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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.
Rated R for strong sexual content and language.
Review Date: December 24, 2002
