The Contender
Cast
Gary Oldman as Rep. Sheldon 'Shelly' Runyon
Joan Allen as Sen. Laine Hanson
Jeff Bridges as President Jackson Evans
Christian Slater as Rep. Reginald Webster
Sam Elliott as Kermit Newman
Directed by Rod Lurie
Rater #2 has decription and review
Rater #1
Has Not Seen movie
Rater #2
7/10. Rod Lurie's The Contender begins with a bang when a car drives over a
pier and into the water where Governor Jack Hathaway (William L.
Petersen) is fishing. He tries to save her but fails. Meanwhile,
President Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges) needs to appoint a vice
president, since his just died. He's been in office for six-and-a-
half years, and will appoint one as a "swan song". So, after
Hathaway's act of heroism, he seems like a shoo-in, right? Nope,
since Evans is thinking of appointing Senator Laine Hanson (Joan
Allen), much to the dismay of many, including Representative Shelly
Runyon (Gary Oldman).
Runyon and others don't want a female vice president, so they go and
try to dig up dirt about Hanson's past. They finally conjure up a
shocking sex thing from college. Rather than admit it, Hanson says
that it isn't appropriate and "nobody would care how many people a
man had sex with in college."
The Contender is an enthralling political mystery. It takes many
twists and turns that you wouldn't expect. The ending is a nice but
low-key slap-in-the-face, with it trying to squeeze a moral into it
somewhere. Where most political movies have flaws, this one does,
also. First off, they throw in too many characters for their own
good. Not having enough is a problem, but too many is worse, because
it will confuse, and ultimately bore, your viewers. I'm not saying,
in any way, that The Contender is boring, but if they had toned down
on the number of characters it would have been better.
I thought Allen was great-she displayed the right amount of
sensitivity, and cunning, that this role needed. She may not be the
largest name in Hollywood, but she is a respected actress. Oldman was
great, also-I thought he looks somewhat like Woody Allen (*sheepish
grin*). His vileness seemed true. Bridges took off from his normal
comedic-type roles (although he did have a few funny parts), and also
displayed talent.
Christian Slater played a role of Representative Webster, someone who
seemed to get very involved in the whole scandal. Slater, to me,
seems like a man whose name I know of and I know has been around for
a while but I haven't actually seen a movie with him. Now that isn't
true. I enjoyed him in this role. The intelligent script (written by
the director), which, at first, seems simple, snowballs into
directions you wouldn't expect, and it's fun (I guess you could say).
I read that directed Lurie was an atheist, which he incorporated into
the movie (Hanson is one). While I respect his decision, I thought it
was kind of shameless promotion (not the best words). You can see how
this situation parallels the government of today. You can actually
feel for Hanson, which I was glad for, because for movies like this
you need to get into the characters. Unfortunately, we couldn't do
that with supporting ones. There's some dude named Kermit, and Saul
Rubinek is some government person. But who? Don't ask me.
The Contender is a very interesting and entertaining movie not
without flaws but is still enjoyable.
Rater #3
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #4
Has Not Seen Movie
Rated R for strong sexual content and language.
Running time: 126 minutes
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