Photos by Walt Disney Studios

Kevin Costner is an ordinary citizen who is thrust into the spotlight after he is exposed as the tiebreaker in a Presidential election.

Kelsey Grammer plays Republican incumbent for President Andrew Boone.

Photo courtesy of James Maxey

Roanoke-born author James Maxey released "Dragonforge," the second book in his fantasy series, in July.

It's been clear since 2000, when the presidential election was decided not by the voters but by the Supreme Court, that the American electoral system is busted.

Now comes "Swing Vote," a funny and touching movie that posits an even worse-case scenario: an election in which the vote of one ill-informed, beer-swilling redneck decides who gets the big desk in the Oval Office.

That person is decidedly Bud Johnson, portrayed by Kevin Costner in a winning variation on the likeable losers he played so well in "Bull Durham" and "Tin Cup."

Bud's a single dad who lives in Texico, New Mexico. When he hasn't been fired and it doesn't interfere with fishing and drinking his namesake beer, he works in an egg-packing plant. Bud regularly disappoints his precocious 12-year-old daughter, Molly, who shares his rundown trailer and loves him anyway.

It's an action by Molly that transforms her dad -- a man who doesn't know the candidates, much less the issues -- into the person who will single-handedly decide the election. This is statistically improbable but apparently possible, at least in the clever screenplay by Jason Richman and director Joshua Michael Stern.

Anyway, when his identity is revealed, Bud is besieged by hordes of reporters, special interest groups, both presidential candidates and their campaign entourages.

Republican incumbent Andrew Boone is played by Kelsey Grammer, Democratic challenger Donald Greenleaf by Dennis Hopper. Both are decent men who are victimized by a system that pushes them to compromise their values in order to win.

During a 10-day panderfest to claim Bud's vote, they glibly abandon principles and previous positions and lend themselves to satirical campaign commercials that are laugh-out-loud funny.

Both actors deliver appealing performances, though Hopper, a notorious Hollywood outlaw back in the day, seems a wee bit less comfortable than his counterpart as a member of the political establishment.

Representing the worst of American politics -- the willingness to do anything to win -- are the candidates' campaign managers, played by Nathan Lane and Stanley Tucci. Like the other principals, most definitely including Madeline Carroll, they deliver bulls-eye performances. Casting is a huge strength for "Swing Vote."

Cameos by perhaps a dozen real network and cable talking heads are part of the mix, as is a powerful single scene featuring Mare Winningham as Molly's thoroughly messed-up mother. Paula Patton plays a television reporter who breaks one big story but turns her back on an even bigger one.

"Swing Vote" is part political satire, part father-daughter relationship story and part civics lesson (Your vote is important!). Comedy and drama offset each other neatly, with a welcome tilt toward the funny side.

Whereas a lesser movie might collapse under the weight of so many ingredients, this one manages to blend them into a tasty and timely election-year mix.