The Front Runner is a dated news story read by someone good at story telling.
In addition to being unoriginal, the news story is unflattering to women, politicians and the press. Basically, it's a bed time story with only ogres, as Hugh Jackman in someone else's borrowed hair portrays a politician upset that the press catches him cheating on his wife multiple times.
While Hugh's award fever smells more like awkward desperation for taking on this role, the film is a technical success. Jason Reitman proves once again that he's a competent director, the movie's shot in 35mm which gives it an authentic, vintage look, and the cast turn in solid performances. Sadly, all of these are wasted on a story that is more suited to Access Hollywood than a feature film.
The Front Runner is pretty good. It's about Gary Hart (Hugh Jackman) who was the front runner for US Democratic Presidential candidate in the late '80s. So the film follows how (spoiler alert) things quickly unravelled for him and his campaign.
I found it a little confusing at first, since I'm not too familiar with the events in question, but it did get rather interesting.
Competently made but barely scratches the thematic surface
Based on the non-fiction book All the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid (2014) by Matt Bai, written for the screen by Bai, Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking; Juno; Tully) , and Jay Carson (Hilary Clinton's former press secretary), and directed by Reitman, The Front Runner tells the story of Colorado senator Gary Hart's doomed 1988 presidential campaign. The most likely candidate to win the Democratic nomination, Hart's reputation was shattered when a Miami Herald story accused him of an extramarital affair, and only three weeks into his campaign, he withdrew from the race. The film presents the events of those weeks as a seismic turning-point; when political journalism and tabloid sensationalism irrevocably fused, when private scandal became just as important to the American public as political acumen, perhaps even moreso. Aspiring to the kind of multi-character canvas of Robert Altman or early Paul Thomas Anderson, The Front Runner recalls Altman's 1988 miniseries, Tanner '88. However, it spreads itself far too thin, trying to take on the perspective of a plethora of characters, yet telling us very little about any of them, least of all Hart himself. And in the end, it fails to work as either a darkly satirical examination of the Hart scandal, or as a socio-political critique of the current constitutional environment in the US.
For my complete review, please visit: https://boxd.it/Cpull
...hmm, not so much.
I'm losing faith in Jason Reitman as a director and wondering when is he gonna make a great movie again. Hugh Jackman dose his best as always, but needs good materiel to earn him any award recognition.
This is an underrated gem that I just stumbled onto while scrolling through Netflix and I think everyone should watch it as it really does show how the media influence any election and having not known this story I have to say that this story is very interesting and I am surprised this film didn't get much love when it came out but I think in years to come it will.
The story revolves around Gary Hart played by Hugh Jackman who as usual gives 100% and shows both sides of this man as he shows Gary Hart the politician but also the behind closed doors Gary Hart who like everyone is flawed but the obsession of the press aim to find every way to deframe this man and the fact that this is a true story is even more eye opening. If you like films like Vice then you will like this film and it is a really quick watch that I really think everyone should give a chance.
Probably more interesting to anybody with an affinity to American politics. It's not a bad film but there wasn't a lot here to engage me.
Despite being a fan of Reitman's work (Up in the Air, Thank You for Smoking), this one didn't land home for me. I know why he wanted to make this movie, the link to the current president (Trump at this moment of writing in 2019) and what character he is as a leader. The one thing they have in common is that they may, or may not, have commited adultery and if that should be taken into account whether or not they are fit to command the oval office. The media prevented Hart from achieving this, but 30 years later Trump managed anyway, despite being a more nefarious character than Hart. It is a clear vision that in only a couple of decades, things can change dramatically.
I've established that I know what he wanted to do. But it did not land. It has a very strong performance by Jackman and Farmiga is passable. It just focusses and zooms in on the wrong things. The story feels like an uphill climb, but the sights up there are not worth the trouble of the journey. I don't feel like I got to know the man Gary Hart, or his family. I didn't feel how big the impact actually was on his campaign and family, the movie only showed it to me.
The only reason it got 6 points is of Jackman's performance, the line it tries to draw with current events and the fact that it was made with technology that was only available in the eighties. Besides that? Meh.
From writer/director Jason Reitman comes the political drama The Front Runner, a compelling look at the Gary Hart sex scandal. The film follows three weeks of Senator Gary Hart’s 1988 presidential campaign when he went from the front runner for the Democratic nomination to a scandal ridden politician who was forced to withdraw after being caught having an extramarital affair. Interestingly though, Reitman doesn’t really focus on the affair, but instead looks at how it forever altered the press; which had previously turned a blind eye to a politician’s womanizing. Particularly relevant to today’s political climate, the film explores what is news and what the public has a right to know. However, it does come off as a little preachy and pro-Hart. Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, JK Simmons, and Sara Paxton lead the cast and deliver some strong performances. And the production designers do a good job at creating an authentic look and feel for the late ‘80s. A thought-provoking biopic, The Front Runner tells an interesting story about the beginning of a culture shift that demanded more openness and accountability of politicians.
Hugh Jackman is good but the movie is not. This would of been better 15 years ago.
Shout by Carlos Fernando IbarraBlockedParent2019-02-19T05:29:49Z
It's an interesting story, that's well acted and portrayed with verve. While the stakes may not seem all that high, or relevant, it's an event that changed the landscape of politics, news and the world really... It also raises some really solid debates and ideas as to what really matters.