Worried about disappointing the loyal readers of his internet blog, a political activist decides to make good on a promise he made to move to Canada if George W. Bush was reelected in this Canada/US co- production starring Breckin Meyer. The film is overloaded with political debate (and lots of anti-Bush sentiment), however it nevertheless makes Meyer's road trip less a political one and more a journey of self-discovery in which he learns to be proud to be an American while dealing with personal issues that surface after stopping off at his parents' house along the way. He also learns to become more humble throughout, having built up a false self-image as an important person in the political scene purely due to some campaign work and a blog with a smaller audience than he ever realised. What exactly Anna Paquin's character has to do with his self-discovery journey is less clear. Her role in the narrative is awkward from the get-go with Meyer desperate for companionship as he drives up to Canada. Paquin's character admittedly comes with a few twists that one might not see coming, but the romantic tension between the pair is extremely formulaic and subtracts from Meyer's character growth. All in all, 'Blue State' is a film with enough in it to possibly be worth a look, but with a singular protagonist and a tighter story, it may have been a lot more than just that.

The summary for this movie sounded promising. Immediately following the two consecutive Bush elections there was, indeed-- if the media is to be believed-- somewhat of an exodus of Democrats heading north. Whether these "disgruntled Democrats" were political activists, or just scared, is beside the point. It's a story that I think begged to be told.I'm an American citizen who has lived in Canada many years. I would advise the writer/director, if he is to succeed in any way, shape or form, in depicting characters beyond his borders, that he do some research. If he had used such shameless stereotypes in portraying Indian or Chinese citizens he would have been a laughing stock, if not blacklisted. I thought "Knocked Up" set the bar in that regard in the last couple of years, but Blue State wins the award. I've never seen so many ridiculous stereotypes utilized in the space of nearly two painful hours. This movie didn't just stumble into the indignity, it took every opportunity to embrace it. For what? To make their American characters look good and reasoned and noble? As an American, I was thoroughly embarrassed.This movie was outright offensive to Canadians and informed Americans; in particular, *real* political activists who wouldn't have succumbed to a pretty face, but may have had a more serious agenda in mind. I would have liked to see a much more thoughtful exploration of the lead characters, living at a time of great political conflict, in a more realistic setting, not this backwards gong show disguised as a politically aware love story. To be perfectly frank, this movie is a perfect example of why Americans have such a hard time endearing themselves to people outside their borders. It is self-serving, ill-informed, arrogant crap. It may have tried to depict the characters returning home as a result of their own political/emotional conflicts, but it ended up looking like a narrow escape from a life in the circus, i.e. Canada.The writer/director completely missed the mark, here. And may have offended a few million people in the process. Not that a few million would have even bothered to see this movie. I certainly hope not.

UPDATE- check out "RED STATE"(2011) movie; a great parallel to "BLUE STATE"The feature tries to inoculate the concept that IF you are an activist , you must be so because YOU ARE NOT NORMAL(Anna Paquin is being used as the ROLE MODEL, apparently the ONLY sane American in the feature.) this is targeting young people by trying to confuse their perceptions of anything that IS "white" OR "black". (warning)first i must say that i am Canadian by assimilation, and while not having an American voting card, i was just as disappointed of George bush re-election as man others were, especially since his actions in oval office DO have a global impact no matter where you live. "blue state" is exactly about this, more precisely about A disgruntled "democrat" that after the re-elections of 2004 is on his way to Canada, running away from g.w.b because his vote "did not matter".why 2 stars? because this movie attempts to play on my feelings, from "incentives" such as a pretty woman (by the way god forbid for anyone to have such a girlfriend) to "happy endings"(no matter how unhappy this administration could make you). also it is very racist and anti-Canadian.basically over 1 hour of "liberal" and Canadian sympathy that turns into a HATE movie against all the above. (just cant believe that the director would make the only black man in the feature a TERRORIST in concept. WOW, have not seen such covered racism in a while...) . I CAN NOT BELIEVE THEY MAKING A MOCKERY OF THE Canadian PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM by implying that IF YOU JOIN THE US ARMY YOU CAN HAVE A BETTER ONE(health care)...WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER MILLIONS Americans THAT HAVE NU SUCH DARK "PASSIONS" or can NOT easily be lied to? if you are a CONSERVATIVE, you will likely love this movie and i mean that literally, if watch it all..if you are an anti-bush activist you will certainly dislike it (again, must see it entirely.surprisingly, on the feature's artistic merits, i was quiet WELL pleased UNTIL THE LAST 20-30 MINUTES!. 5 minutes of watching THIS got me hooked up at first. while it is not a "fast" movie per-see, it is VERY rich in ideas and thoughts including self induced criticism.Breckin Meyer plays excellent and seems very comfortable in the character's skin. his attitude creates quiet many comic aspects without getting anywhere close to the "geek" side(and make some mockery out of this). he is also very passionate in a very passive-aggressive way.he represents quit well the typical north American male just as much as Anna Paquin represents its female counterpart. the whole production is targeting Americans only since there are MANY "clichés" that could not easily be applied even to Canadian "lifestyles" for example( then think the rest of the non-English world...). towards Canadians like myself there are plenty of insults (from the the marry-a-Canadian matrimonial agency in its objective or , the Canadian border officer that dislikes American beer because it tastes like "s--t",etc).at times i was not sure if this production took "cheap" shots at me or other Canadians, but regardless, the director did it with "gusto" and i can appreciate that until the twist that makes the whole feature PURE PRO-PRESENT ADMINISTARTION PROPAGANDA.(even the ideas in the movie imply that "bush" OR "kerry" are THE SAME THING) for example i had nor seen or heard of "40 inch" size pizza order, looks hilarious do)). so many clichés about how Canadians have good times at parties drinking tons of beer apparently, he he. or the "tall poppy syndrome" joke that had me burst laughing)))).two poor sensitive Americans being exposed to all this that is Canadian and the Canadians themselves, apparently still having that old fashioned "cave" mentality .check also the quick argument about universal health care in US ARMY...jaw-breaking and disgusting shameless advertisement. there are a couple of scenes that will hit your emotional perceptions quiet strongly. the dialogues are witty, and REALISTIC as seen or heard from "public" versus "private" eye opposing views. a great deal of naivety versus maturity; a real life condition versus a desired one.the last 20 minutes are a complete racist,xenophobe and naive RIDE hidden within a romantic and stereotype nutshell.one scene i did not find appealing at all ; when a black man says (why had to be black, again with stereotypes??)"i wish that m... dead, look at me i am running from my own country like a refugee" and Anna Paquin hears that......she gives this "superior" stance, very irritating, of a superior "moralist" she sees herself as.it gets WORSE after ...i CAN NOT BELIEVE i actually wasted my time to watch this, even if i loved most of the movie until it tried to TWIST everything up!(especially from the comments made by the American loving in Canada for 35 years because he ran away from the draft in Vietnam)

Eager to tell a story certain aspects of the plot and characters can take a back seat to a film's desire to push the plot.The film was successful, however, I feel like proper pacing and better character development would have helped.The political rhetoric, name and fact dropping get old after a while mostly because their analysis is only surface deep. A desire for more thought provoking facts could have helped validate the hero's desire.Overall acting felt tense and awkward which made the craft more noticeable and made it difficult to let go of the actor's fame.It's a unique film in it's story and arguably would have been better in a more independent circuit or with less known actors. An overall style or unique artifact was desired and severely missed.