Irresistible Is a Mess of Unfocused Political Frustrations

Despite leaving The Daily Show behind, Jon Stewart has remained active within the political landscape. In Congress, he fought for the benefits of 9/11 first responders in a very emotional act of devotion. On the entertainment front, he’s literally poked his head out on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to give a heated rant when he felt he could stay quiet no longer. Amid the mania of politics in the Trump era, he’s since cameoed many times in his T-shirt and beard to go off in frustration.

Stewart’s new film, Irresistible, more or less reflects the passion and weariness that he clearly feels for current politics. There’s rage and pointed satire present, far more than his previous directorial effort, Rosewater. There’s a focus on how screwed the Midwest is when it comes to politicians who are less about the people and more about their own careers and benefactors. Yet for a film that’s all about politics being corrupt and out of touch with the folks, Stewart’s picture sadly falls into this same trap of misguided intent.

Steve Carell stars as Gary Zimmer in Irresistible. Daniel McFadden/Focus Features

Gary Zimmer (Steve Carell) is a Democratic political strategist who is down on his luck. After feeling the sting of Donald Trump winning the presidential election, he is desperately searching for something to give him an edge. He finds his miracle in the form of the retired Marine Colonel Jack Hastings (Chris Cooper). Residing in a small Wisconsin town, Jack went viral for speaking up about how the conservative politics of his area have damaged their community. Hoping to capitalize on that vigor, Gary ventures to the Midwest, and the predictable fish-out-of-water antics ensue as the city boy tries to understand the country.

This aspect is exceptionally hard to swallow given its use of clichés. My stomach turned when Gary ventured to Jack’s farm and was smitten at first sight by his daughter Diana (Mackenzie Davis), a woman much too young for him. It was then that I questioned just where the film was heading and what its intent was on observing politics in the Midwest. What followed wasn’t quite what I expected, but it wasn’t exactly intriguing, either, past a baseline reading of the room.

Rose Byrne, left, joins Carell as Republicn strategist Faith Brewster. Daniel McFadden/Focus Features

Gary’s goal is to build Jack up as a Democratic candidate who actually has a chance at being mayor in his cozy conservative community. Jack accepts, hoping that he can do some good for his town and that Gary may learn what’s important to him in this race. Of course, Gary can’t quite see through the political haze to recognize the plight of the people. This is made clear by his Republican rival strategist, Faith Brewster (Rose Byrne), and their love/hate relationship. This connection is hammered home so hard it’s embarrassing. Their first face-to-face meeting in Wisconsin ends with Faith mockingly licking Gary’s face; later, they place bets on their candidates, with the victor to win oral sex.

This film takes some very strange routes to find both humor and meaning in the whole circus of the political machine, flying off the rails around the third act when Gary manages to attach a big-name tech billionaire to donate to his campaign. I was thinking an Elon Musk parody was going to walk through the door. Instead, we get an elderly figure lumbering in a mech-suit cybernetic body, speaking in a musical robot voice. I could not believe my eyes that something out of a discarded Futurama gag was shoved into this picture for a one-scene joke.

Chris Cooper as Jack Hastings. Daniel McFadden/Focus Features

The choice makes a bit of sense, however, in that it prepares you for the ultimate shrug of Irresistible’s ending. By the time Election Day rolls around, a left-field twist turns the story on its head to slam the out-of-touch nature of politicians. Little has built up to this moment, and even analyzing the rest of the film proves to showcase some inconsistencies with this turn. But just in case that wasn’t weird enough, Stewart ends the picture with two false endings that are so ridiculously unbelievable that when his mission statement is plastered on screen, it comes off hollow. These political statements are delivered so abruptly that a shot at the 24-hour news networks is only made vocal when the credits are already rolling and the audience is on its way out the door.

Stewart clearly has some anger at the system. He wants things to change and feels that America is wronging its people. But rather than find some insight in this satire, he sputters around in the madness of it all with the scattershot delivery of a doomsday babbler. Sure, we’re in tough times and deserve some media that can reflect our world. The problem is that Irresistible doesn’t have much to say about it other than to give a mere shrug and an uncomfortable giggle at how messed up our country is right now. It’s a political rant scribbled furiously to the point of being illegible by the final page.