THE CONTENDER (2000) / ***
Directed by Rod Lurie, from his screenplay. Starring Joan Allen, Gary Oldman, Jeff Bridges. Running time: 125 minutes. Rated AA for coarse language by the MFCB. Reviewed on October 28th, 2000.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
One of the most pertinent issues to arise out of the Monica Lewinsky scandal was the question of what information the public has the right to know about its elected officials. Some argue that personal dealings reflect strongly on one's ability to serve their office, while others maintain that public figures should be evaluated solely on the basis of public performance.
Given the hot-button nature of the subject, it was inevitable that it would make the transition to Hollywood and the big screen. The first such film out of the gate is "The Contender", written and directed by Ron Lurie. Although it is by no means an exact parallel of the Lewinsky affair, raising some different concerns and ignoring others (would Clinton have come under such scrutiny if Lewinsky had not been an intern in his employ, for example?), "The Contender" follows it in broad strokes by putting a public official on both public and political trial because of alleged sexual improprieties in her past.
When his vice-president dies midway through his term of office, United States President Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges) finds himself in the position of having to choose a successor. Jack Hathaway (William L Petersen) seems the obvious choice, having recently been labelled a hero by the media for his (failed) effort to save a drowning woman. Furthermore, Hathaway is a good friend of Evans' Republican nemesis, Shelly Runyon (Gary Oldman), who will chair the House committee charged with approving Evans' choice. But Evans, determined to put a woman into the second-most powerful position in the government, opts instead for Senator Laine Hanson (Joan Allen), a former Republican now sitting for the Democrats.
But Hanson's candidacy is threatened when Runyon's investigators uncover photographs and witnesses suggesting that Hanson was at the center of a sex orgy while still in college. When Runyon confronts Hanson about the story during her televised hearings, Hanson refuses to confirm or deny its veracity, averring that it is none of the committee's -- or the public's -- business. It soon appears that Evans may have no choice but to bow to Runyon's wishes by dismissing Hanson and appointing a new vice-presidential candidate.
The first three-quarters of "The Contender" comprises a terrific political drama. Lurie puts into play several absorbing issues, from the obvious questions of whether Hanson's past indiscretions should have any bearing on her becoming vice-president, to the very role of women in politics. Although Lurie's Democratic leanings are hard to overlook, he maintains a reasonably even hand throughout.
Nonetheless, there has been some controversy in the press that Lurie edited "The Contender" to demonise Oldman's character. This simply is not borne out by the movie itself. Shelly Runyon is not a nice man, to be sure -- he is aggressive, manipulative and, it transpires, something of a hypocrite. But he is also a man with strong principles, and it appears that, by and large, he does in fact have the interests of the country at heart, or at least the interests of the way he believes the United States should be. In these days when there seems to be a perpetual fire sale on political belief, as elected officials waver back and forth over the issues for reasons that have nothing to do with their own opinions (if they even possess them), it is gratifying to encounter a man who is willing to stick to his views, even if those views are not necessarily ones we agree with. Oldman's vision of Runyon as the movie's "one true patriot" is not merely rhetoric.
Oldman paints such a vivid character in Runyon, though, that he largely overshadows his fellow castmembers. Despite the complexity of the issues surrounding them, neither Laine Hanson nor Jackson Evans are particularly well-conceived individuals, and neither Allen nor Bridges succeed in overcoming this flaw. Indeed, both characters suffer from the fact that they are defined by the issues, and the issues alone. They do not seem to exist in any sort of greater context.
We are never really convinced, for example, that Hanson really is suitable vice-presidential material. We are told she is, but where is the proof? Laine is on the defensive almost the entire movie, her characterisation revealed only in the way she reacts to others. Her moments of strength are reduced to sound bites. The result is that Allen's performance feels vague and half-formed. It is good on the surface, but lacks real depth. Bridges, meanwhile, never finds his stride as President Evans. He is sometimes buffoonish, sometimes deviously intelligent, and Bridges never manages to merge these aspects into a consistent portrayal. Instead of appearing multi-faceted, Evans seems to suffer from split personalities.
This weakness of character is indicative of the real problem with "The Contender", which becomes plain in its closing moments. This is a movie which is happy to raise issues, but shies away from making any real statements about them beyond the very obvious. After an engrossing ninety minutes of political intrigue, "The Contender" veers suddenly into prosaic speechifying and, worse, an inappropriate deux ex machina ending which sorely undercuts the integrity of the film. True, this plot device allows Lurie to lend a nice sense of closure to the movie. But it is entirely artificial; it eschews the powerful themes set up earlier in the film in favour of a tidy ending.
That said, it is difficult to ignore the potency of "The Contender" as a whole. I have been harsh on the movie, I admit, because I felt the ending was such a disappointing kowtow to cinematic convention. But even despite the mediocre characterisation of some of the leads, "The Contender", for the vast majority of its running time, makes for engrossing viewing. If a movie like this gives its audience pause to reconsider their own attitudes toward their political leaders, that can only be a good thing.
Copyright © 2000 Shannon Patrick Sullivan. Archived at The Popcorn Gallery, http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies/TheContender.html
_______________________________________________________________________ / Shannon Patrick Sullivan | "We are all in the gutter, but some of us \ | shannon@mun.ca | are looking at the stars." - Oscar Wilde | \___________________________|__________________________________________/ | Popcorn Gallery Movie Reviews www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies.html | | Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel) /drwho.html |
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