Speechless is a 1994 romantic comedy

Romantic Comedy

Romantic Comedy can refer to* Romantic Comedy , a 1979 play written by Bernard Slade* Romantic Comedy , a 1983 film adapted from the play and starring Dudley Moore and Mary Steenburgen...

 film directed by Ron Underwood

Ron Underwood

Ronald Brian "Ron" Underwood is an American film director.-Early Life:-Early career :-Mainstream breakthrough :-Filmography:...

. It stars Geena Davis

Geena Davis

Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis is an American actress, film producer, writer, former fashion model, and a women's Olympics archery team semi-finalist...

 (who also co-produced with her then-husband, director Renny Harlin

Renny Harlin

Renny Harlin is a Finnish-American film director and producer. He is best known for Die Hard 2 , Cliffhanger , The Long Kiss Goodnight and Deep Blue Sea...

), Michael Keaton

Michael Keaton

Michael John Douglas , better known by the stage name Michael Keaton, is an American actor known for his early comedic roles, most notably his performance as the title character of Tim Burton's Beetlejuice . Keaton is also famous for his dramatic portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Tim Burton's...

, Bonnie Bedelia

Bonnie Bedelia

Bonnie Bedelia Culkin is an American actress best known for her supporting roles in the action film Die Hard and the courtroom drama Presumed Innocent...

, Ernie Hudson

Ernie Hudson

Ernest Lee "Ernie" Hudson is an American actor known for his roles as Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters film series, Sergeant Albrecht in The Crow, and Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's Oz.-Early life:...

 and Christopher Reeve

Christopher Reeve

Christopher D'Olier Reeve was an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author and activist...

.

Plot

Julia Mann (Davis) and Kevin Vallick (Keaton) are insomniac writers who fall in love, but their romance is thrown for a loop because both are writing speeches for rival candidates in a New Mexico

New Mexico

New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

 election. Julia is working for the Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 candidate and Kevin for the Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 candidate.

Also complicating matters are Kevin's ex-wife (Bedelia), who is also on the Republican campaign trail, and "Mr. Flack Jacket," television reporter "Bagdad Bob" Freed (Reeve), Julia's estranged fiance, who wants her back.

Views

The movie focuses on two speechwriters for different senatorial candidates in the state of New Mexico

New Mexico

New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

. The film is tied up with the American senatorial election of 1994

United States Senate elections, 1994

The U.S. Senate election, 1994 was an election held on November 8, in which the Republican Party was able to take control of the Senate from the Democrats. In a midterm election, the opposition Republicans held the traditional advantage...

 where only 53 percent voted. It tries to find the roots of the problem by showing how candidates battle for election by undermining each others' efforts.

Reception

The film received mostly negative reviews from critics, with Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

 giving Speechless a 12% rating.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack

Soundtrack

A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...

 included "2 Sides", a track taken from James Armstrong

James Armstrong (musician)

James Armstrong is an American soul blues and electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He has released three albums to date on HighTone Records...

's 2000 album, Got It Goin' On.