The Front Runner
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, J.K. Simmons
Directed by: Jason Reitman
Rated: R
You’ve seen his circus act as The Greatest Showman. You’ve heard him sing while fleeing Russell Crowe as Jean Valjean. You’ve witnessed his sharp claws in Wolverine. Now it’s time for Hugh Jackman’s most challenging role yet…a politician!
The Frontrunner follows Gary Hart’s 1988 presidential campaign that was eventually derailed when he was caught cheating on his wife. The film looks to expose how “tabloid culture” has a massive effect on politics. Directed by Jason Reitman, The Front Runner is a messy film. The narrative is all over the place jumping from character-to-character and ironically, failing to give an interesting character profile on Gary Hart himself. Besides the cheating scandal, we never find out too much about him. There are several opportunities to learn more about Gary Hart (What are his policies? How did he become the front runner? How is he going to be president when all he does is yell at everyone about staying out of his business?), but Reitman uses the majority of the film as an indictment of the media.
The acting in The Front Runner helps to elevate a messy film.
Hugh Jackman begins the film subdued as Gary Hart, but as his motives are questioned it’s as though he’s stuck in a pressure cooker situation. It’s like watching a ticking time bomb to see how much he can handle until he explodes. There’s a particularly good scene at a press conference between Hart and a journalist that showcases the anxiety, tension and deception surrounding the situation.
Vera Farmiga is Lee Hart, Gary’s wife. She plays the role quite well, making us feel sympathy for a character we don’t even know too much about. I would have appreciated if the film explored a bit more of her and Gary’s relationship. There are hints thrown around about them, but we don’t really know that much about the state of their marriage.
J.K. Simmons plays Bill Dixon, the manager of Gary Hart’s campaign. Most of his scenes involve strategizing with the campaign staff. A lot of the dialogue surrounding these scenes felt very forced and a bit awkward. There were moments where the staff tried to be funny and it didn’t land. There were other moments where the dialogue tried too hard to sound cerebral and fast paced, but it just didn’t work. The best way I can describe it is it attempts to reach the heights of an Aaron Sorkin script, but fails.
The Front Runner looks to explore a chapter in history when an election turned into a media circus. Although it offers some insight into the journalism vs. tabloid debate, it fails to offer an intriguing look at “The Front Runner” himself.
My Rating: 6/10