of trying to please everyone, he’ll just speak his mind. Forget the cue cards.
He decides not to adhere to standards of political correctness or superficial graces towards his electors. Mays is impulsively honest and sincere when he addresses the common folk of the U.S. during his campaign, as he delivers a slew of blows on federal wages, crime, education, and drugs. The first time he speaks his mind to the crowd, in his “That Ain’t Right” speech, his dialogue flowed so smoothly that it felt like a stand-up act.
Rock directed and co-wrote the film, and it’s obvious that he was going for a cynical, parody-like interpretation of the American electoral system. While there is a substantial amount of slapstick humor, some of the jokes are really smart.
Mays is supplied with a prostitute named Nikki (Stephanie March) because, according to campaign manager Martin Gellar (Dylan Baker), “We got fed up of getting caught up in sex scandals, so we commissioned our own team of superwhores.” Cut to a shot of amazon women in camouflage bikinis competing in indoor rock climbing as a drill sergeant shouts commands.
Despite his optimistic attitude, Mays barely survives the first few weeks of his campaign, and comes to the realization that he needs a running mate. Continuing in his need to speak his mind, enter Chicago bail bondsman Mitch (Bernie Mac), Mays’ brother. Mitch accepts Mays’ offer to be his running mate.
This is one of the two qualities of the film that doesn’t work. Mitch has the potential to be a trustworthy candidate, but not as a bondsman whose fetish is to hit anyone that crosses his path with as much force as possible, including his brother. His behavior is somewhat comical (the first couple of times), but I didn’t see how necessary it was, and why it was attributed to someone running for vice-president.
Mitch shares the same outlook as Mays; he could have been given a quality more pertinent to his altruistic views. The character should have been redefined, and a scene in which Mays and Mitch duke it out should have been edited out; it only added awkward confusion to the film.
The second weakness is that several of the film’s jokes are recurring in the sense that they are played out to the point of insanity. I don’t mind gags that are repeated, as long as they supply a variable kind of humor. But in Head of State’s case, more often than not a repeated joke was simply a nuisance. The audience’s reaction to a repeated joke was nowhere near as pronounced as it was to the original occurrence.
For instance, the character of Kim (Robin Givens) begins the film as Mays’ fiancée, and then turns into a psychotic stalker who follows him everywhere. Every time she appears Mays follows his directions, calls “security!” and Kim is literally punched out of the scene. Kim should have been omitted entirely, especially since Mays meets a much cuter, charming, poised character named Lisa (Tamala Jones).
Chris Rock is a smart, powerful comedian with an edge, which comes across vividly in the film. In a natural, animated way, Head of State gives the writer-director a medium to bash on the American electoral system.
Unfortunately, the film suffers structurally as a result of several peccadilloes. The movie has a powerful message, but its execution could have been tighter.
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