Irresistible

What’s it rated? R

When? 2020

Where’s it showing? HBO Max

BATTLE ROYALE Two rival political operatives—Democratic strategist Gary Zimmer (Steve Carrell) and Republican strategist Faith Brewster (Rose Byrne)—square off over a small town mayor’s race, in the political comedy Irresistible, screening on HBO Max. Credit: Photo Courtesy Of Busboy Productions

Written and directed by John Stewart, Irresistible is a political comedy that pits Democratic strategist Gary Zimmer (Steve Carrell) against his Republican counterpart, Faith Brewster (Rose Byrne), in a small, conservative Midwestern town. After a video of retired veteran Jack Hastings at a town hall meeting goes viral, freshly failed Gary heads to Deerlaken, Wisconsin, to try to talk the small town hero into running for mayor as a Democrat. Wary at first but soon on board, Jack is backed by his daughter Diana (Mackenzie Davis) and a small group of townies who start campaigning in earnest.

It’s an uphill battle for Jack. The voters are conservative and traditional, not ones who like to rock the vote. Luckily Gary is an old hat at spinning things to the left and figuring out how to raise a bunch of money for his candidates. As soon as the campaign gains some attention, rival Faith rolls into town with her own crew and dirty tricks to keep the Republican incumbent in office. The two despise each other but also seem to have a wild attraction. One thing is for sure, they both like to win—but there can be only one winner here.

There’s definitely a plot twist at the end of this one that I won’t spoil, but let’s just say this flick is about a whole lot more than a mayoral election in rural Wisconsin. Carrell and Byrne are both their usual hilarious selves, and director Stewart has a whole lot of fun putting them to work. (101 min.)

This article appears in Mar 11-21, 2021.