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THE CONTENDER Send This Review to a Friend
Smartly written and timely in an election year, "The Contender," showcased at the Toronto International Film Festival before its general release, is steeped in political intrigue whirling around a woman U.S. Senator appointed Vice President to fill a sudden vacancy. After a barrage of cynical, vicious maneuvers by her opponents in the confirmation process, the final twist comes from the President, who is a wily operator in his own right. The ending is steeped in wish-fulfilling morality.
Not very likely, given what we know about the state of national affairs. The glib final uprightness undercuts the rest of the film, which is far more credible as well as consistently entertaining. Still, why begrudge a passionate plea for much-need principle and ethics, as well as a clarion call for equal treatment of women? The heart of "The Contender" is squarely in the right place even if its credibility is sometimes askew.
Joan Allen, one of our best stage and screen actresses, comes into her own in the chief role of Laine Hanson, the senator who is pilloried with smear tactics, including photographs allegedly showing her in a gang bang when she was in college. Allen performs with the utmost dignity as she refuses to respond to such charges, much to the chagrin of those who think she should answer instead of standing on the principle that her personal life is nobody's business. Hanson is a character definitely worth rooting for in this high-stakes Washington battle.
The role of President Jackson Evans is in the capable hands of Jeff Bridges, who cuts an attractive figure as a chief executive with charm, personality and the knack of besting his enemies as he fights to assure his legacy. Yet another impressive performance is supplied by Gary Oldman, virtually unrecognizable in the role of Shelly Runyon, a bitter, unscrupulous Congressman who takes on the aura of a Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Writer-director Rod Lurie's dialogue is crisp, smart-alecky and sometimes funny as befits a film with such beltway characters, and the result keeps one watching with enjoyment even when plot twists are a stretch. The overall atmosphere and the venality seem accurate, and a solid supporting cast includes Christian Slater, Sam Eilliott, William Petersen, Saul Rubinek, Philip Baker Hall, and Mariel Hemingway. A DreamWorks Pictures release.
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