Search - Blue State on DVD

If you promise to go to Canada is Bush is re-elected, then y

Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 02/17/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am not exactly sure when it was decided that blue was for Democrats and red was for Republicans, but that sure is codified in the political consciousness of all Americans by this time in the history of the known universe. I think that once upon a time they used to switch back and forth on which party was which color from one presidential election to the next, but that might be just wishful retroactive thinking on my part. Of course, now we have potentially purple states that could be switching from one color to the next, so it is not like these colors are forever. Once upon a time I thought about creating bumper stickers that would say "Red State, Blue Heart" or "Blue State, Red Heart," but adding to the political disharmony of the nation just did not seem worth the profit.

John (Breckin Meyer) probably would have wanted a "Red Nation, Blue Heart" bumper sticker, because he is living in California (and "Blue State, Blue Heart" is just plain smug rather than a colorful act of defiance). John was campaigning full-time for the Kerry-Edwards ticket in the 2004 election, and during a moment of anticipatory euphoria (or in reaction to all the doors being slammed in his face by people voting for Bush-Cheney), John declares that he is so sure of a Democratic victory that if the Republicans actually won--he would move to Canada. In the aftermath of Bush's victory John is somewhat surprised to see that people really do expect him to head for the border. After all, the promise was taped and appeared on television, which, of course, somehow means he has to go. His disgust over the election, coupled with the lost of both his job and his girlfriend, soon convinces him there is nothing left for him in the U.S. Besides, he can write his "Donkey Revolution" blog just as easily in Canada. Plus, there is an organization in Winnipeg that helps settle American "refugees." However, it is not really a road trip movie if you go by yourself, so John begins interviewing potential travel buddies.

Of course he picks Chloe (Anna Panquin), who has blue hair and clearly seems to be saying what John obviously wants to hear about politics and the invention. But that is okay because John has stopped listening. However, Chloe has her own reasons for leaving the country, which John will discover in due time (i.e., right before they cross the border). Driving up the coast there is a convenient but quite uncomfortable stop at the house of John's parents. Mom (Joyce Krenz) is dismayed John is stilling on that vegetarian kick, while Dad (Richard Blackburn) presides over the dining room table like it is a super conservative talk show (I mean he literally acts and talks like he has a radio show and John is a liberal guest who needs to be eviscerated for his listeners). When they get to Winnipeg, they meet up with Gloria (Adrana O'Neill), who runs a "Marry-A-Canadian" website.

At this point I was thinking that it was like John and Chloe had traveled back to the Sixties, an idea that is reinforced when they run into an American expatriate who came to Canada to dodge the draft (there is a wonderful line where the old guy wonders why Americans would flee the country at a time when there is no longer a draft). I round up on "Blue State" because while it looked like writer-director Marshall Lewy ("Future Imperfect") is suggesting that John would have been happier living in the late 1960s, the film's ending suggets that the more accurate time frame might have been the early 1960s. Meyer and Panquin are the best things in this 2007 Indie film, mainly because our initial sense that they are "out there" is reined in by all the wackier people that they meet along the way. Besides, I appreciate the irony that leaving the United States is the best way to find out what it means to be an American."

Blue State is worthy of your vote and viewing

The Captain | Bridgewater, MA | 12/04/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"During the 2004 Presidential Election between John Kerry and George Bush there were many on the left that pledged that should George W. Bush get re-elected that they would in turn move to Canada. Though often times the comments were made somewhat tongue in cheek, there was a widespread ongoing belief that should George Bush be re-elected that Canada would see a large influx of angry American Democrats crossing into the land to our north.

In the movie Blue State, John Logue (Breckin Meyer) is a Democratic blogger who runs the political blog The Donkey Revolution. Like many good Democrats, Logue decides that he would invest his life in the 2004 campaign and work tirelessly toward the goal of getting John Kerry elected President. One night while he was celebrating some of the party's recent upswing, Logue makes an impassioned statement that should John Kerry not win he would move to Canada. Of course, the local television crew was present for the statement and ran Logue's declaration on the nightly news.

So as we all know, Kerry was indeed not elected and Bush waltzed his way into a second term in the White House. Though Logue's comment back at the time might have seemed like nothing more than a half-hearted plea to drum up additional support for Kerry, when one of Logue's friends calls him on it, Logue decides that maybe the right thing to do is in fact to really move to Canada.

Logue posts in his local coffee house of choice a flyer seeking a companion to make the voyage to Canada with. Located in California, Logue could certainly use someone that could both split the costs and the driving time. Through a series of interviews he is quickly able to weed out some of those that truly would not make the cut. But then walks in Chloe Hamon (Anna Paquin).

Chloe basically knows all the right things to say and to Logue her easiness on the eyes likely gave her another check in the positive attributes column of reasons why Logue should pick Chloe as his travel mate. John decides that he will give Chloe a shot and there is a certain mystique to her that perhaps pushes John to like his selection even more.

As the two are traversing along to Canada they make a few stops along the way and truly begin to learn more and more about one another. Logue determined that he would like to stop at his parents' home which while he knew could likely turn into a drawn out argument in actuality turned into far more than that.

Once they get to the border, Chloe reveals to John a secret that she had been keeping for the whole ride. There is initially a bit of hesitation in entering Canada, but ultimately the two do cross the border and begin their new life in Canada.

Canada brings a whole new outlook on love, life and politics for both John and Chloe. The people that they meet in Canada help to craft their beliefs a bit more as it relates to their own personal lives. The two grow closer emotionally and romantically but perhaps philosophically there becomes a bit of a split between the two.

Blue State is a rather comic film that at times is more comedy than political, at other times is more romance than comedy and at times is more political than romance. There is sort of the something for everyone kind of quality to this film although ultra right wing conservatives might find some of the humor quite mundane.

What happens toward the end of the film is a bit too foreseen and hokey than the rest of the film really proves to be. It need not take a rocket scientist to assume what the likely fate of the two travelers might have entailed.

Released in February 2008, Blue State certainly had enough time to soak up the loss of John Kerry's campaign to work the emotions and thoughts of so many into the plot in a pretty good way. The humor is not slapstick comedy, but there are some good parts to the film that sure could have picked so many of us up immediately following Bush's re-election. Blue State is a film worth watching and just like each and every vote should be given your utmost consideration."