The first Irresistible trailer for the Jon Stewart comedy stars Steve Carell as a determined Democrat. Once the king of late night TV for many, Stewart has been largely absent from the public eye since leaving his Daily Show duties in 2015.
This isn’t to say Stewart hasn’t kept busy, of course. Shortly after his departure from The Daily Show, HBO announced they would be pairing with the comedian for a new animated parody of cable news. Unfortunately, after moving the release date back several times due to technical issues, the unnamed series from Stewart was eventually cancelled in 2017. Apparently the issue surrounding the turnaround time with news into an animated, up-to-date format simply proved too difficult. Nonetheless, Stewart remained on good terms with HBO and was expected to release a stand up special - his first since 1996 - on the popular network. But of course, Stewart’s skillset exists beyond stand up comedy and hosting late night programs. In 2014, he delivered his first feature film as writer and director: Rosewater. While opinions remain divided on the political drama, it was well received and fans have been waiting ever since for another film from the one-time Daily Show host.
It now appears the wait is almost over, with Stewart’s latest cinematic effort due out in theatres on May 29. The follow up to Rosewater will be Irresistible, and this time Stewart has abandoned drama in favor of comedy. Politics, however, will remain a central issue in the film, which stars Carell as a Democrat political consultant who is determined to lead an outspoken US Marine (Chris Cooper) to a spot as mayor of a small Wisconsin town. The first official trailer for the film has just arrived courtesy of Focus Features and you can check it out below: The film - which Stewart has once again written and directed - is arriving at a time when the U.S. presidential race will undoubtedly be picking up steam. Given Stewart’s reputation as something of a political pundit, this is very likely intentional. There’s plenty of talent on display as well, with Oscar winner Cooper taking up the role of a small town man who stands up for immigrants and catches the eye of Carell’s character, Gary Zimmer. Also on board is comedic favorite Rose Byrne, as well as Natasha Lyonne, Will Sasso, CJ Wilson, Mackenzie Davis and Topher Grace. The plot sounds quite simple as Carell introduces a simple, small town man to the all too often cutthroat realities of American politics, and it’s the relationship between Carell’s character and Byrne’s that appears to be the film’s main comedic engine.
On the surface, Stewart’s latest directorial effort doesn’t really appear to be all that much different than the 2012 Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis political farce, The Campaign. Hopefully Irresistible will prove to have a little more depth, but a film that focuses on political campaigning during an election year is going to be facing a very divided public. That’s likely been quite clear to Stewart from the start, but one has to wonder if Irresistible will be the sort of film that can bear that amount of weight.
