Head of State (film)

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Head of State
Directed by Chris Rock
Produced by Michael Rotenberg
Written by Chris Rock
Ali LeRoi
Starring Chris Rock
Bernie Mac
Tracy Morgan
Distributed by DreamWorks
Release date(s) 28 March 2003 (USA)
Running time 95 min.
Language English
IMDb profile

Head of State is a 2003 American movie directed by, written by, and starring Chris Rock.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Mays Gilliam (Chris Rock) is an alderman of the 9th Ward in the Washington D.C. area. After being fired from his post, Mays is surprisingly chosen as the party candidate for the presidency (after his party's original presidential and vice-presidential nominees die in a plane crash; their two separate planes crashed into each other) to run against sitting vice-president Brian Lewis. Assuming the election was already lost, the party decided to pick a likeable but losing minority candidate to improve their chances of another politician taking the office in the next presidential election. At first, Mays feels he will not be able to succeed as President because he would be representing the entire African-American populace, and does not want to do anything to mess it up. However, Mays begins to rise in the polls after his brother (Bernie Mac) persuades him to speak out for what he believes. He begins to talk about issues such as welfare, money, society, etc. After Lewis runs a series of attack ads including one saying Mays supports Cancer, Mays begins to fight back using what he claimed was "kissing" his opponent (Taking from Bugs Bunny-Elmer Fudd cartoons). In this strategy, Mays hires various individuals such as a KKK member to endorse his opponent. This strategy allows Mays to gain more points in the election. As the voting day draws closer, Mays eventually finds out the reason why he was chosen as the party candidate, and fires some disloyal campaign operatives. He debates his opponent in which he manages to win the crowd over by speaking truth of the American life. Mays ends up winning the election and the presidency.

[edit] Inspiration

Rock said in HBO First Look that he got the idea from the 1984 Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale, who chose Geraldine Ferraro — a woman — as his running mate. The Democrats knew they had little chance of defeating Ronald Reagan, but Ferraro's nomination allowed them to gain female voters, contributing to the eventual 1992 election of Bill Clinton.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Trivia/Goofs

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Majority of outside scenes filmed in Sykesville, Maryland and other locales throughout Carroll County, Maryland.
  • Part of the presidential debate is a verbatim repeat of Monty Python's Argument Sketch.
  • The city of Washington, DC doesn't have aldermen; it does have councilmen, however. Moreover, it does not have a ninth ward, it only has eight, though this may be in attempt to avoid making Rock's character unneccessarily particular, in the same manner that his political party is never mentioned.
  • Gilliam's car cannot be towed with its rear wheels on the ground (since there isn't any way to release the handbrake). The car would have needed to be towed on a platform tow truck.
  • In the scene where Mays makes an appearance for TNA Wrestling, B.G. James is holding the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, a title he has never held. (although Jeff Jarrett, who has held the title 6 times, is later shown in the same scene holding the belt)
  • Keith David had a small role as Bernard Cooper who is shown to have purchased Mays' car in a repo auction.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
"Bringing Down the House"		 List of Box Office #1 Movies
March 30, 2003		 Succeeded by
"Phone Booth"