It's plain all along that Stewart has little interest in his characters and their troubles except as a means for him to score didactic points, primarily about the evils of unrestricted campaign financing.

I don't think it works well as a drama or a comedy. It's not especially funny... There's a good message here, but it's buried under a lot of stuff that doesn't work.

In desperate need of ruthless incisiveness, it goes soft at every turn.

You know what's not irresistible? This movie.