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President’s Day is right around the corner, and the good news is that there’s no shortage of presidential-themed projects to watch over the course of the holiday weekend. Whether you are looking for a biopic that delves into the individual behind the title, an action-packed thriller, or a film that follows events that surround the presidency from a unique angle, we’ve got you covered with 10 films you will want to watch during the President’s Day weekend.
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10. Vice
For our first pick, we’re looking at the vice presidency of the Bush administration with 2018’s Vice. Vice follows Dick Cheney as he moves from CEO of Haliburton Co. to the Republican running mate of George W. Bush, and the duo would successfully step into the Oval Office, though at that point, the story is really just beginning, as the film then showcases how Cheney starts to wield his new power and the impact that comes with those moves.
Christian Bale steps into the shoes of Cheney, but director Adam McKay assembled an all-star team of talent for the project, including Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney, Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush, and Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld. Vice currently holds a 64% critics’ score and a 61% audience score, and you can stream it on Apple TV.
9. Primary Colors
Next, we are moving to the Clinton Presidency in Mike Nichols’ 1998 film Primary Colors. Primary Colors was adapted from Joe Klein’s novel Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics, which was based on the 1992 Presidential Campaign of Bill Clinton, though the film switches the Clintons to the Stantons. Despite the name change, the Clinton base is still there, and thanks to some powerhouse performances, the campaign and subsequent move into the Oval Office is consistently compelling.
The cast includes John Travolta as Governor Jack Stanton, and the Hilary Clinton role of Susan Stanton is played by Emma Thompson. That’s quite the duo, but the rest of the cast was stacked as well, including Kathy Bates, Billy Bob Thornton, Maura Tierney, and more. The film wasn’t a box office hit, but critics loved it, and it holds an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes along with a 64% audience score. You can stream Primary Colors on Prime Video or Apple TV.
8. Air Force One
For our next entry, we’re moving into the complete world of fiction, and one of the most action-packed entries on this entire list. It may also be the most well-known presidential movie ever, and the film we are speaking of is Wolfgang Petersen’s 1997 film Air Force One.
Air Force One follows Harrison Ford’s President James Marshall through the events of a hijacking of Air Force One, which is the President’s plane. Marshall has made his stance on negotiating with terrorists clear in the past, and now he is faced with that very scenario. That said, he is about to show this group just how deadly an ex-soldier can be, even when he’s outmanned 20 to 1.
Air Force One was a box office hit at the time and has retained its popularity over the years. The film holds a 78% critics’ score and a 66% audience score, and you can watch it right now on Sony Pictures Core or MGM+.
7. The Contender
While Air Force One was a completely fictional story, the Rod Lurie-directed The Contender in 2000 was somewhat inspired by the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal. After the death of the Vice President, President Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges) is tasked with choosing a new Vice President, and instead of the assumed choice for the position, Evans chooses Laine Hanson (Joan Allen).
The film then follows the hurdles and opposition to getting her confirmed, as both houses of Congress have to approve it, and there are people looking to discredit her for the role due to any number of biases and other motives.
This leads to a compelling chess game of moves from both sides, and a talented cast shines throughout, including Bridges, Allen, Gary Oldman, Christian Slater, Sam Elliott, and more. The Contender holds a 76% critics’ score and 73% audience score, and you can stream it right now on Apple TV.
6. Nixon
Moving from fiction back to non-fiction, next up is Oliver Stone’s 1995 film Nixon. As the name implies, the film follows the story and life of President Richard Nixon, and the great Anthony Hopkins steps into the shoes of the former President.
Stone analyzes Nixon’s time as President through a series of flashbacks and audio tape recordings, and it’s framed through the Watergate scandal that ultimately brought down Nixon and cost him the Presidential office. Many aspects of Nixon’s life are examined throughout the film, and like the films earlier in this list, it features a talented cast that includes Hopkins, Joan Allen, and Annabeth Gish.
Nixon received a positive critical reception, and Hopkins was especially praised for his role as Nixon. The film currently enjoys a 78% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes and holds a 74% audience score. You can watch Nixon now on Prime Video.
5. The American President
To be clear, while this is hitting at number 5 on this list, Rob Reiner and Aaron Sorkin’s The American President might just be my personal favorite of the list. The 1993 film is a mix of The West Wing and a rom-com, and as a fan of both, this film was pretty much made for me.
The American President follows President Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas) as he begins his re-election bid, and a popular topic amongst his staff and the country is how he is a lonely widower. That’s when Shepherd meets Sydney Ellen Wade (Annette Bening), and as they start to fall for each other, both of them also have to navigate an important bill that could very much decide whether or not Shepard is re-elected.
The film has only gotten better with time, and is one of my favorites of the Presidential genre. The American President holds a 90% critics’ score and a 77% audience score, and you can stream now on Netflix.
4. The Butler
We’ve had a lot of focus on Presidents as the main characters in this list, but there’s one film that shakes that viewpoint up completely with amazing results. That film is Lee Daniels’ 2013 film The Butler, which stars Forest Whitaker and is based on the real life of Eugene Allen, who worked in the White House for 34 years.
Whitaker’s character is named Cecil Gaines, and the film begins with Gaines revealing his life’s story as he awaits to meet the newest President to take the office. Those events span from 1926, when Gaines was 7, all the way through multiple administrations, including Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and finally Barack Obama.
The Butler brings one of the most unique angles to the Presidency that we’ve seen, and the film features a 72% Critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 78% audience score. You can stream The Butler now on Netflix.
3. All The President’s Men
Just like with The Butler, the Alan J. Pakula-directed All the President’s Men takes a different angle to the presidency, choosing instead to shift the attention to two Washington Post reporters who end up breaking open and ultimately bringing down the Richard Nixon presidency thanks to the Watergate scandal.
All the President’s Men follows the duo of Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) as they begin to investigate a low-priority incident that happened at the Democratic National Committee headquarters. Through their detective work and the help of key informants, they are ultimately able to connect Richard Nixon to the scandal and bring his presidency to a halt, as he would ultimately resign.
All the President’s Men seems to only get better with time, and it currently enjoys a 94% Critics’ score and a 92% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and you can stream the film on Apple TV and Pluto TV.
2. JFK
For our number 2 pick, we once again move to a film that takes place around the presidency but doesn’t feature a President as its main character, at least not in the typical way. One of Oliver Stone’s most famous projects is the 1991 film JFK, which brings together a stellar cast in order to explore the assassination of JFK and the many theories connected to JFK’s death.
JFK follows the investigation into Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas, with Kevin Costner’s District Attorney Jim Garrison leading the investigation. As he starts to gather the facts and explore all the possibilities, he figures out there’s something amiss, and that opinion brings him into direct conflict with the government, which is rather suspicious in and of itself.
Stone brings an all-star cast together, including Costner, Sissy Spacek, Joe Pesci, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Oldman, Laurie Metcalf, Michael Rooker, John Candy, Walter Matthau, Ed Asner, Kevin Bacon, and more. JFK holds an 85% Critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 88% audience score, and you can stream it on Apple TV and The Roku Channel.
1. Lincoln
One of the most celebrated portraits of a President in recent years is the Steven Spielberg-directed Lincoln, which features Daniel Day-Lewis stepping into the shoes of President Abraham Lincoln. The 2012 film was positively received by critics and audiences alike, who all praised Day-Lewis’s performance as one of the most iconic United States Presidents.
The film takes place in January of 1865 as Lincoln attempts to pass the Thirteenth Amendment before the American Civil War ends and the slave states return, as he fears those states will go against it and ultimately defeat it if they wait until the end of the American Civil War. It’s a fascinating look at the man behind the iconic name and place he holds in history.
Lincoln holds an 89% Critics’ score and an 80% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and can be streamed in a variety of places, including Hulu, FuboTV, Sling TV, Prime Video, and YouTube TV.
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