MOVIE · 1995

The American President

ComedyDramaRomance114 min

Widowed President Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas) is juggling reelection, the press, and an unexpected romance when he falls for Washington lobbyist Sydney Ellen Wade. Their relationship quickly becomes public business, feeding rumors and giving Shepherd’s rivals an opening as his approval ratings slip. Annette Bening’s Sydney isn’t insulated from the fallout, especially as policy fights and campaign optics collide inside the White House. With Richard Dreyfuss as a senator eager to weaponize “family values,” the film keeps one foot in screwball courtship and the other in the machinery of American politics.