The Front Runner
Directed by:
Jason ReitmanCinematography:
Eric SteelbergComposer:
Rob SimonsenCast:
Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, J.K. Simmons, Mamoudou Athie, Molly Ephraim, Kaitlyn Dever, Alfred Molina, Josh Brener, Bill Burr, Chris Coy, Oliver Cooper (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
With Thank You for Smoking and Up in the Air, writer-director Jason Reitman displayed a rare gift for weaving charged political and social themes into intelligent and entertaining comedy-dramas. His latest, written with Matt Bai and Jay Carson, takes on the 1988 tabloid scandal that derailed Gary Hart’s presidential campaign. Hugh Jackman is remarkably convincing as the senator who is perhaps too interested in ideas and policies to succeed in a changing media culture. Vera Farmiga is quietly heartbreaking as his wife; J.K. Simmons plays the campaign manager unable to persuade the candidate to turn himself into a TV commodity. (Telluride Film Festival)
(more)Reviews (1)
Reitman can do better. It surprises me how fragmented this movie seems and it’s rather a shame that it doesn’t take a clear stance. As it is, we aren’t on anyone’s side, or rather we viewers take a side, but that results in some of the sequences seeming boring or annoying. So, does it matter in the climax if Hart is a philanderer or if this fact makes him worse as the president? No, it doesn’t. Not enough emphasis is placed on the story about how the media destroyed a capable and intelligent person who was just right for his job and prevented him from “helping the world". We should have seen that final, prophetic speech live and not just on TV. Intelligent people prefer not to enter politics anymore. Jackman is excellent, of course.
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