Review: The Front Runner
For those who have grown up in an era of the 24/7 news cycle, tabloid journalism and Donald Trump, it would seem quaint that a presidential candidate would be brought down by a mere extra-marital dalliance. Yet that is exactly what happened to Colorado Senator Gary Hart, who was poised to become the next president of the United States before his adulterous affair with one Donna Hart scuppered his chances.
Hart wasn't the first politician who had been dogged with rumours of infidelity - the press would historically look the other way - but he was arguably the first to have his affair deemed newsworthy, resulting in a shift in campaign news coverage. Hart himself didn't help matters - inherently a man who believed that what he did in his personal life was no one's business but his own, he failed to recognise not only how powerful a weapon the press was but how he could use his own personal magnetism to sway both the press and the public. It was a lesson surely learned by Bill Clinton, who weathered more than his share of scandal during his presidencies.
The Front Runner, based on Matt Bai's 2014 book All the Truth is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid, chronicles the three weeks in which Hart went from the leading front runner in the 1988 presidential race to disgraced footnote. Told in Altmanesque style by director Jason Reitman, the film immerses audiences in the three-ring circus that surrounded the notoriously guarded Hart, who is happy to engage in political discourse but bristles at having to be a show pony by posing for magazine photo shoots. This section of the film may be its most propulsive as it weaves its way through the various figures in Hart's life, whether it be his long-suffering but ever-forgiving wife Lee (Vera Farmiga) and their teenage daughter Andrea (Kaitlyn Dever), his campaign manager Bill Dixon (J.K. Simmons) as he strategises with other members of Hart's campaign, and Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee (Alfred Molina) going over news stories with his staff, including A.J. Parker (Mamoudou Athie), who would be reporting from the campaign trail.
The integrity of the Post's coverage and its hesitancy to dip its toes in the burgeoning scandal is contrasted with the opportunistic Miami Herald, whose reporter Tom Fielder (Steve Zissis) exposed Hart's dalliance with Rice. Perhaps one of the more unsettling and on-the-nose moments in the film is when Fielder and fellow Herald reporter (Bill Burr) confront Hart in an alley near his D.C. townhouse and pepper him with questions as their photographer snaps away, the flashbulbs almost like bullets symbolising the damage as it's being done. Efforts by Hart's team to contain the fallout are compelling, but the film could have used more moments such as the exchange between Hart and his wife. For one thing, it allows for more screen time for the underused Farmiga, who nevertheless makes maximum impact in her few scenes. For another, it also provides an opportunity to appreciate Hugh Jackman's richly textured performance. There are times when the bluster of the film undermines his performance, but in these quieter moments, one can see the complexities of a most fallible man.
The Front Runner
Directed by: Jason Reitman
Written by: Matt Bai, Jason Reitman, Jay Carson; based on the book All the Truth is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid by Matt Bai
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, J.K. Simmons, Alfred Molina, Sara Paxton, Mamoudou Athie, John Bedford Lloyd, Spencer Garrett, Bill Burr, Steve Coulter, Ari Graynor, Kaitlyn Dever, Toby Huss, Steve Zissis, Mike Judge, Kevin Pollak, Mark O'Brien, Alex Karpovsky, Tommy Dewey
