|
A vote for 'The Contender'
This partisan drama doesn't hide its liberal bias, but moviegoers of any political stripe can enjoy its strong performances and compelling story.
By STEVE PERSALL
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 12, 2000
Photo: DreamWorks Pictures]
Joan Allen makes Laine Hanson an imposing victim, hard-shelled but with a fragile soul.
|
It's the nature of American politics that someone will gripe about The Contender, a verbose potboiler that doesn't mind stamping bad guys with scarlet letters spelling out GOP.
After all, it's from Hollywood, the glitzy refuge of liberal thinkers seeking campaign donations, so what do you expect? Being a registered Democrat isn't necessary to enjoy Rod Lurie's film, but it would probably help.
However, Lurie's partisanship is one of the strengths of The Contender, creating a rare political drama naming names when possible, making transparent comparisons when needed. Beliefs about real issues and scandals give viewers personal links to the drama, to either swoon or scoff but always care about what's happening.
Slanted, yet stimulating.
Lurie's version of the perfect president is Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges), a compassionate Democrat with Kennedy's charm and Clinton's appetite for food and a legacy. His swan song will be a vice presidential appointment, after the death of his former running mate. Evans wants the choice to matter, picking Sen. Laine Hanson (Joan Allen) as the first woman to serve in such a high position.
Photo: DreamWorks Pictures]
In The Contender, Jeff Bridges plays the most electable movie president since Kevin Kline’s Dave.
|
First, Hanson must pass through congressional confirmation hearings. Her appointment is immediately opposed by Sen. Shelly Runyon (Gary Oldman), who orders a private investigation into Hanson's personal life. It uncovers an alleged sexual indiscretion when Hanson was a college freshman, ripe material for a smear campaign.
How that defamation of character occurs is the core of The Contender. Runyon collects figurative knives for Hanson's back, then doles them out to others for slashing, publicly keeping his hands clean. Even his addressing Hanson as "the distinguished gentlelady" is a slap. Lurie makes him a hissable demagogue, with diplomatic insults and subtle grandstanding, a petty man with power. Republican, of course.
Hanson takes Runyon's blindside hits with more dignity than defiance. She refuses to dish back any dirt, even when Evans' aides set the table. Hanson claims, rightfully, that what may have happened when she was 18 is nobody's business now. Lurie gives her plenty of chances to eloquently express her political views -- pro-choice, anti-gun, pro-people -- while retaining her bipartisan sainthood.
But the sexual topic opens the door to other aspects of Hanson's personal life that threaten her confirmation. Her words get turned against her, her past political decisions misinterpreted, all under Runyon's shield of "a new birth of national honesty and decency."
The Contender is an engrossing battle of sound bites and cloakroom dealing, no matter how you vote. Lurie, a former film critic, has a good ear for credible dialogue tinted with research. Every character, even Runyon, gets at least one scene that humanizes them. Like TV's The West Wing, this film is a civics lesson disguised as melodrama, reassuring us that politicians are people, too.
The film is a likely contender for Academy Awards (mostly California voters, you know), and three performances deserve that consideration.
Allen should be a front runner for making Hanson an imposing victim, hard-shelled with a fragile soul beneath the decorum. The script and performance raise doubts about her character's ability to handle the job Evans proposes. Allen keeps Hanson on an even keel, never hysterical or angry, and always as curious about the outcome as Lurie wants the audience to be.
Oldman is nearly unrecognizable as Runyon, balding and devious, with Midwestern folksiness. This is a great addition to his gallery of film rogues, a fearless twerp whom we demand to see brought down.
Bridges makes Evans the most electable movie president since Kevin Kline's Dave, mixing comic relief with left-wing righteousness. His sincere expressions are scene-stealers, whether forcing a power play or enjoying the perks of a White House chef.
The Contender never hides Lurie's respect for Democratic ideals and disdain for anyone across the aisle. Concerned parties demanding equal time should build their own movie studio.
The Contender
- Grade: A-
- Director: Rod Lurie
- Cast: Joan Allen, Gary Oldman, Jeff Bridges, Christian Slater, Sam Elliott, William Petersen
- Screenplay: Rod Lurie
- Rating: R; profanity, sexual situations, brief nudity, mild violence
- Running time: 126 min.
Back to Weekend
© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111
|
