Head of State is a
2003The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...
comedyComedy as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse generally intended to amuse, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in Ancient Greece...
movie directed, written by, and starring
Chris RockChristopher Julius "Chris" Rock III is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer and director. He was voted by Comedy Central as the fifth greatest stand-up comedian of all time....
and also co-starring
Bernie MacBernard Jeffrey McCullough , better known by his stage name Bernie Mac, was an American actor and comedian. Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Mac gained popularity as a stand-up comedian. He joined comedians Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, and D.L...
.
Mays Gilliam (Chris Rock) is an
aldermanAn alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions. Historically the term could also refer to local municipal judges in small legal proceedings...
of the 9th Ward in the Washington D.C. area. After being fired from his post and dumped by his girlfriend, Kim (
Robin GivensRobin Simone Givens is an American film, television, and stage actress.-Early life:Givens was born in New York City, the daughter of Ruth Roper and Reuben Givens. Givens's mother and father divorced when she was two. She and her sister Stephanie were raised by their mother in New Rochelle, New York...
), Mays is surprisingly chosen as the party candidate for the presidency (after his party's original presidential and vice-presidential nominees die in a plane crash; their two separate planes crashed into each other) to run against sitting vice-president Brian Lewis.
Head of State is a
2003The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...
comedyComedy as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse generally intended to amuse, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in Ancient Greece...
movie directed, written by, and starring
Chris RockChristopher Julius "Chris" Rock III is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer and director. He was voted by Comedy Central as the fifth greatest stand-up comedian of all time....
and also co-starring
Bernie MacBernard Jeffrey McCullough , better known by his stage name Bernie Mac, was an American actor and comedian. Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Mac gained popularity as a stand-up comedian. He joined comedians Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, and D.L...
.
Plot
Mays Gilliam (Chris Rock) is an
aldermanAn alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions. Historically the term could also refer to local municipal judges in small legal proceedings...
of the 9th Ward in the Washington D.C. area. After being fired from his post and dumped by his girlfriend, Kim (
Robin GivensRobin Simone Givens is an American film, television, and stage actress.-Early life:Givens was born in New York City, the daughter of Ruth Roper and Reuben Givens. Givens's mother and father divorced when she was two. She and her sister Stephanie were raised by their mother in New Rochelle, New York...
), Mays is surprisingly chosen as the party candidate for the presidency (after his party's original presidential and vice-presidential nominees die in a plane crash; their two separate planes crashed into each other) to run against sitting vice-president Brian Lewis. Assuming the election was already lost, the party decided to pick a likeable but losing minority candidate to improve their chances of another politician taking the office in the next presidential election. At first, Mays feels he will not be able to succeed as President because he would be representing the entire African-American populace, and does not want to do anything to mess it up. However, Mays begins to rise in the polls after his brother (
Bernie MacBernard Jeffrey McCullough , better known by his stage name Bernie Mac, was an American actor and comedian. Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Mac gained popularity as a stand-up comedian. He joined comedians Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, and D.L...
) persuades him to speak out for what he believes. He begins to talk about issues such as welfare, money, society, etc. After Lewis runs a series of attack ads including one saying Mays supports Cancer, Mays begins to fight back using what he claimed was "kissing" his opponent (Taking from Bugs Bunny-Elmer Fudd cartoons). In this strategy, Mays dubs a videotape of
Osama bin LadenOsama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden is a member of the prominent Saudi bin Laden family and one of the founders of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda, best known for the September 11 attacks on the United States and its associations with numerous other mass-casualty attacks against...
saying he hates America but loves Brian Lewis. This strategy allows Mays to gain more points in the election. As the voting day draws closer, Mays eventually finds out the reason why he was chosen as the party candidate, and fires some disloyal campaign operatives. He has a debate with his opponent in which he manages to win the crowd over by speaking truth of the American life. Mays ends up winning the election and the presidency.
Inspiration
Rock said in
HBO First Look that he got the idea from the 1984 Democratic presidential nominee
Walter MondaleWalter Frederick Mondale is an American politician and member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. He was the 42nd Vice President of the United States under President Jimmy Carter, a two-term United States Senator from Minnesota, and the Democratic Party nominee for president in 1984...
, who chose
Geraldine FerraroGeraldine Anne Ferraro is an American attorney, a Democratic Party politician and a former member of the United States House of Representatives. She was the first female Vice Presidential candidate representing a major American political party.Ferraro grew up in New York and became a teacher and...
— a woman — as his running mate. The Democrats knew they had little chance of defeating
Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California .Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s...
, but Ferraro's nomination allowed them to gain female voters, contributing to the eventual 1992 election of
Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the third-youngest president; only Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were younger when entering office...
.
Cast
- Chris Rock
Christopher Julius "Chris" Rock III is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer and director. He was voted by Comedy Central as the fifth greatest stand-up comedian of all time....
– Mays Gilliam
- Bernie Mac
Bernard Jeffrey McCullough , better known by his stage name Bernie Mac, was an American actor and comedian. Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Mac gained popularity as a stand-up comedian. He joined comedians Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, and D.L...
– Mitch Gilliam
- Dylan Baker
Dylan Baker is an American actor, known for playing supporting roles in both major studio and independent films.-Early life:...
– Martin Geller
- Nick Searcy
-Career:Having made his film debut as "Father #2" in Unspeakable Acts, a 1990 film about the "Dade County Day Care Center Panic", he has been a continued presence in both television and film.Searcy has performed in both television and film...
– Vice President Brian Lewis
- Lynn Whitfield
Lynn Whitfield is an American actress.Whitfield began her acting career in television and theatre, before progressing to supporting roles in film. She won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special and a NAACP Image Award for her performance as Josephine Baker in the...
– Debra Lassiter
- Robin Givens
Robin Simone Givens is an American film, television, and stage actress.-Early life:Givens was born in New York City, the daughter of Ruth Roper and Reuben Givens. Givens's mother and father divorced when she was two. She and her sister Stephanie were raised by their mother in New Rochelle, New York...
– Kim
- Tamala Jones
Tamala R. Jones is an American entertainer. She is most known for her roles in the movies Booty Call, The Wood, Kingdom Come, The Brothers, and Two Can Play That Game.-Biography:...
– Lisa Clark
- James Rebhorn
James Robert Rebhorn is an American actor who has appeared in over 100 television shows, feature films & plays.-Personal life:...
– Senator Bill Arnot
- Keith David
Keith David Williams , better known by the stage name Keith David, is an American film, television, and voice actor. He is perhaps most known for his live action roles in such films as Crash, There's Something About Mary, Barbershop and Men at Work...
– Bernard Cooper
- Stephanie March
Stephanie Caroline March is an American actress, best known for her portrayal of Alexandra Cabot on the television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.-Life and career:...
– Nikki
- Nate Dogg
Nathaniel Dwayne Hale , better known by his stage name Nate Dogg, is an American R&B/hip hop artist and singer born in Long Beach, California...
– Himself
- DJ Quik
David Marvin Blake , better known by his stage name DJ Quik, is an MC and Record Producer..-Biography: It was always thought that he had 8 sisters, but in a March 2007 interview he stated that he only had one, explaining that Profile Records at the time had suggested to add it to his background to...
– Musical Score
- Leonard A. Anderson – Stunt Man
- Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan is an American actor and comedian, best known for his work on the TV series Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock on which he played Tracy Jordan.-Early life and career:...
– Meat Guy
Trivia
- The majority of the outside scenes were filmed in Sykesville, Maryland
Sykesville is a town in Carroll County, Maryland, United States. The population was 4,197 at the 2000 census.-History:The land on which Sykesville sits started out as part of a 3000 acre Springfield Estate, owned by wealthy Baltimore shipbuilder William Patterson...
and other locales throughout Carroll County, MarylandCarroll County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. In 2000, its population was 150,897. It was named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton , signer of the American Declaration of Independence. Its county seat is Westminster....
.
- Part of the presidential debate is a verbatim repeat of Monty Python's Argument Sketch.
Cameos
- In the scene where Mays makes an appearance for TNA Wrestling (a legitimate promotion), B.G. James
Brian Gerard James is an American professional wrestler known for his work in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, perhaps best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation as "The Road Dogg" Jesse James or simply The Road Dogg...
is holding the NWA World Heavyweight ChampionshipThe National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the National Wrestling Alliance. Its lineage has been traced from the first "World Heavyweight Championship," which traces its lineage to Georg Hackenschmidt's 1905 title...
, a title he has never held.
- Keith David
Keith David Williams , better known by the stage name Keith David, is an American film, television, and voice actor. He is perhaps most known for his live action roles in such films as Crash, There's Something About Mary, Barbershop and Men at Work...
had a small role as Bernard Cooper who is shown to have purchased Mays' car in a repo auction.
- Martin Geller (Dylan Baker) sings part of the song "Fire Water Burn
"Fire Water Burn" is the second single from The Bloodhound Gang's 1996 album One Fierce Beer Coaster. The chorus of the song is taken from the song The Roof Is on Fire by Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three, yet sung considerably slower...
".