THE FRONT RUNNER : Official Reviews (SPOILERS )

[jo]

www.slashfilm.com/the-front-runner-review/

‘The Front Runner’ Has a Great Cast and a Snappy Script, But Something’s Missing [TIFF]

Posted on Sunday, September 9th, 2018 by Chris Evangelista


Jason Reitman‘s The Front Runner turns a lens towards the three-week presidential campaign of Gary Hart and finds that it signaled the beginning of a whole new era of tabloid-based political coverage.

“It’s none of their business,” is a line that gets repeated a lot in The Front Runner, Jason Reitman’s new political drama based on the true story of Gary Hart’s failed bid for the presidency in 1988. The line is said by Hart himself, as played by Hugh Jackman. Again and again, Hart seems utterly perplexed as to why the American people would want to know literally anything personal about a man running for the highest office in the land.


It’s an enigmatic position from an enigmatic man. Despite being the focus of this feature film, Gary Hart remains a mystery. By the time The Front Runner comes to a close, we’re no closer to understanding who he was than when the movie started. And that’s probably exactly how Gary Hart would want it.

In 1987, Hart was the front runner (hey, that’s the title!) for the Democratic presidential nomination. His polling numbers were through the roof, and he launched his campaign with many assuming he was going to be the next President of the United States.


Three weeks later, it was all over.

Hart’s infidelities, which had been rumored about for years, finally caught up to him when The Miami Herald got an anonymous tip about one of Hart’s affairs – a tip that lead Herald reports to stake-out Hart’s townhouse and dig up some dirt. The infidelities of politicians are nothing new, and the journalists running through the background of The Front Runner acknowledge this. They also acknowledge that things change. The press, and the American people, were perhaps once willing to overlook such digressions. Not anymore.

Reitman’s film could be construed as being anti-press at times – the Herald journalists are portrayed as sleazy buffoons, stalking around in the shadows. One of them even seems to be going after Hart out of a grudge against being denied more access to the candidate. But to assume that is what Reitman is going for here is to only scratch the surface. Were some of the journalists’ methods in digging up Hart’s indiscretions unethical? Maybe. But that doesn’t excuse what Hart did. Or why he did it. The candidate all but tempts fate when he angrily tells a reporter to “follow him around” to prove that he’s not having affairs.


It’s very hard to get a read on Hart. At times, he seems almost delusional. When the story breaks, and everything comes crashing down, he keeps trying to go about business as usual, sure that this will all blow over. What’s going on in his head? What makes him tick? I don’t think The Front Runner has an answer, but Jackman does his absolute best to make the character electric. He’s charming and likable when he wants to be, but the minute even the most minor personal question comes up, he snaps – turns mean, hostile even. Jackman nails these polarizing moods.

Everyone around Jackman is pretty damn great as well. Vera Farmiga, always a welcomed presence, makes the most of her part as Hart’s wife. Her reactions to her husband’s infidelities are far more complex than you might expect, and Farmiga knows just how to sell that. Other standouts: J.K. Simmons as Hart’s weary campaign manager, Molly Ephraim as a conflicted staffer, and Mamoudou Athie as a Washington Post reporter just as perplexed at all this as Hart. Athie is particularly good, making a somewhat small part a scene stealer with minimal dialogue – he lets his eyes do most of the talking. Simmons is playing the type of part he can play in his sleep at this point, but that doesn’t make it any less fun to watch. And Ephraim brings a certain dignity to the proceedings, struggling with the fallout and the way the Hart campaign is handling (or rather, not handling) it all.

The script, by Reitman, Matt Bai and Jay Carson is snappy and funny, full of acerbic wit and punchlines that land. Reitman’s direction finds the filmmaker going off in another direction from his previous work. The TIFF page for The Front Runner says Reitman is “channelling Robert Altman”, and that’s not inaccurate. Reitman adopts Altman’s fondness for telling a story from several points of view, as well as Altman’s trademark overlapping dialogue. There’s even an opening scene done in one take that invokes Altman’s one-take opening of The Player. But The Front Runner is also far too slick to be fully compared to Altman’s work. It’s very much a Hollywood-type movie, even if Reitman made it independently.

The crackerjack script and dynamite performances are almost enough to get The Front Runner across the finish line, but there’s something missing. Like Gary Hart’s presidential campaign, it fizzles out just when it’s just getting started, and the audience is left wondering just what happened. Political journalism would only get more tabloidy following the Hart affair, but so did politics and politicians themselves, and I’m not quite sure if this film is reckoning with that. If The Front Runner is trying to issue a warning of things to come, I have some breaking news: it’s already too late.

[jo]

thefilmstage.com/reviews/tiff-review-the-front-runner-is-jason-reitmans-best-directed-film/

The Front Runner
TIFF 2018 Review

Columbia Pictures; 113 minutes

Director: Jason Reitman

Written by Jared Mobarak on September 9, 2018



And so it began—sentiments that prove true only until the next example replaces it. We’re just two years removed from Donald Trump’s victory for president of the United States and already the art seeking answers about what went wrong and what went right have arrived. Much of it stems from finding a turning point to mark when the mainstream media started including tabloid fodder under the header of journalism, when politics shifted from the good of constituents and country to that of party and financial portfolios, or when the American public woke from its delusion that people are selfless (and then decided it was okay they aren’t). Whether the presidential campaign of Gary Hart is the answer proves debatable, but nobody can argue that it’s not a worthwhile nexus point from which to start.

Adapted from Matt Bai’s book All the Truth Is Out by himself, Jay Carson, and director Jason Reitman, The Front Runner takes a stab at showing the whirlwind three weeks that ultimately sank Hart’s career. It’s a climate only too reminiscent of the present, with a Democratic Party looking to skew younger amidst factions and uncertainty. What occurs between Hart (Hugh Jackman) and the media proves a precursor to Bill Clinton’s impeachment proceedings. This is a clear indicator of a pattern that recent years have seen escalate further away from the old “boys’ club” adage of keeping private and public lives separate in the press to where we are now: numb to caring. How do we get from journalists sinking a candidate for an “unproven” affair to video evidence of another declaring his rampant misogyny only to win regardless? Apathy.

It’s a wild story with many moving parts all keyed in on Hart. But he’s an old school idealist in a new cutthroat world, one who refuses to even consider talking about anything other than his policies and track record because nothing else should matter when it comes to educating the voters. His inner circle (led by J.K. Simmons’ Bill Dixon) is desperate to help him recognize the encroaching sense of celebrity and real potential for infamy. With men like John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon before him—for whom the headlines regularly branched out beyond politics into public image—you’d think this would be something he couldn’t avoid. Surprisingly, though, he still can because he’s quick enough on his feet to pivot back to the issues. Hart may have even been able to bring integrity back if not for helping put the final nail into its demise.



The result is a briskly paced ensemble piece with authentic humor and pathos that poses a question to its audience about what matters. Fascinatingly enough, my opinion probably would have changed with each new iteration of this mold. I was too young to experience this specific ordeal, but do remember thinking the furor surrounding Clinton’s private life was overblown with his perjury proving borderline entrapment (even as a right leaning teen). And now with Trump I’m amazed his campaign didn’t implode early and that his party has disgraced itself so badly to cover for his every misdeed, lie, and attack in office. So while I probably would have sympathized with Hart back in the 80s much like this film does, it’s tough to stomach how desperate Reitman and company seem to ensure we still do.

The allusions and facts speak for themselves. And despite the overlapping dialogue and sprawling cast of familiar faces, the silent moments are loudest because they’re the ones that prove we get what’s happening just as the onscreen reporters find their own clarity—a-ha moments of bewilderment that the increased exposure and camaraderie between campaign and press can’t cloud from getting their jobs done. The incredulity that meets so much of what occurs during The Front Runner is as surprising in the moment as obvious in hindsight, knowing everything we know now that came out of this entitlement and arrogance. Even those who should clearly be the ones to lead our nation into the future have skeletons and no one is above public perception. It’s a truth that makes today all the most frustrating.

Reitman and company let actions do the talking for a good two-thirds of the runtime and it’s a true joy to experience. The actors have brilliant comic timing with one another and everyone feels as though they’ve been on the road to cultivate relationships built on respect. I’d argue it’s the best-directed film of Reitman’s career, every facet proving almost impeccable. So it’s therefore disappointing to watch the final third fall prey to a desire to spell things out. It could be Alfred Molina’s Ben Bradlee explaining the changing tide of newspaper content point by point after we witnessed the transformation in real-time or the intrusive focus placed upon Molly Ephraim’s Irene Kelly when tasked with breaking young Donna Rice’s (Sara Paxton as Hart’s presumed mistress) resolve by intentionally lying about how things will shake out.



Maybe this is just me being jaded. Most of these people should be morally conflicted because what they’re asked to do wasn’t yet in their job descriptions like it is today. That’s why Ephraim is a standout despite her shining moment feeling manipulative. It’s why Mamoudou Athie is the real star as fresh-faced journalist A.J. Parker—a man who sought his career with the best intentions as it was transitioning into the monster we’ve yet to figure out how to control. These are the idealists being changed right before our eyes similar to how many of us were in 2016 and their performances express that truth better than any heavy-handed monologue about ethics could. They are the ones we do and should empathize with, not Gary Hart.



Jackman is very good in the role, though, and plays the conviction and indignation perfectly. It’s great watching him spar with Simmons because the latter has an innate ability to crack jokes through the defeatist exasperation gradually settling in opposite his candidate’s bullheaded naivete. We align ourselves with the Bill Dixons because we’re just as angry and confused. Like Lee Hart (Vera Farmiga) tells her husband, “You should feel stupid.” When the rug is drawn on a scandal this seemingly untouchable candidate brought upon himself, I laughed at his contrition not because it sounded hollow. I laughed knowing its genuine attempt was too late. I sometimes thought Reitman hoped we’d pity him—and maybe we would have ten years ago. Today we simply nod knowing Hart reaped what he sowed.

The Front Runner screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and opens on November 6.

[jo]

Negative review from RogerEbert.com --

www.rogerebert.com/festivals-and-awards/tiff-2018-loro-the-front-runner

[jo]

talkiesnetwork.com/2018/09/09/the-front-runner-film-review-tiff-2018/

‘The Front Runner’ Film Review | TIFF 2018
Nick Przulj on September 9, 2018

*As per usual, a spoiler warning is in effect. Please be advised*

I usually start my reviews with a dry joke at the top of the article. But, in this instance… I questioned whether I should. We know what happens in this story. Gary Hart has an affair and his dreams of becoming the President of the United States of America are squashed. Nonetheless, I put it there because of the incredible way that the story was told. How Director Jason Reitman and the writers told a tale as old as time: a politician having an affair, was remarkable in regards to the cinematography and story telling.

The establishing shot (the first shot of the movie) gave the audience in the beautiful Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres a perfect amouse-bouche for what is to come. The single continous shot lasted a few minutes, tracking and panning across (and in) a news truck, reporters talking, TVs showing the DNC, and the front of a hotel filled with people, until it finally approaches the window of one of the hotel rooms. Cut. The next scene jumps inside of the room, or rather, the war room where we see Gary Hart (played by the only actor that can play Wolverine: Hugh Jackman) and his campaign team scrambling. Although worlds apart, the two scenes have a central theme in common: chaos.


After the screening, the Director along with the Producer and two Writers came out on stage to talk about the movie. All four gentlemen emphasized chaos as a key tool they used to make their movie unique. The movie itself was “not traditional bio-pic” according to Reitman. Instead of following the main character, the creative team decided to “follow everyone else, who are trying to do the right thing amongst the scandal”. The script itself is unusual, as it was “co-written by three people”, who all brought their unique “perspective” as they all had prior experiences on campaign trails. The writers understood the chaos and mayhem that is found on this trail and that is exactly what they wanted to bring to the foreground of this film. The movie “is asking you as an audience [to discern] what is important and relevant, and [raises] the question [of]… what flaws are we going to put up with our leaders”.

The writers and Director wanted to present a film where the audience had to be involved, it had to work to watch the movie, it had to sift through the sensory overload and focus on the important conversations, important actions etc… Going back to the opening two shots, we can see this chaos and need for an active audience perfectly. In the opening shot, reporters were talking over each other, non-diegetic music was playing, and noise from the street were all used to drown out the main news report which was giving the audience crucial context to the time and date, and events at the start of the film. In the war-room, people were talking over each other, phones were ringing, glasses clicking, but the main conversation was between Gary and his campaign manager. Reitman stated that, “as an idea we, wanted to present the audience with many things at the same time throughout the film, and give the audience the option to choose”. And they did just that. They presented a film that gave the audience “3 different things to listen to and see 3 different things”. They wanted the audience to realize that the “most important [action or dialogue] is not always in the foreground”.


However, the most beautiful and powerful shot in the whole movie had to be the final scene: Gary and his wife listening to this withdrawal speech playing on the T.V. This shot used the foreground and background with great emotional gravitas. In the foreground, we see Gary sitting on a chair, head slumped, while his wife sits on the bed, back turned to the camera. A crumbling marriage, fighting to stay afloat after a storm rocked the ship. To the right of them in the background, we hear and see Gary on TV giving his speech. The dark lit room encompasses the emotions of dread and uneasiness: the unknown of the future. Both actions on screen are important, but it is up to the audience to choose which one to give attention to.


As great as the performance of Hugh Jackman was, the whole ensemble was terrific. But more specifically, Vera Farmiga and J. K. Simmons were incredible. Vera as Lee Hart (the wife of Gary) was played terrifically. The performance reminded me greatly of Claire Underwood in House of Cards. She took the character of Lee and portrayed her as a “woman who sees the world the way it is”. She brought a lot of “nuance” to the role and it really stood out among the large cast of talented actors. The same can be said with J. K. Simmons’ portrayal of Bill Dixon. His character offered much needed comic relief at times and at others offered a tough depiction of reality. A no-nonsense character who has been in the political world for over 20 years. He really was the anchor of the movie. The rest of the cast had its moments, and made the film enjoyable.

But amongst all these complex and diverse characters, there was a specific one that had to be handled with care: Donna Rice. The woman in the middle of the scandal. Sara Paxton was chosen to portray this character and was tasked with the difficult job of humanizing this person that, for far too long, was “treated like an object”. The director and writers chose to introduce her halfway through the film, not only as this girl on a boat but as a human “who’s life was and would be broken”. The real Donna Rice was shown in this movie and she “thought that Hugh was incredible and she was moved by Sara’s performance and sensitivity”. This movie humanized the object known as Donna Rice, and showed her as this smart young woman. They had other characters constantly asking about her and to see if she was okay. Three notable scenes really stuck out:

When Donna was on the escalators going down to the airport and being swarmed by reporters, looking back only to find that the only person (Molly Ephraim’s character Irene Kelly) who was kind to her had gone. You could see the heartbreaking realization that this would be her life from now on in.

When Irene called Bill Dixon, troubled by the fate of Donna, and told to “buckle up”

When Gary asked Irene how Donna is doing, and replied with “you do not want me to answer that”.



Overall, the movie was an enjoyable experience. Moreover, it left the audience questioning, not just the events of the movie, or morality, but also our current political system and the roles of the media and journalism. As Matt Bai (one of the writers) said, “the system isn’t working… and there is a lot of blame to go around”, not just to the “operatives, the voters, consumers, [but also] to the journalists”. This movie was made to make “everyone think about and reflect the decisions and consequences” of this current system. The film is a “deeply human story”. On the screen and all around us today, we see humans trying to grapple with difficult choices. More often than naught, there are no right choices, just the lesser of two or three evils. It is up to us, not only as the audience, but as humans, to look at ourselves and start taking into account our actions and their consequences. We may not be responsible for the actions of others, but we are responsible for our own.


RATING: 8/10

I would highly recommend this movie. But to get the most out of it, the viewer has to be active and put in the effort to fully appreciate the art behind it.

The Front Runner is set to hit theatres on November 6, 2018.

[jo]

As John Derek would say -- A Perfect 10!

filmthreat.com/reviews/the-front-runner/

by Andy Howell
September 10, 2018


You may be thinking, “Do we really need a feature film about Gary Hart’s failed 1988 presidential campaign?” I’ll give you three reasons why you’re wrong: 1) Any Jason Reitman film is a goddamned gift, 2) Hugh Jackman as Gary Hart, and 3) men behaving badly, sex, power, and the proper journalistic response are as relevant as ever. Some of the best science fiction is a proxy for dealing with issues too charged to take on directly. So it is with historical dramas, even ones from living memory.

Younger readers may not know the background, but Gary Hart was the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 1988. He had the magic combination of good looks, Senate experience, and policy mastery that could easily have taken him all the way to the White House. Instead, the charismatically challenged Michael Dukakis got the nomination and lost to the only barely more charming George H. W. Bush. Imagine how history would have played out differently with President Hart — no Gulf War? No subsequent two-year term of President George W. Bush? No follow-on invasion of Iraq?


We’ll never know because Hart was politically destroyed by an affair with Donna Rice. In an era where extramarital affairs are approximately the 35th most scandalous thing this president, has done, this almost seems quaint. But the Hart story takes on special relevance because it marked a turning point in the media, where the private lives of American presidents (at least their sex lives) were suddenly fair game.

Jason Reitman is already a hell of a director, giving us such gems as Juno and Up in the Air. But with The Front Runner he’s taking his mastery of the craft to a new level. There’s nothing heavy-handed about it — it just seems to present the details of the events as they unfolded with commentary. But of course, this is an illusion. Every line of dialog, every camera angle, every beat is precisely engineered.

At the world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, Reitman mentioned that one of his inspirations was the 1972 film The Candidate, starring Robert Redford. He mentioned that almost every frame of that film has many things going on. It is up to the audience to choose what to focus on. That’s the exact approach he has adopted here — characters are speaking in the foreground, while in the background there’s something on the TV. A scene seems like it is about one thing, but it is really about something deeper. There are many possible perspectives, and all of them are legitimate in their own way. The result is a film that evokes some of the great films of the 70s, when naturalism and moral ambiguity reigned supreme. I’d even compare The Front Runner favorably to another Redford-starring political takedown drama from the 70s — All the President’s Men.



This all starts from the script, and the dialog here is so punchy, and perfectly crafted that I had to look to make sure it wasn’t written by Aaron Sorkin (actually you can tell because these characters talk like people, not writers). It is based on a book by Matt Bai, All the Truth is Out, though Bai, Reitman, and Jay Carson share writing credits. Matt Bai is a seasoned political reporter, while Carson is a former political staffer and technical consultant and producer on House of Cards. Their campaign experience shows — the film feels effortlessly true.

Yet another strength is the astounding cast. Hugh Jackman has the looks and gravitas to carry off Hart, and without much to sell him as this real person except an exceptional 80s coiffure, he has to do it with the intensity of the performance. It works. Vera Farmiga brings the resigned yet smoldering outrage as Hart’s wife Lee. There’s a monster cast of fellow politicians, reporters, and campaign officials, including the likes of Alfred Molina, Kevin Pollak, and even Mike Judge(!). But my favorite performance is from Reitman regular J. K. Simmons. His gruff, grizzled campaign manager Bill Dixon is peak Simmons. As usual, he steals every scene he’s in.

Go see The Front Runner to see an army of cinematic masters at the top of their game. But it is the ideas within it that will stick with you long after the film is over. What do we want out of our politicians? What do we want out of the media? I don’t have all the answers, but I know our current political discourse is broken. We can at least start searching in one of the places where it all started to go wrong.


The Front Runner (2018) Directed by Jason Reitman. Written by Matt Bai, Jay Carson, Jason Reitman. Starring Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, J.K. Simmons, Alfred Molina, Sara Paxton.

10 out of 10 stars

[jo]

Described as a Featured Story rather than an Official Review ( no rating), it seems to be a very good description of the movie's focus and the performances and how the story unravels.

It is also surprising for the MPAA to write about a film, other than giving it a Classification Guide ( Btw, THE FRONT RUNNER has been rated "R" by the MPAA).


But this is interesting reading --

www.mpaa.org/2018/09/tiff-2018-the-front-runner-depicts-a-politician-who-pays-for-his-infidelities/

Featured Story, Movies

TIFF 2018: The Front Runner Depicts a Politician who Pays for his Infidelities
September 10, 2018

By Bryan Abrams


Pity the politician whose purity of purpose is undone by a puerile media (and pardon the journalist’s alliteration). This seems to be the overarching belief of 1988 presidential candidate Gary Hart (an excellent Hugh Jackman) in Jason Reitman‘s The Front Runner. Hart had the misfortune of running for the highest office in the land just as the media landscape was changing forever. He’d been in politics nearly two decades by then, as both a successful senator and as the campaign manager of George McGovern’s 1972 presidential campaign. Hart was not only a telegenic, well-spoken pol, he was passionate, even gifted. He also had seen first hand how the “proper” news media left the private affairs (both literal and figurative) of politicians to the tabloids. So, when he found himself the front-runner of the 1988 presidential campaign, imagine his surprise when years of infidelity and one truly boneheaded decision during his campaign spelled disaster for his ambitions.


Reitman, who co-wrote the script with Matt Bai (whose book “All the Truth is Out” much of the material is gleaned from) and Jay Carson (a House of Cards alum, along with Bai), presented his star Jackman to the audience at TIFF by marveling at a performance that revealed almost, but not entirely, the make of the man. It’s true. Jackman’s turn as Hart is brilliant in what it conceals; the undeniable passion of the politician is evident enough, but the man who seems to believe that marriage is a malleable institution and his private life is off limits is unreachable. Jackman’s Hart is at turns impressive, charming (no more so than when he soothes Washington Post reporter A.J. Parker—a terrific Mamoudou Athie—through some turbulence on a plane), and exasperating. Hart not only couldn’t understand the media’s sudden fascination with his extracurricular activities but in The Front Runner‘s telling and in Jackman’s performance, refused to give an inch to his staff who were desperate to at least know the truth.


Hart was living in the past, and Reitman and his team capture the American media landscape as even venerable institutions like the Post begin considering a politician’s personal life fair game. There’s a fine moment with the always interesting Alfred Molina, here as the Post‘s legendary editor Bill Bradlee, recalling the time that LBJ instructed the press to ignore the women they’d see going into his hotel rooms as he traveled, the same courtesy they granted his predecessor, JFK. In that era, the press felt duty bound to look the other way. (We all know about JFK’s multiple affairs, but this writer was surprised to learn in The Front Runner about not only LBJ’s widely known trysts but even Eisenhower’s.) Jackson (sic) delivers a remarkable performance as a man who appears truly blindsided by the fact that his infidelities warrant public scrutiny and that they might speak to a character trait the American public will deem unworthy of the presidency.


The Front Runner is almost as much an ensemble film as it is another star turn for Jackman. Reitman’s reliable longtime collaborator J.K. Simmons turns in another stellar performance as Hart’s campaign manager and longtime friend Bill Dixon. Vera Farmiga turns the tough role of Hart’s wife Lee into a portrait of conflict, a woman who long ago made a deal with her husband and who refuses to be the vessel through which the media channel their outrage. Courtney Ford is wonderful as Hart staffer Lynn Armandt, who ultimately takes on the job of trying to soothe Hart’s latest paramour, Donna Rice (Sara Paxton), whom he met on a boat in Miami and was then caught (by the Miami Herald) inviting to his Washington D.C. townhouse—the one he shared with his wife and daughter.


When the story of Hart’s possible fling with Rice first broke, the other major papers, the Washington Post included, were aware they were no longer operating in the same clubby, boys-will-be-boys atmosphere of yesteryear. Much of The Front Runner sees Hart’s team attempting to corral the story, and their unforthcoming boss, to no avail. Eventually, the Post receive yet more damaging information, and Hart’s long history of infidelity is going to be exposed, either by the venerable paper that helped bring down Nixon, or one of their competitors. At an excruciating press conference, Hart attempts to finally answer some questions, and the man he ends up facing is the Post‘s A.J. Parker, who, like many people in the film, both admires Hart and feels betrayed by him. The question he asks is one that’ll be asked in the years to come, of not only presidential candidates but presidents themselves. It’s to The Front Runner‘s credit that even after all we’ve seen in the years since 1988, watching this moment unfold in the film still makes you cringe.

The Front Runner opens on November 21, 2018.

[jo]

#TheFrontRunner doesnt explicitly judge Gary Hart (a problem some critics have with this film), but that strategy + Hugh Jackman’s precise poker face kept me flipping sides.

Very interesting observation about why some critics felt disappointed with the movie.

[jo]

Another journalist comments --

Stéphanie Belpêche

@stephbelpeche
Follow
Follow @stephbelpeche

#TheFrontRunner stupéfiant @realhughjackman en homme politique au coeur d'un scandale sexuel. Jason Reitman interroge la responsabilité de la presse et la limite entre vie privée et publique. En choisissant le point de vue de l'entourage. Intéressant. @tiff_NET

Translated from French by
Microsoft
#TheFrontRunner Narcotics @realhughjackman as a politician at the heart of a sex scandal. Jason Reitman questions The responsibility of the press and the boundary between private and public life. By choosing the point of view of the entourage. Interesting. @tiff_NET

Stupefiant = Narcotics? Maybe the more sensible translation should be "addicting" ?

[jo]

www.boiseweekly.com/boise/tiff-2018-the-man-who-would-be-president/Content?oid=13873678

TIFF 2018: The Man Who Would Be President
By George Prentice @georgepren


Perhaps the biggest question surrounding The Front Runner, an ambitious new movie from director Jason Reitman (Juno), is exactly how audiences will approach this rather puzzling film. To be sure, many people will take note because it stars Hugh Jackman, portraying once-presidential hopeful Gary Hart. But, sad to say, a good many of the 20-somethings who were in line to see The Front Runner at the Toronto International Film Festival needed to be reminded exactly who Gary Hart was.

"But I'll see anything with Hugh Jackman," more than a few of them said before the screening.



Based on the 2014 book, All the Truth is Out, Reitman's The Front Runner is more about how far our political system has spiraled out of control than it is about Hart's failed 1988 presidential campaign. And the film pulls few punches in portraying a rather unsavory American press that deliberately chose to take the low road back in '88, pondering how best to exploit Hart's extramarital affair. Hart was indeed the "front runner," before he hopped aboard a Miami Beach boat dubbed Monkey Business, changing modern political history forever.

The good news is that Jackman is in fine form here, supported by a cast that includes J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) and Vera Farmiga (so good in Reitman's Up in the Air in 2009). And while the The Front Runner gets much-deserved credit for a whip-smart script and some very good performances, don't expect to leave the theater feeling any better for the effort. In fact, it's a sullen reminder of how far we have fallen. The film's promotional poster and trailer might have you believing that The Front Runner is a black comedy. Don't believe it. There's nothing funny here—but it is quite dark.

[jo]

IGN verdict : 7.5 of 10 stars.

www.ign.com/articles/2018/09/14/the-front-runner-review-hugh-jackman-tiff-jason-reitman

Movie Review / 14 Sep 2018 4:30 PM PDT
The Front Runner Review


A relevant political drama about simpler times.

By Rafael Motamayor Aguiton This is an advance review out of the Toronto International Film Festival.


It would be easy to dismiss director Jason Reitman’s The Front Runner as a film that’s too late to the conversation. After all, a politician losing his career for cheating on his wife may seem too small to deserve a movie now when contemporary politicians get away with far bigger misdeeds. But while Reitman's well-acted film does manage to find relevance in its scrutiny of politicians and the press who cover them, it's just too indecisive to say anything deeply important about either camp.


Hugh Jackman plays a different kind of great showman here, real life US politician Gary Hart who, after coming in second for the Democratic primaries in 1984, became the obvious front runner to win the presidency in 1988. The title card notes that a lot can happen in the three weeks leading up to the election, and we subsequently follow the downfall of a man who not only seemed like the sure winner, but the absolute best candidate to lead a nation. Jackman captures Gary Hart’s quick wit and charisma, convincing one there was never any doubt of him winning. During his campaign tour, we see Hart expertly throwing axes, calming a journalist scared of turbulence, and sharing his radical viewpoints (for the time). He seems like the perfect man, and Jackman sells it with a winning smile. Yet behind the smile hides a very private man. “It’s none of their business”, Hart says repeatedly throughout the film when grilled about his personal life, and it encapsulates the film’s approach to such a guarded character. Some will likely leave The Front Runner not knowing anything more about Gary Hart the person than they did before, and that’s probably how he would have wanted it.

When Miami Herald reporters discover an attractive woman coming and going from Hart’s DC townhouse, they confront Hart, who refuses to answer the questions, igniting a debate inside the campaign and the newsrooms about whether Hart’s private life should be up for public debate or if it is even pertinent to the election. “What is newsworthy?” is the central question of The Front Runner. Journalists in the film comment that politicians have cheated on their wives for years and no one cared, but that maybe things have to change now. The movie questions whether the press was right to target Hart for his personal indiscretions, hinting at how it beget the political tabloid journalism that followed in the years to come.


The story focuses as much on those caught up in Hart’s scandal as it does the titular politician. We meet the journalists who uncover the scandal, Hart’s wife Lee (Vera Farmiga), who has to deal with her turn in the spotlight and the dozens of journalists gathered on her front lawn, and Hart’s campaign team, lead by Bill Dixon ( J.K. Simmons). The script (credited to Reitman, Matt Bai, and Jay Carson) gives everyone a moment to shine, and the dialogue is snappy and witty, offering some levity amidst the otherwise heavy subject matter. Reitman is clearly inspired by Robert Altman’s style of shifting points of view during the movie, as well as his overlapping dialogue, which makes the scenes with lots of characters even more entertaining to watch.

While the film initially is broadly sympathetic to Hart’s situation as it scrutinizes the role of the press in covering the scandal, the women and journalists here observe that Hart is a man with power who abused his position and privilege in his treatment of women. The Front Runner ultimately proves frustrating then in that it never reaches a conclusion to its central question and is too afraid to take sides. Instead, we get half-cooked opinions given by characters that are difficult to identify with, which stops the film from having any urgency or significant depth. Nevertheless, it poses an important central question, and the film is thoughtful enough to give ample screen time to and show compassion to the woman at the center of the scandal, Donna Rice (Sara Paxton), to make up for its lack of decisiveness.

The Verdict

The Front Runner is too afraid to take a side in its central debate, but a strong ensemble cast and interesting ideas about accountability and newsworthiness make this a timely and thought-provoking film.

IN THIS ARTICLE
The Front Runner Releases November 21, 2018 (Wide)
theater

Good
Hugh Jackman stars n The Front Runner, a relevant political drama about simpler times.
14 Sep 2018

7.5

[jo]

www.nextbestpicture.com/the-front-runner.html

THE GOOD - An ambitious story that will resonate with the times and strong performances by Hugh Jackman and J.K. Simmons.​
​
THE BAD - Audiences will have a difficult time sympathizing or even caring much about its characters in a narrative that is diluted and unfocused, making the interesting questions being posed seem blasé. A stacked cast where everyone gets ample but very little quality screen time.​
​
THE OSCAR PROSPECTS - Best Actor

​THE FINAL SCORE - 5/

The full review is available from the link.

[jo]

The reviewer disagrees with the film's seeming conclusions! He wanted to see something else. His comment on the perception of the character of Donna Rice seems at odds with other reviews ( which said Donna was given the right focus)? The "Me,Too issue" is also brought in by the reviewer to a real-life story that happened 30 years ago ?

www.valorist.com/dreddish/2018/09/15/davids-review-the-front-runner/

[carouselkathy]

Again, critics often fail to review the actual film in a positive light if it doesn't come to the conclusion that they prefer. The question is, how does the director tell the story he or she wants to tell?

[jo]

Not officially a review but comments from the Atlantic Monthly re current political times in which two movies ( The Front Runner and First Man) delve into the history for two character studies that relate to how part of America views its heroes ( and even its attendant mythmaking).

www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/09/steve-bannon-american-dharma-errol-morris-first-man-the-front-runner/570433/

Excerpts--

Another film that digs into the dirty reality of American mythmaking is Jason Reitman’s The Front Runner, an accounting of Senator Gary Hart’s 1988 presidential campaign, which saw the Colorado politician go from Democratic favorite to national laughingstock after the revelation of an extramarital affair. Hart is played by Hugh Jackman as the archetypal American ideologue, a senator who’s just as comfortable debating the finer points of tax policy as he is rolling up his shirtsleeves to throw a few axes at the county fair.

Reitman gives The Front Runner the feel of a Robert Altman comedy, populating it with a chatty ensemble of character actors and having them bark overlapping dialogue at one another, like the entire film is abuzz with excitement at Hart’s impending presidency. But any viewer that’s even glanced at Hart’s Wikipedia page knows the Donna Rice scandal is brewing, and indeed, some of the embedded reporters in the film quickly begin to chatter with their editors about the senator’s history as a womanizer.

Hart’s campaign team sees his private life as out-of-bounds, but the question of the senator’s relationship with the truth becomes more pressing and newsworthy. Even titans of the journalism industry such as Ben Bradlee (played here by Alfred Molina) admit that times are changing when it comes to what’s off-limits for the press to cover. The Front Runner’s thesis is that coverage of Hart’s campaign, which saw reporters from The Miami Herald stake out the candidate’s Capitol Hill home for evidence of an affair, was a turning point for American politics, leading it down the slippery slope of tabloidization.

But Reitman never has a proper grasp on the point he’s trying to make. Jackman gives Hart a tetchy, dismissive edge that only sharpens as he’s needled about his personal life. There’s never enough sense that something genuinely great was lost when he dropped out of his campaign, and any suggestion that there was something noble in older reporters’ policy of studiously ignoring John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson’s many affairs feels deeply misguided. Still, The Front Runner does try to examine the country’s consistent habit of falling for figures that embody (however briefly) some notion of the American ideal.


David Sims is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where he covers culture.

[jo]

I thought I had posted this when it came out ( September 11) but it seems I checked out what AARP meant first...and forgot the review altogether (haha - senior moment!). AARP is the American Association of Retired Persons.

www.aarp.org/entertainment/movies-for-grownups/info-2018/best-movies-toronto-international-film-festival.html

The Front Runner

(director Jason Reitman) This phenomenally good film about the destruction (or self-destruction) of probable 1988 presidential nominee Gary Hart’s campaign by his dalliance with Donna Rice, a Phi Beta Kappa model, aboard the bad ship Monkey Business is the smartest script of TIFF 2018, based on a book by co-screenwriter Matt Bai, 50. Hugh Jackman, 50 in October, usually plays a guy whose “heart beats out of his chest,” as Reitman said at the TIFF premiere, but here he’s distant, an enigma whose response to the scandal is to demand that everyone ignore it, because it’s sleazy. Indeed, journalists sneaking down alleys like spies aren’t exactly like the Spotlight guys chasing pedophile priests. But on the other hand, does character count? Vera Farmiga burns with intelligent icy fury as Hart’s wife — amazingly, Reitman said both Mr. and Mrs. Hart thought this was a great movie — but the best performance is Oscar winner J.K. Simmons, 63 (Whiplash), as Hart’s smart campaign director, incredulous about his boss’s cluelessness. An important movie, and completely riveting.

I am not surprised at this obviously positive view of the movie, given that the publication is focused more on topics of interest for senior people. In the budding IMDB demos profile of 143 voters on the movie, it seems that the MALE-45&up group are very supportive of the movie. Interesting that there is less interest on the equivalent FEMALE sector ( maybe they did want to express their view of marital infidelity ).

www.imdb.com/title/tt7074886/ratings?ref_=tt_ov_rt

[jo]

8 of 10 stars from JoBlo!


www.joblo.com/movie-news/review-the-front-runner-tiff-2018-375-03

PLOT: In the lead-up to the Democratic Primary, the leading candidate for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination, Gary Hart (Hugh Jackman), sees his campaign wither when news of his extra-marital affairs hit the public.

REVIEW: THE FRONT RUNNER marks a major return to form for director Jason Reitman, with him returning to issue-driven comedy-drama, a formula that’s worked a lot better for him than his two forays into melodrama with LABOR DAY and MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN.



It certainly helps that Gary Hart’s story is a great one. For those of you not in the know, Hart was considered the democratic party’s strongest candidate to run against George Bush in the 1988 election. Handsome and charismatic (with A-list friends such as Warren Beatty), he was apparently seen as a kind of throwback to John F. Kennedy. However, that comparison proved to be all too accurate when news of his philandering hit the press. While such allegations were hardly ruinous to Bill Clinton or Donald Trump, for Hart they proved to be his undoing, and Reitman’s film tracks the three-week period that saw his campaign unravel.

While this takes place in the eighties (in a nice nod the eighties Columbia Pictures logo is used), the style is very similar to Michael Ritchie’s THE CANDIDATE, a 1972 political drama starring Robert Redford, that took a docudrama look the machinations behind political campaigning. This takes a similar approach. While Hugh Jackman is front and center as Hart, the focus is evenly distributed among the actors playing his campaign workers, with J. K. Simmons as his right-hand man, and the “gentlemen” of the press, who helped end Hart’s presidential ambitions.

Reitman’s film never demonizes the media, even if they played a big part in his downfall. Hart himself isn’t let off the hook, with his womanizing and naiveté given equal focus. In fact, the journalists are presented, for the most part, conscientiously, with Mamoudou Athie most important as a journalist torn between his own affection for Hart and his duty to follow-up on the fact that this presidential candidate is a liar. Meanwhile, Vera Farmiga is affecting as Hart’s embarrassed but supportive wife.

For Jackman, it’s a very out of character part, with him very low-key and dignified throughout. He may not be the most conscientious husband, but you’ll still have sympathy for him. The eighties setting isn’t overdone, with eighties tunes and garish clothing of the era used but not constantly. It looks more like the real version of the eighties than the nostalgia filtered version we typically get.

While a political film, THE FRONT RUNNER remains even-handed, never presenting the democrats as inherently noble or demonizing the republicans, who are shown to have no real role in Hart’s self-created downfall. It’s in intriguing history lesson and a revealing look at how power and prestige is nothing if not fragile.


8/10

[jo]

Must read!!

Luv Jeff Wells ( Hollywood Elsewhere) -- he hit it right on the nose!

Bravo, Jeff Wells for being brave and criticizing the attitude of movie critics ( kin to the movie press)


hollywood-elsewhere.com/2018/09/re-saluting-reitmans-front-runner/

Re-Saluting Reitman’s “Front Runner”

Less than ten minutes into my first viewing of Jason Reitman‘s The Front Runner, I knew it was at least a B-plus. By the time it ended I was convinced it was a solid A. It’s not a typical Reitman film — it doesn’t deliver emotionally moving moments a la Juno and Up In The Air. It is, however, a sharp and lucid account of a real-life political tragedy — the destruction of former Colorado Senator Gary Hart‘s presidential campaign due to press reports of extra-marital womanizing with campaign volunteer Donna Rice.

The Front Runner is an exacting, brilliantly captured account of a sea-change in press coverage of presidential campaigns — about a moment when everything in the media landscape suddenly turned tabloid. Plus it feels recognizable as shit. I immediately compared The Front Runner to Michael Ritchie’s The Candidate, Mike Nichols‘ Primary Colors and James Vanderbilt‘s Truth. It is absolutely on the same wavelength and of the same calibre. Hugh Jackman delivers a steady, measured, well-honed portrayal of Hart, but the whole cast is pretty close to perfect — every detail, every note, every wisecrack is spot-on.


Why, then, are some critics giving Reitman’s film, which is absolutely his best since Up In The Air, the back of their hands?The Front Runner easily warrants scores in the high 80s or low 90s, and yet Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic aggregate tallies are currently in the high 60s — over 20 points lower than they should be.


I’ll tell you what’s going on. Critics can be cool to films that portray journalists in a less than admirable light, which is what The Front Runner certainly does. The Miami Herald reporters who followed Hart round and broke the Rice story are depicted as sleazy fellows, and the relationship between the Miami Herald and Hart is depicted as deeply antagonistic, especially on the Herald’s part. Hart screwed himself with his own carelessness, but the Herald is depicted as being more or less on the same level as the National Enquirer.

You can bet that on some level this analogy is not going down well with certain critics. Remember how Vanderbilt’s Truth (’15), a whipsmart journalism drama, was tarnished in the press for portraying the collapse of Mary Mapes‘ faulty 60 Minutes investigation into George Bush‘s National Guard history and alleged cocaine use? A somewhat similar dynamic is happening right how.



The problem that some critics seems to have with The Front Runner is that, in the words of Indiewire‘s David Ehrlich, “it side-eyes the press for whipping the story into a national firestorm.”


From HE pally and World of Reel correspondent Jordan Ruimy: “I caught The Front Runner. You are dead-on about this movie. The mixed reviews it’s getting don’t do it justice. This is a timely story because it’s about a paradigm shift that happened in the world of media. 24/7 news cycles were starting to dominate and people were hungry for news, even if it meant the sleaziest kind. There’s also this great subplot about [the diminishment of] a woman’s worth, not just in politics but any job in America. You were correct in your assessment of this.” [Here’s Jordan’s review.]

The Front Runner screenplay, based on Matt Bai‘s “All the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid” and co-written by Bai, Reitman and Jay Carson, portrays Hart in relatively sympathetic terms — a guy who sadly screwed himself out of a shot at the White House over a mere dalliance but who had a real point when he argued that the media’s supermarket tabloid fixation on a sexual side issue that meant nothing and was nobody’s business to begin with was by far the greater mistake or misstep. Jackman makes you feel the rage about this.

One of the early comments from Hollywood Elsewhere's film buff readers --

Galileo Figaro • 4 hours ago

"critics can be cool to films that portray journalists in a less than admirable light...

And overly generous to ones that portray them heroically, which explains Spotlight‘s undeservedly high scores.

This validates our early perception that there was bias on how the critics were viewing the movie and its message ( Wells quoted the same film critic Erlich's comment about the movie giving the "side-eye" to the press, which I posted earlier as a sign that the critics may have been biased in their objectivity towards the film).


Again, bravo to Jeff Wells for telling it how it is!


Btw, JW was also an early supporter of The Greatest Showman ( one of his top guesses then for Best Picture) but some of the movie press kept telling him how it was going to be drubbed by critics! Maybe he should have listened to his first instinct and stuck to his guns in praising the movie ( a very prescient gut-feel that it will succeed on all levels with movie audiences!)


Jo

[jo]

Jeff Wells posted this on his column a few days ago ( September 9) --

About a half-hour before the Gloria Bell screening, I slipped into a theatre across the Scotiabank lobby where Jason Reitman‘s The Front Runner was about to play. I’m a huge fan of this film (The Candidate meets Primary Colors meets tabloid journalism) and wanted to re-experience the first 20 or 25 minutes...

[jo]

Another reply from the feedback section, with a response from JW ( he has very good running conversations with his readers -usually film buffs), which can be fairly candid, which is why I find them interesting to read and not just for Jackman films --

JamesBullbrook • 2 hours ago
Truth about journalists, in my direct experience: they can be incredibly thin-skinned. As the old schoolyard taunt goes, they can give it, but they can't take it.
2 Likes



Jeffrey Wells Mod JamesBullbrook • a minute ago
The phrase is "they can dish it out, but they can't take it."

[jo]

The Front Runner screenplay, based on Matt Bai‘s “All the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid” and co-written by Bai, Reitman and Jay Carson, portrays Hart in relatively sympathetic terms — a guy who sadly screwed himself out of a shot at the White House over a mere dalliance but who had a real point when he argued that the media’s supermarket tabloid fixation on a sexual side issue that meant nothing and was nobody’s business to begin with was by far the greater mistake or misstep. Jackman makes you feel the rage about this.

This is an acknowledgment that Hugh has now moved on in his acting spectrum ( especially coming from a film buff like Jeff Wells!). It used to be that in his previous movies calling for him acting out his rage that it was usually ferocious and feral (Wolverine, Keller Dover in Prisoners, Van Helsing, Denny in A Steady Rain, even Jean Valjean in his Confrontation with Javert). Here he is seen displaying a quiet rage, more like that of a statesman! Hmm...

[jo]

Ironic that this staff writer for AWARDS CRITIC ( whose critic gave The Front Runner a negative review) and occasional film critic has only high praise for the movie --

Here's the review from the site --

www.awardscircuit.com/2018/09/01/telluride-review-the-front-runner-doesnt-live-up-to-its-name/

[jo]

'The Front Runner' Film Review - A Timely Portrayal Of A Media Frenzy
22/9/2018
0 Comments

By Jack Dignan


​At the post-film Q&A director Jason Reitman, releasing his second film this year after the critically acclaimed Tully, stated that he wished to make a movie people would debate over. In the ever-changing political environment we live in, where the sanctity of the newsroom continues to hold further prevalence over the opinions of the general public, along comes a movie that does just that. It’s a film less about a political campaign gone wrong and more about the journalistic integrity of those hungry for a story, and Reitman’s attempts at stirring debate will no doubt come to fruition.

This film’s not going to be for everyone, but it’s one that, ever since seeing it a couple of weeks ago, has really resonated with me. Everyone’s favourite Australian Hugh Jackman plays Senator Gary Hart. Back in 1988 he was the front-runner for the presidential campaign heading into the final three weeks pre-election. But, as the opening title card states, a lot can happen in three weeks, and before he realises anything has happened, his whole campaign comes crumbling to the ground when he’s caught in a scandalous love affair with a younger woman.

It’s a film that tackles the scrutiny of public life head on, dealing with social and political issues that have never been more relevant, even thirty years on from when the actual events took place. One of the reservations I had about this film going in was its potential relation and confrontation of women standing up against their attackers in the #MeToo era. A single report can destroy a person’s career, which I obviously don’t have to defend as being a very powerful and important thing, but this film could’ve easily shut that all down and questioned the nature of this movement, stirring great controversy and much uproar.

Thankfully, it doesn’t. The Front Runner doesn’t attack or confront the nature of sex scandals and harassment from prevalent figures, which ultimately leads to their downfall. It doesn’t forgive the attacker’s actions or question the accuser’s validity. Its focus is shifted more towards the nature of the newsroom and journalist integrity. It’s less about sexual harassment (although adultery is a very strong theme) and more about abusive journalism. Reitman dares to question whether we choose to believe what’s reported on television or what the people in question are truly going through, all building towards a remarkable final shot that raises its central theme – can you choose to forgive?


Forgiving Gary Hart is no easy task, even if the film seems insistent on doing just that, but the best part of this movie is that you, at the end of the day, get to make up your own mind. You can take away from this movie what you choose to believe, and no matter which way you swing, Reitman’s done his job to great success. The political sex scandal elements could’ve been delved into a little more, which would’ve added an extra layer of timeliness, especially with a president who’s openly admitted to sexual harassment and yet remains in power (although an issue like that is hard to address in a film that doesn’t so much as implicate harassment), but the narrative works wonders when dealing with the heated landscape of competing journalists and invasive privacy.

If the leading actor field weren’t so crowded already, Jackman’s performance would be an unquestionable front runner for this year’s award season, as he delves deep into a fast-talking, ever evolving screenplay by Matt Bai, Jay Carson and Reitman himself. There’s no question about the impressiveness of a film like this, and its relevance to us as a society, but its devise approach to the narrative may mean it gets lost in public eye, something I pray doesn’t happen. This is a really great movie. If we can get The Post nominated for a bunch of Oscars, surely we can campaign the hell out of The Front Runner too.

4 Stars

[carouselkathy]

It's very interesting to read different interpretations of the same film...especially when you've read the book, which can leave an additional impression. Thanks, Jo.

[jo]

CarouselKathy,

The different viewpoints in reviews is even more eyebrow-raising, if you have read the article by Jeff Wells, when he raised the issue of the movie critic/ movie press being entirely objective in assessing the film. He is suggesting that bias seemed to have crept into the reviews of some "thin-skinned" media.

Jo

Sept 19, 2018 18:31:32 GMT -5 jo said:

Must read!!

Luv Jeff Wells ( Hollywood Elsewhere) -- he hit it right on the nose!

Bravo, Jeff Wells for being brave and criticizing the attitude of movie critics ( kin to the movie press)


hollywood-elsewhere.com/2018/09/re-saluting-reitmans-front-runner/

Re-Saluting Reitman’s “Front Runner”

Less than ten minutes into my first viewing of Jason Reitman‘s The Front Runner, I knew it was at least a B-plus. By the time it ended I was convinced it was a solid A. It’s not a typical Reitman film — it doesn’t deliver emotionally moving moments a la Juno and Up In The Air. It is, however, a sharp and lucid account of a real-life political tragedy — the destruction of former Colorado Senator Gary Hart‘s presidential campaign due to press reports of extra-marital womanizing with campaign volunteer Donna Rice.

The Front Runner is an exacting, brilliantly captured account of a sea-change in press coverage of presidential campaigns — about a moment when everything in the media landscape suddenly turned tabloid. Plus it feels recognizable as shit. I immediately compared The Front Runner to Michael Ritchie’s The Candidate, Mike Nichols‘ Primary Colors and James Vanderbilt‘s Truth. It is absolutely on the same wavelength and of the same calibre. Hugh Jackman delivers a steady, measured, well-honed portrayal of Hart, but the whole cast is pretty close to perfect — every detail, every note, every wisecrack is spot-on.


Why, then, are some critics giving Reitman’s film, which is absolutely his best since Up In The Air, the back of their hands?The Front Runner easily warrants scores in the high 80s or low 90s, and yet Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic aggregate tallies are currently in the high 60s — over 20 points lower than they should be.


I’ll tell you what’s going on. Critics can be cool to films that portray journalists in a less than admirable light, which is what The Front Runner certainly does. The Miami Herald reporters who followed Hart round and broke the Rice story are depicted as sleazy fellows, and the relationship between the Miami Herald and Hart is depicted as deeply antagonistic, especially on the Herald’s part. Hart screwed himself with his own carelessness, but the Herald is depicted as being more or less on the same level as the National Enquirer.

You can bet that on some level this analogy is not going down well with certain critics. Remember how Vanderbilt’s Truth (’15), a whipsmart journalism drama, was tarnished in the press for portraying the collapse of Mary Mapes‘ faulty 60 Minutes investigation into George Bush‘s National Guard history and alleged cocaine use? A somewhat similar dynamic is happening right how.



The problem that some critics seems to have with The Front Runner is that, in the words of Indiewire‘s David Ehrlich, “it side-eyes the press for whipping the story into a national firestorm.”


From HE pally and World of Reel correspondent Jordan Ruimy: “I caught The Front Runner. You are dead-on about this movie. The mixed reviews it’s getting don’t do it justice. This is a timely story because it’s about a paradigm shift that happened in the world of media. 24/7 news cycles were starting to dominate and people were hungry for news, even if it meant the sleaziest kind. There’s also this great subplot about [the diminishment of] a woman’s worth, not just in politics but any job in America. You were correct in your assessment of this.” [Here’s Jordan’s review.]

The Front Runner screenplay, based on Matt Bai‘s “All the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid” and co-written by Bai, Reitman and Jay Carson, portrays Hart in relatively sympathetic terms — a guy who sadly screwed himself out of a shot at the White House over a mere dalliance but who had a real point when he argued that the media’s supermarket tabloid fixation on a sexual side issue that meant nothing and was nobody’s business to begin with was by far the greater mistake or misstep. Jackman makes you feel the rage about this.

One of the early comments from Hollywood Elsewhere's film buff readers --

Galileo Figaro • 4 hours ago

"critics can be cool to films that portray journalists in a less than admirable light...

And overly generous to ones that portray them heroically, which explains Spotlight‘s undeservedly high scores.

This validates our early perception that there was bias on how the critics were viewing the movie and its message ( Wells quoted the same film critic Erlich's comment about the movie giving the "side-eye" to the press, which I posted earlier as a sign that the critics may have been biased in their objectivity towards the film).


Again, bravo to Jeff Wells for telling it how it is!


Btw, JW was also an early supporter of The Greatest Showman ( one of his top guesses then for Best Picture) but some of the movie press kept telling him how it was going to be drubbed by critics! Maybe he should have listened to his first instinct and stuck to his guns in praising the movie ( a very prescient gut-feel that it will succeed on all levels with movie audiences!)


Jo

[jo]

A User review from IMDB --

Filter by Rating:
7/10

Jason Reitman's Second Film Of The Year Makes For Thought-Provoking Entertainment

roblesar9921 September 2018

When I checked out the reviews for THE FRONT RUNNER after walking out of the theater, I was surprised to find that it was being met with a generally mixed critical receptipn. That's not to say that THE FRONT RUNNER is some sort of masterpiece, but I definitely thought it was an interesting film, and one that feels rather timely in this day and age (for reasons that are quite obvious). Perhaps the best thing I can say about the film is that it manages to avoid the on-the-nose writing that plagued BLACKKKLANSMAN in more than a few scenes.

Reitman smartly lets the film speak for itself, letting the audience draw their own connection between the events that torpedoed Senator Gary Hart's campaign over thirty years ago and similar events that have plagued other politicians over the last few years. If there's one consequence to such an approach, it's that Reitman presents a lot of ideas without ever taking a firm stand on them, failing to elaborate on ideas that almost demand further analysis - an approach that will certainly rub some the wrong way. That being said, there's a lot to enjoy here, from Hugh Jackman's great performance to Jason Reitman's directing (I quite liked the way he utilized the camera here) to Rob Simonsen's low-key electronic score to the rest of the supporting cast (with an affecting Vera Farmiga being the obvious standout). It even reminded me of a bit of I, TONYA in its analysis of the press (how would American history have been affected if not for their obsession over Hart's love life?).

One more thing, though: it might have just been the theater I watched this in, but the sound mixing in this was atrocious. I want to watch this film again with subtitles just so that I can understand the other half of what the characters were saying.