Irresistible Equally Satires Democrats and Republicans for Our Bitterly Divided Times

Irresistible, writer/director Jon Stewart’s populist political satire—half Frank Capra and half Adam McKay—begins a couple of months after the Democrats’ shocking presidential election defeat. NPR-listenin’, arugula-salad-eatin’ Democratic strategist Gary (Steve Carrell) is desperate for a candidate who can bridge the ever-widening gap between his party and the white working class. He finds his knight in shining overalls in a small town Wisconsin farmer named Jack (Chris Cooper), whose viral video railing against his local government’s racist ID policies represents a messianic miracle: a distinguished army veteran and man of the soil, passionately supporting liberal ideals.

Gary jumps in a rented SUV/tank to “fit in” with the locals and heads to Deerlaken, Wisconsin to convince Jack to run for mayor on the Democratic ticket. Once in town, where half the storefronts are boarded up due to economic desperation, Gary walks into what he thinks is the local watering hole, and orders what he thinks is the all-‘murican meal: a burger and a Budweiser. The bartender looks annoyed before he leaves the bar and comes back with his order. Why did he leave? Because he works in a German pub that offers only draft beer and sausages. Is Gary happy? Fuck no. He hates burgers and Buds, and is ordering them because he thinks it’s the rural simpleton thing to do. After all, he needs to pander to this crowd in order to convince them to vote for Jack. One side is irritated, and the other depressed because they got something they didn’t even want. All of that money and energy spent to solve nothing and satisfy no one.

When Gary pumps an ungodly amount of SuperPAC money into the mayoral election of such a tiny town, he attracts the attention of vicious Republican strategist Faith (Rose Byrne), who in turn raises millions to support incumbent Mayor Braun (Brent Sexton). Thus, the most unnecessarily roided-up pissing match in American political history begins. In it, Stewart seems honest about the Democratic establishment’s complete lack of sympathy and compassion towards rural America during non-election times, pretending to be on the side of the blue-collar schlub when there are votes to be harvested, ghosting them when they truly need help. Republicans, on the other hand, treat the whole enterprise as a sociopathic videogame where the candidate who snatches the most gold coins and makes the most liberals cry is the ultimate winner. Faith, supported by a chilling performance by Byrne, attaches every sexual urge to this game. In Stewart’s world, and it’s hard not to agree with this, Democrats use the people as pawns, while Republicans throw a bunch of Bibles and American flags at people and tell them to shut their pie holes while the big boys play.