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Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Swing Vote lopes along and is best taken as a tale of a father and a daughter coming through a rough patch to a better place, rather than anything to do with real-world politics. Read more
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Swing Vote, an oddly off-balance comedy directed by Joshua Michael Stern, feels like two movies; one much better than the other. Read more
Nathan Rabin, AV Club: Under the direction of co-writer Joshua Michael Stern, it emerges as third-rate Capracorn, leaden and lumpy where it should be swift and pointed. Read more
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: After years of misfires, Kevin Costner has hit upon a strategy to make himself likable in a movie: by playing someone completely unlikable. Read more
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: It's 2008. Why are we still microwaving Frank Capra's old casseroles? The movie turns racism, class woes, and social issues into jokes instead of engaging them with intelligence, wit, or a whiff of drama. Read more
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: The undertones of Frank Capra come bubbling to the surface in a smarmy finale complete with French horn and bags of mail from the common folk. Read more
Tom Charity, CNN.com: It's a sentiment Capra might well have echoed, though he would surely have punched up the gags while he was at it. Read more
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: The filmmakers want to fashion a civics lesson but they don't bother to include anything of substance. Read more
Tom Long, Detroit News: Swing Vote is an amiable lug of a movie, part public service announcement, part political satire and part good-old-boy comedy with a spritz of sentiment hanging over the entire enterprise. Read more
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: By the time Bud sincerely apprehends his citizen responsibilities, Swing Vote has swung irrevocably toward condescension. Read more
Globe and Mail: As in so many essentially childish movies, it's an actual child who's always the smartest pants in the room. Read more
Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly: Swing Vote swings wildly between spot-on satire and bold-faced parody without ever quite striking a comfortable balance, and it's nothing if not overstuffed. Read more
Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: The film eventually bogs down in drama, with an unnecessary subplot involving Bud's estranged wife and an ethical dilemma for a local news reporter (Paula Patton) that never really gets off the ground. Read more
Rafer Guzman, Newsday: Smartly written by Jason Richman and Joshua Michael Stern (who also directed), Swing Vote isn't a realistic film -- it veers off course with a subplot involving Molly's absent mother -- but it often has the ring of truth. Read more
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: The lightweight Swing Vote is a good-ol'-boy civics lesson that's too scattered to achieve its predictable goals. Read more
Lou Lumenick, New York Post: This would-be civics lesson is such an appalling view of American democracy that it could be used as a recruiting film by al Qaeda. Read more
Rex Reed, New York Observer: Funny, animated, appealing in an aw-shucks sort of way, the star milks maximum impact from a unique body language that is refreshingly knock-kneed and bow-legged at the same time. Read more
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Swing Vote nicely boils down America's political malaise to one man's awakening from a Budweiser stupor and seeing the only thing that matters when you don't pay attention and exercise the franchise on Election Day: You're letting your kid down. Read more
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: A disarming political satire perfectly calibrated to the national mood and to its revitalized star. Read more
James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Swing Vote is more subtle and insightful than the dumbed-down comedy the marketing campaign would have us believe it to be. Read more
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The movie is a genial comedy, but it has significant undertones. Read more
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: Stern and his lead actor do manage to pull it all together at the end. Read more
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: The mix of comedy and drama is winning; Costner couldn't be better, and the little girl is a find. Read more
Dana Stevens, Slate: Swing Vote isn't exactly a toothless political satire. It's something worse: a satire with dentures. Read more
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Swing Vote captures the spirit of an election year when many once-apathetic Americans are keenly interested in the outcome. We have met the enemy and he is us. But so is the hero. Read more
Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: As often happens with politics, even as Swing Vote entertains, it leaves us feeling like we've been subjected to some slick manipulation and worse, left with promises unfulfilled. Read more
Wally Hammond, Time Out: He shoots simultaneously for 'wake up, America!' inspiration and good ol' boy charm but ends up putting both barrels through his own cowboy-booted foot. Read more
Christopher Orr, The New Republic: It is neither appreciably better nor dramatically worse than its hokey, please-describe-me-as-'Capraesque' premise. Read more
Claudia Puig, USA Today: One minute you're laughing at its sendup of the political process, and the next you're stricken by the sorry state of the sweet and brainy protagonist's family. Read more
Justin Chang, Variety: Graced with a gently cynical spirit and more brains than its average-Joe protagonist, Swing Vote applies a pleasing Frank Capra-esque glaze to the fanciful story of a blue-collar American whose vote ends up being the only one that counts. Read more
Laura Yao, Washington Post: The ridiculous setup is just the skeleton for something more substantial; the flesh of the movie is made of the funny, tender interactions between Bud and his daughter, Molly. Read more