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The Main Characters
--Handy Harrison (Ray Romano) is Mooseport’s resident plumber. He is afraid of taking risks, as evidenced by his inability to ask his girlfriend of 6 years to marry him. When the mayor of Mooseport dies, he decides to run for mayor since he figures it would be unopposed.
--Monroe Cole (Gene Hackman) is a former US president who after his term ends, lands in Mooseport. He decides to run for mayor of Mooseport since it would only help his public image, and increase the amount of profits he could rake in.
--Sally Mannis (Maura Tierny) is Handy’s girlfriend of 6 years. She is a veterinarian who causes quite a stir when she agrees to go on a date with the ex president.
--Grace Sutherland (Marcia Gay Harden) is Monroe’s personal assistant who clearly harbors feelings for Monroe (also known as the Eagle). He is unaware of her feelings for him.
--Charlotte Cole (Christine Baranski) is the Eagle’s ex-wife who is determined to get from Monroe all the money she can.
The Setting
The town of Mooseport, your typical hick town where everyone knows each other and animals roam the streets. (I think it’s supposed to be in Maine but don’t quote me on that).
The Plot
Ok, it’s simple. Handy is the town’s plumber and he is going out with Sally. Handy won’t propose to Sally, which is really starting to get to Sally. All this just happens to coincide with ex-President Monroe “Eagle” Cole landing in Mooseport. See, he just finished his run as president and due to settlements with his ex-wife; he lost his home so he has to live in his summerhouse in Mooseport. He is there with all his assistants and personnel, including Charlotte. Once there, the former president is offered the mayorship of the town. See, the old mayor died so they need a new one, and who better than the ex-president? Monroe, sensing immediate positive public relations and instant cash, decides to run, unopposed it should be added, for the title of mayor. Of course, good old Handy had submitted his name to run for mayor, thinking he would be running unopposed. Uh-oh. To make matters worse, things heat up when it is shown that Monroe has feelings for Sally, and that Sally is really disenchanted with Handy’s lack of proposal. We also see that Monroe’s assistant; Grace has feelings for Monroe and doesn’t like Monroe’s advances on Sally. Of course (part three), Monroe’s ex wife, Charlotte, will stop at nothing to have Monroe lose the election and humiliate him. So we have Handy and Monroe competing for the same mayoral position, and the same woman.
My Review
Ray Romano has built his career on being funny, as his show Everybody Loves Raymond consistently does well in the ratings and I consider it my favorite sitcom that’s still around. So, to capitalize on his popularity, this movie was made. I once heard somewhere that a good 80% of movies made don’t deserve to be made. I don’t know if that’s true but this might one of those movies that convinces me otherwise. It just wasn’t funny. It was way too long for a comedy too. If I am going to see Ray Romano in a movie, it had better be funny. This one wasn’t. There were few laughs and they were few and far between. This one just didn’t do it for me. Ray fans might want to check it out, but I bet that most of them will be disappointed.
Overall Rating
¼*
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