Heather Hewitt Movies

The ghost of Frank Capra must have smiled when he saw Dave, an amusing and effective update of one of Capra's favorite themes -- the scrupulously honest little guy who becomes a force for good against a corrupt system. Dave Kovic (Kevin Kline) runs an employment agency and seems to genuinely enjoy finding work for people who need it. He also bears a striking resemblance to the president of the United States, Bill Mitchell (also played by Kline) and occasionally gets work as a Bill Mitchell impersonator. One day, Dave gets a call from the Secret Service -- for security purposes, they want to hire him to act as a decoy for an upcoming appearance by the president. All goes well, but later that evening President Mitchell suffers a massive stroke while in bed with his mistress. Wanting to keep the matter a secret, two of the president's top advisors appeal to Dave to stand in as Bill Mitchell until he regains his health. One of the men behind this scheme, Bob Alexander (Frank Langella), hopes to use Mitchell's absence to promote his own right-wing political agenda, but after a few weeks "in office," Dave decides it's time to promote some changes of his own that will help increase employment and keep homeless shelters open. Dave also finds himself growing fond of Ellen Mitchell (Sigourney Weaver), the President's wife, while Ellen sees in Dave the idealism her husband left behind years ago. Dave features numerous cameo appearances by politicians, Washington insiders, and journalists; Oliver Stone also appears to explain a conspiracy theory regarding sudden changes in Bill Mitchell's behavior. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Schlock producer Jerry Gross rescued this previously-unreleased 1964 clunker (originally titled Voodoo Blood Bath from utter anonymity, saddling it with a meaningless (but cute) new title for a now-legendary drive-in double bill with I Drink Your Blood. Whereas its companion film has gained a sordid reputation for being one of the first films ever to be branded with an "X" rating by the MPAA solely for graphic violence, this limp zombie nonsense bears no such mark of distinction. The story is set on a lush tropical island where a writer (William Joyce) arrives in search of material on voodoo legends for his latest novel. He eventually stumbles onto the secret laboratory of a mad scientist whose experiments with reversing the aging process have been turning his native subjects into bug-eyed, papier-mâché-faced zombies. Despite this daunting side-effect, the doc goes right on with his experiments, zombie numbers keep growing, and the natives are growing seriously restless. So restless, it turns out, that they are prepared to sacrifice the scientist's pretty daughter (Heather Hewitt) in retaliation. Not even silly enough to be amusing, this one is just plain dull. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi