The Contender (2000) 1 star out of 4. Starring Joan Allen, Gary Oldman, Jeff Bridges, Christian Slater, Sam Elliott and William Petersen. Written and directed by Rod Lurie. Rated R.
It's bad enough that this year's political campaigns are more about style and sound bytes than substance.
Now we have "The Contender," a pretentious political pot-boiler that will do to political movies what "Roller Boogie" did to disco.
How lame is "The Contender?" Probably the Gore-Bush debates will ignite more sparks and offer more excitement than this tedious, overblown, filibuster of a feature.
Not only that, the movie lacks the courage of its convictions, proving a lame, cop-out ending.
And that is too bad because "The Contender" had potential to be an interesting examination about morals, the double standard and the nuts-and-bolts of political machinations.
Unfortunately, all this was flushed down the toilet to include a stupid subplot about a governor who goes to extreme lengths to try to reach a higher office.
In "The Contender," the vice president has died in office, and now President Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges) must fill his position.
His nominee is a centrist woman senator, Laine Hanson (Joan Allen). The opposition is led by a conservative House elder, Rep. Sheldon Runyan from Illinois (Gary Oldman).
"The Contender" isn't a movie; it's a boring two-hour-plus civics lecture. The characters don't speak dialogue, they spout politically correct slogans guaranteed to warm the cockles of any liberal. It is a movie overbaked with platitudes and clichés about democracy, the rights of privacy and the majesty of government.
Writer-director Rod Lurie has created a ham-fisted, clunky diatribe that is about as entertaining as reading the "Congressional Record." One of his biggest problems is the sanctimonious, self-righteousness that peppers his script. Lurie is as subtle as Roseanne singing `The Star Spangled Banner.'
He despises hypocrisy, male chauvinism and zealots - especially political ones - witch hunts, persecution and McCarthyism. Well, gee, with the exception perhaps of Jesse Helms, who among us doesn't?
In fairness, it should be noted that the actors give their all. Allen is lovely combination of steel and sex as the senator who will not yield on her principles even if it costs her the vice presidency as well as her reputation.
Oldman is not as spontaneous and overripe as he has been in features such as "Air Force One." Of course, he just can't say his lines. He fiddles with his hair, and fusses around as if he's primping for a Mr. Congressman beauty contest.
Bridges gives a sly performance as a president who acts like a good ‘ole boy, but in reality is a shrewd player.
Also featured is Christian Slater as a young congressman with a conscience - an endangered species.
No, in this political season the best thing to do is veto "The Contender." It definitely does not get my vote.
Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at bobbloom@iquest.net. Reviews by Bob Bloom can be found on the Web at the Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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