A movie that was enjoyable enough but won’t be a Front Runner this awards season.
October of last year, I’m about to watch Venom, beforehand a trailer comes on for Hugh Jackman‘s upcoming movie ‘The Front Runner’ and it’s fair to say I’m hyped up straight off the bat. High expectation is a dangerous game, get Hugh Jackman, put him in a political drama and release it early January and you’ll have me convinced I’m about to see a multi-award winning masterpiece.
Front Runner is not a masterpiece.
The Front Runner, directed by Juno director Justin Reitman is about democratic nominee Gary Hart leading substantially in his quest for the 1988 presidential nomination, before tabloid papers uncover a scandal that put’s that all at risk.
I’d imagine some may already know the rest.
The first thing you notice fairly early on with this film is pacing, and it’s a problem. At least early on in the film.
The film tries to pack in as much as possible in to the first hour or so, almost as a way of setting up the character, there’s some entertaining parts, scenes, performances etc. but by and large it comes across as slightly chaotic.
When the film get’s down to the nitty gritty elements of not only the main plot line but the main theme however that’s when this movie shines. Once you move past the hectic first hour it’s much smoother and makes for a great watch which really bring out the performance of some of the main characters. I also really liked the dry humour used throughout.
As for the technical aspects theres nothing really of great note, there’s two shots in particular I liked, one being the very start of the movie at one at the very end.
What I really like about this movie, and what I think The Front Runner does particularly well is the central theme and the questions that it raises. The central theme of Front Runner is ethics.
The ethics of a politician, if they should be held to a higher standard than the average person to hold public office and as such be damaged more by poor life choices.
The ethics of the press, should these public figures have a right to privacy?And how far is too far when some sections of the press are desperate for a story or a new angle? The film explores the rise of tabloid journalism and conveys this period of time as a real turning point in which more ‘reputable’ papers such as the Washington Post begin to cross that particular line
Lastly the film explores the hypocrisy of public opinion, how much leeway figures such as JFK got from the press given his own actions, and why a host of politicians past, present and most probably the future get away with such misconduct in their life, while others such as Gary Hart aren’t so lucky.
As for performances, well Hugh Jackman does it again, his uncanny portrayal as Gary Hart really lifts the movie, in particular the more political heavy scenes which I feel he gets spot on. However two performances of note for me were J.K. Simmons and , who I feel really stands out, Molly Ephraim who plays aide Irene Kelly. Ephraim uses her screen time to great effect delivering an excellent performance which is really personified by the fact that despite her limited screen time, her character feels like a big presence throughout the middle/end of The Front Runner.
Overall I can’t say I didn’t enjoy this movie, and despite it’s flaws I would still recommend at the very least because of the message the film portrays, the next political film I’m hyped for is Vice though so please give me an improvement!
Story:7/10
Acting: 8/10
Technical 6/10
Overall, The Front Runner: 6.5/10
Above The Line 