Welcome to Mooseport

Plot

Former President of the United States Monroe "Eagle" Cole retires to his vacation home in the town of Mooseport, Maine to escape from his ex-wife Charlotte. Harold "Handy" Harrison is a commoner working as the local plumber of Mooseport, who also owns a hardware store.

Following the death of the town mayor, the town council decides to approach former president Cole about running for the office. Cole agrees because, as it turns out, if he holds the office, his Mooseport house can serve as his office and, therefore, can no longer be divided up or sold off in his divorce settlement. As a surprise to Harrison, his name has also been entered into the race. When Harrison finds out Cole is running, he decides to withdraw, until he witnesses Cole make a pass at Handy's girlfriend of six years, veterinarian Dr. Sally Mannis, who recently broke up with him because he was taking the relationship too slow and had not yet proposed marriage to her. Handy believes that, by becoming mayor, he can show Sally he is a mature decision maker and win her heart.

Tempers rise following the arrival of ex-wife and Cole campaign spoiler Charlotte. Cole's team, led by long-time executive secretary and love interest Grace Sutherland and presidential aide Will Bullard, bring in strong support in the form of campaign strategist Bert Langdon, who becomes Cole's campaign manager as he complains of a dull existence since Cole retired from the presidency. As the campaigns progress, Cole and Harrison both become obsessed with winning the race at all costs, although Harrison refuses to resort to any cheating schemes, making Cole realize that in all his years of running for elections this may be the hardest as he is taking on an honest everyman.

Eventually, on the night before the election, both candidates (for different reasons - Cole trying to get sympathy votes, Harrison wanting the campaign to end and believes Cole would be a better mayor than him) urge the voters to vote for the other candidate by saying that neither of them will vote for themselves. Harrison keeps his promise, but Cole votes for himself anyway. Upon the revelation that Cole won by one vote, his conscience gets the better of him and he concedes the match to Harrison. However, Harrison lies that he voted for himself as well, and declines office, making Cole end up as mayor once again. Harrison later reveals to Sally that he conceded the election because Cole needs the mayorship more than he does and that all he really wanted was to propose marriage to her, which he does. As Handy is proposing to Sally, Monroe also proposes to Grace. The film ends with Bert Langdon telling Handy that he ran an excellent campaign and offers to be his campaign manager for Governor of Maine, which Handy shows some interest in when he realizes a governor has certain authority over mayors.

Soundtrack

TBA

Home Media

Welcome to Mooseport is now on VHS and DVD.

Box office

Welcome to Mooseport opened theatrically on February 20, 2004 in 2,868 venues, earning $6,775,132 and ranking fourth in the domestic box office. The film ended its run twelve weeks later on May 13, 2004, having grossed $14,470,947 domestically and $144,152 overseas, for a worldwide total of $14,615,099. Based on a $30 million budget, the film was a box office bomb.

Critical response

The film received generally negative reviews from critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a 13% score, based on 144 critics, with an average rating of 4.2/10. The site's consensus states: "A bland comedy that squanders a talented cast." On Metacritic, the film holds a 33 out of 100 rating, based on 36 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".