THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT is as topical as today's headlines. What subjects are more in the news than President Clinton's reelection and single parents? Well, in this comedy we get both. The names have been changed to protect the innocent as they say, but the movie leaves no doubt that this is a movie that asks the question, what would it be like if today the president was single because his wife had died of cancer …showed first 75 words of 1062 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1062 total…Frank Capra III. There is a reference to the movies of his grandfather. Clearly Reiner intends the movie as sort of a homage to Capra, and the parallels are strong. Finally, in a scene that shows how out of touch people in the White House can be, the president's pollster, Leon Kodak (David Paymer), at a Christmas party says "It's Christmas" to Lewis. Dumbfounded, Lewis asks, "It's Christmas?". Leon retorts, "You didn't get the memo?"