Rose Byrne and Steve Carell star in a scene from the 2020 movie "Irresistible." The Catholic News Service classification is A-III -- adults. (CNS/Daniel McFadden, Focus Features)

By Catholic News Service

After a video of his impassioned speech to a meeting of the town council in his small, cash-strapped Wisconsin farming community comes to the attention of a high-powered Democratic Party strategist (Steve Carell), a retired Marine colonel (Chris Cooper) agrees to run for mayor if the Washington-based pol will stay in the Badger State and personally supervise his campaign. With the operative skillfully stirring things up, the race becomes the focus of a national media frenzy that only intensifies with the arrival of his longtime Republican adversary (Rose Byrne).

TV comedian Jon Stewart writes and directs a clever satire that lampoons both the cynicism underlying the current electoral system and the cultural divide separating the coasts from the heartland. He also works in some innocent romance as the adviser falls for his candidate’s daughter (Mackenzie Davis).

A couple of profanities, about a dozen milder oaths, frequent rough and crude language, sexual references, obscene gestures. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

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