SPOILER ALERT: the following article contains massive spoilers, including the ending. If you have not yet seen the movie, proceed at your own risk, or better, come back to this article later!
A Democratic political consultant helps a retired Marine colonel run for mayor in a small Wisconsin town.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Irresistible Plot Summary and Synopsis
Plunged into despair by the results of the 2016 presidential election, veteran Democratic Party campaign consultant Gary Zimmer is shown a viral video of retired Marine Col.
Jack Hastings giving a speech standing up for the undocumented immigrant population of his hometown of Deerlaken, Wisconsin.
Calculating that getting Hastings elected as a Democrat in Deerlaken’s upcoming mayoral election will help him convince the American people in the heartland to vote Democrat in the next presidential election, Zimmer travels to Wisconsin to persuade Hastings to run. Arriving in Deerlaken, Gary experiences the vast cultural divide between his home of Washington, D.C. and the townspeople’s more rural mannerisms and political beliefs.
Gary soon meets Hastings and his daughter Diana and pitches his idea. Hastings initially declines, considering himself more of a conservative and having no real interest in politics, but later relents and agrees to run under the condition that Gary serve as his campaign manager. Hastings recruits his friends and neighbors as volunteers for the campaign.
However, setbacks soon arise such as limited Wi-Fi, xenophobia, social conservatism, and the fact that the incumbent mayor, Braun, is being funded by the Republican National Committee. The RNC also sends down Faith Brewster, Gary’s nemesis, to counter Gary.
As the race heats up, Gary takes Jack to New York City so they can recruit fundraisers for the campaign to match Faith’s money and resources. Jack gives a powerful speech to the possible donors about how he needs their help for his small town, which inspires Gary.
Their donations allow Gary to upgrade their campaigning methods. Soon the election polls show the two candidates neck-and-neck, although the Hastings campaign takes a dive when one of Gary’s team members advertises a pro-contraceptive platform to a group of single women who turn out to be nuns. When Gary starts berating his teammates, Diana convinces him to apologize and that if he is going to run her father’s campaign, he needs to be nice.
When it starts to look like Faith and Braun are going to win, Gary tries to convince Jack and Diana to play dirty and start exploiting Braun’s skeletons. Diana is horrified that Gary would play dirty and secretly goes to Braun for advice. The two decide to secretly reveal a bigger scandal about Braun so Gary will not go after Braun’s brother, which was his original plan. The scandal, however, proves to be false.
On Election Day, no one votes, which confuses both Gary and Faith. It quickly becomes clear that the election was actually a setup. Diana reveals she masterminded the entire scheme, filming the video of her father’s immigration speech (which was carefully scripted) so that the Democrats and Republicans would pour thousands of dollars into the election; the town has been quietly siphoning the money to get through its financial troubles due to the recent closure of a nearby military base.
Gary is shocked that Diana would play him and Diana then counters by explaining the town had no choice but to set him up because D.C. politicians play small towns like theirs all the time while doing nothing to help when times are tough. When Gary reveals that he has feelings for Diana, she rejects him.
Irresistible Ending
Later, Diana becomes the mayor of Deerlaken after a special election, while Gary and Faith begin dating.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0).