My Fellow Americans
Encyclopedia
My Fellow Americans is a 1996 American comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...

 starring Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...

, Dan Aykroyd
Dan Aykroyd
Daniel Edward "Dan" Aykroyd, CM is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist. He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.-Early...

 and James Garner
James Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...

 as feuding ex-presidents. Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...

, Esther Rolle
Esther Rolle
Esther Rolle was an American actress. She was perhaps best known for her portrayal of Florida Evans on the CBS television sitcom Maude and its spin-off series Good Times.-Biography:...

, John Heard, Wilford Brimley
Wilford Brimley
Allen Wilford Brimley is an American actor. He has appeared in such films as The China Syndrome, Cocoon, The Thing and The Firm. He had a recurring role on the 1970s television series The Waltons...

, Bradley Whitford
Bradley Whitford
Bradley Whitford is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles as Deputy White House Chief of Staff Josh Lyman on the NBC television drama The West Wing, as Danny Tripp on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, as Dan Stark in the Fox police buddy-comedy The Good Guys, as...

 and Jeff Yagher
Jeff Yagher
Jeffrey Brian "Jeff" Yagher is an American actor.Born in Lawrence, Kansas, he graduated from Ohio State University and then attended the prestigious Yale School of Drama, where he appeared in productions of "The Vultures", "We Can't Pay, We Won't Play", and "Las Madres".His television debut was in...

 also appear in supporting performances. The film is named for the traditional opening of Presidential
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 addresses to the American people.

Originally Lemmon's perennial collaborator, Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...

, was slated to co-star. However, health problems kept Matthau from appearing in the film and Garner was instead chosen to star opposite Lemmon in their only project together.

Plot

Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 Russell Kramer (Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...

) wins the Presidential election, narrowly defeating Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

 Matt Douglas (James Garner
James Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...

). Four years later, Douglas wins a landslide victory over the incumbent Kramer. Another four years later, Kramer's former Vice President William Haney (Dan Aykroyd
Dan Aykroyd
Daniel Edward "Dan" Aykroyd, CM is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist. He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.-Early...

) defeats incumbent Douglas. Ted Matthews (John Heard
John Heard
John Heard, Jr. is an American actor well known for his recurring role as Peter McCallister, in the first two installments of the Home Alone movie series. In 2011 he appeared as Lehman Brothers COO Joe Gregory in Too Big to Fail, an HBO film. He also starred in Big.-Early life:Heard was born in...

), the Vice President under Haney, is widely seen as an idiot and becomes a continuing embarrassment for the Haney administration. A further three years later, Kramer spends his time writing books and speaking at various inconsequential functions. Meanwhile, Douglas is finishing his own book and going through a divorce. Kramer and Douglas are sent to a funeral aboard Air Force One
Air Force One
Air Force One is the official air traffic control call sign of any United States Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States. In common parlance the term refers to those Air Force aircraft whose primary mission is to transport the president; however, any U.S. Air Force aircraft...

 by Haney, and spend the trip arguing with each other.

The Democratic party learn about "Olympia", a series of bribes from defense contractor Charlie Reynolds (James Rebhorn
James Rebhorn
James Robert Rebhorn is an American character actor who has appeared in over 100 television shows, feature films and plays.-Personal life:...

) paid to Haney when he was Vice President. The Democratic National Committee chairman Joe Hollis (Wilford Brimley
Wilford Brimley
Allen Wilford Brimley is an American actor. He has appeared in such films as The China Syndrome, Cocoon, The Thing and The Firm. He had a recurring role on the 1970s television series The Waltons...

) encourages Douglas to investigate further while Haney and his Chief of Staff
White House Chief of Staff
The White House Chief of Staff is the highest ranking member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and a senior aide to the President.The current White House Chief of Staff is Bill Daley.-History:...

 Carl Witnaur (Bradley Whitford
Bradley Whitford
Bradley Whitford is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles as Deputy White House Chief of Staff Josh Lyman on the NBC television drama The West Wing, as Danny Tripp on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, as Dan Stark in the Fox police buddy-comedy The Good Guys, as...

) plot to frame Kramer. Hollis tells Douglas that the Democrats will support him for a Presidential run in return for his help. Douglas takes the offer hoping to beat Haney and get back into the Oval Office. When the rumors of Olympia begin to suggest that Kramer was involved, Kramer begins his own investigation.

NSA
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...

 agent Colonel Paul Tanner (Everett McGill
Everett McGill
Everett McGill is an American actor, best known for mostly playing villains in films like Licence to Kill, Silver Bullet, Dune, Yanks and Under Siege 2: Dark Territory.-Life and career:...

) has Reynolds assassinated when he attempts to tell Douglas the truth about Olympia. Kramer arrives at the scene and spots Reynolds' body. Before they can flee, Douglas and Kramer are forced to board a helicopter by White House officials, claiming to be taking them to Camp David
Camp David
Camp David is the country retreat of the President of the United States and his guests. It is located in low wooded hills about 60 mi north-northwest of Washington, D.C., on the property of Catoctin Mountain Park in unincorporated Frederick County, Maryland, near Thurmont, at an elevation of...

 at the request of Haney. During the flight Douglas realizes that the helicopter is heading in the wrong direction. Suspicious, the former presidents force the pilots to land the helicopter. They leave just before the helicopter explodes.

Kramer and Douglas are left stranded, with the realization that the explosion was meant to kill them. They decide to go to Kramer's Presidential Library in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 49,374 people, 21,655 households, and 13,317 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,932.9 people per square mile . There were 22,727 housing units at an average density of 889.7 per square mile...

 to obtain a record Kramer kept of all meals served during his time in the White House, which will prove Haney was present at a key meeting with Reynolds. During a series of misadventures, the two ex-Presidents meet a variety of ordinary Americans and see the effects their terms in office have had. After several close encounters with NSA agents, they arrive at the library and discover the evidence has been tampered with to implicate Kramer. A library guard gives Kramer a message from Reynolds' secretary stating that Witnaur had recently met with Reynolds. Douglas and Kramer kidnap Witnaur and force him to reveal the plot to frame Kramer, though Witnaur claims to have no knowledge of the attempts on their lives, blaming Tanner and Haney. Douglas and Kramer go to the White House to confront Haney.

The pair manage to sneak into the White House with the help of the White House chef Rita and make it to the Oval Office only to discover that Haney is giving a press conference outside about their supposed deaths. Tanner traps Douglas and Kramer in a guest room but they utilize a secret tunnel to escape while the NSA give chase. Tanner catches up with them and is about to shoot them when he himself is killed by Secret Service
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...

 Sniper Lieutenant Ralph Fleming, who has recognized the former presidents and disobeys orders to shoot them.

Douglas and Kramer interrupt Haney's speech and take him to the Oval office to talk. There they play Haney a tape of Witnaur's confession, but Haney denies knowledge of Reynolds' murder or the helicopter explosion. Haney agrees to resign and proceeds to give a resignation speech, claiming to have heart problems. Douglas and Kramer muse that the idiotic Matthews will now be elevated from Vice President to President and realize that the only way it could have happened was under these circumstances. The pair confront Matthews who admits that he, not Haney, had engineered the entire plot so that he could become President, knowing Haney would take the fall. Matthews explains that his stupidity was just an act, but Douglas records his confession. Matthews is sent to jail.

Nine months later, Douglas and Kramer are running as independents in the Presidential election, arguing which of them will be the nominee. Douglas distracts Kramer by throwing a dollar on the floor, and takes to the podium to announce himself as the Presidential candidate, much to the chagrin of Kramer.

Cast

  • Jack Lemmon
    Jack Lemmon
    John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...

    ......President Russell P. Kramer
  • James Garner
    James Garner
    James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...

    ......President Matt Douglas
  • Dan Aykroyd
    Dan Aykroyd
    Daniel Edward "Dan" Aykroyd, CM is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist. He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.-Early...

    ......President William "Bill" Haney
  • John Heard......Vice President Ted Matthews
  • Wilford Brimley
    Wilford Brimley
    Allen Wilford Brimley is an American actor. He has appeared in such films as The China Syndrome, Cocoon, The Thing and The Firm. He had a recurring role on the 1970s television series The Waltons...

    ......Joe Hollis
  • Lauren Bacall
    Lauren Bacall
    Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...

    ......Margaret Kramer
  • Sela Ward
    Sela Ward
    Sela Ann Ward is an American movie and television actress, perhaps best known for her television roles as Teddy Reed on the American TV series Sisters and as Lily Manning on Once and Again...

    ......Kay Griffin
  • Everett McGill
    Everett McGill
    Everett McGill is an American actor, best known for mostly playing villains in films like Licence to Kill, Silver Bullet, Dune, Yanks and Under Siege 2: Dark Territory.-Life and career:...

    ......Col. Paul Tanner
  • Bradley Whitford
    Bradley Whitford
    Bradley Whitford is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles as Deputy White House Chief of Staff Josh Lyman on the NBC television drama The West Wing, as Danny Tripp on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, as Dan Stark in the Fox police buddy-comedy The Good Guys, as...

    ......Carl Witnaur
  • James Rebhorn
    James Rebhorn
    James Robert Rebhorn is an American character actor who has appeared in over 100 television shows, feature films and plays.-Personal life:...

    ......Charlie Reynolds
  • Esther Rolle
    Esther Rolle
    Esther Rolle was an American actress. She was perhaps best known for her portrayal of Florida Evans on the CBS television sitcom Maude and its spin-off series Good Times.-Biography:...

    ......Rita, the White House Chef
  • Jack Kehler
    Jack Kehler
    Jack Kehler is an actor. He is sometimes credited as Jack Keeler.Jack has appeared in over 60 feature films, including Men in Black II. One of his most memorable performances was in film Love Liza as Denny, an energetic radio control hobbyist trying to help Philip Seymour Hoffman's character come...

    ......Wayne
  • Edwin Newman
    Edwin Newman
    Edwin Harold Newman was an American newscaster, journalist and author.-Early life and education:Newman was born on January 25, 1919 in New York City to Myron and Rose Newman. His older brother was M. W. Newman, a longtime reporter for the Chicago Daily News. Newman married Rigel Grell on August...

    .....Himself
  • Jack Garner
    Jack Garner
    Jack Edward Garner was an American film and television actor, known for The Rockford Files and numerous other television roles. He is the brother of James Garner.-Early life and career:...

    .....President Haney's Caddy

Filming

Most of the principal filming for the movie was done in the mountains of western North Carolina including scenes: along the Rocky Broad River where it flows into Lake Lure
Lake Lure, North Carolina
-History:In 1902, Dr. Lucius B. Morse and his brothers Hiram and Asahel purchased around Chimney Rock for $5,000. They later acquired enough land in the area to bring the total to...

 in Rutherford County
Rutherford County, North Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 62,899 people, 25,191 households, and 17,935 families residing in the county. The population density was 112 people per square mile . There were 29,535 housing units at an average density of 52 per square mile...

, Dillsboro
Dillsboro, North Carolina
Dillsboro is a town in Jackson County, North Carolina, United States. The town is a popular tourist location, at which visitors tend to stop on their way into the Great Smoky Mountains. The town of Sylva is located just one mile east of Dillsboro and is the county seat...

, along the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad
Great Smoky Mountains Railroad
The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad is a freight and heritage railroad in North Carolina with a depot in Bryson City. The railroad operates over the western leg of the "Murphy Branch", a former branch line of the Southern Railway....

; Waynesville
Waynesville, North Carolina
Waynesville is a town in and the county seat of Haywood County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest town in Haywood County and the largest in Western North Carolina west of Asheville. Waynesville is located about or 50 km southwest of Asheville between the Great Smoky and Blue...

, where a giant clown sign crashes through their windshield as they try to flee and where they find the baby in the stolen car is in Marshall,North Carolina; and in Asheville
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the 11th largest city in North Carolina. The City is home to the United States National Climatic Data Center , which is the world's largest active...

, at the Biltmore Estate
Biltmore Estate
Biltmore House is a Châteauesque-styled mansion near Asheville, North Carolina, built by George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 and 1895. It is the largest privately-owned home in the United States, at and featuring 250 rooms...

.

In Marshall, North Carolina, the downtown area stands in for an unnamed town in West Virginia. There, the Western Carolina University
Western Carolina University
Western Carolina University is a coeducational public university located in Cullowhee, North Carolina, United States. The university is a constituent campus of the University of North Carolina system....

 Marching Band portrays the "Marching Dorothys" (a fictional group based upon gay icon Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...

's character from the Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...

), at a gay pride
Gay pride
LGBT pride or gay pride is the concept that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity...

 parade.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK