The Contender Review
By Joe Lozito
Scandal with Care
When I saw the trailer for "The Contender", writer-director Rod Lurie's new political thriller, my first reaction was "who cares?" The trick to the film is that Mr. Lurie doesn't try to make you care. Instead, the film forces you to wonder "do you care?" The question of whether Lanie Hanson (Joan Allen), the first female vice presidential candidate, actually had group sex as a freshman in college is almost secondary. The real topic that the film penetrates is: should it make a difference in getting her appointed to the office of VP?
Mr. Lurie himself is a splendid example of not judging too harshly or quickly, since his last film, 1999's happily little-seen "Deterrance", would have led you to believe he has no knack for a politcal thriller. However, he has crafted a finely tuned film, sort of a millennial, Post-Clintonian step-child to "All the President's Men", and packed it with a fine ensemble of actors.
Joan Allen, one of America's most underutilized actresses is given a chance to shine in a leading role for a change. She has no problem carrying the weight of Lanie Hanson. While some actresses might have chosen to play up the inherent sexuality of the role or the tight-lipped stubbornness, Ms. Allen manages to find a balance between both, playing the role with elegance and vitality. Thanks to Ms. Allen, it is not difficult to see why President Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges) would want to choose her as his second in command.
However, is President Evans picking Lanie because she's the best person for the job, or just to end his second term on a history-making note? Mr. Lurie's script doesn't offer an easy answer and the oddly well-cast Mr. Bridges plays up this ambivalence. His President Evans is a frat boy hiding in a President's body. He not only enjoys the presidential perk of being able to order any food at any time of the day, but he knows that it's a reference to another movie ("Dave").
There are several knowing food-related winks in the film. In fact, the film is oddly orally-fixated. Not only is Evans always ordering from the mythically stocked White House kitchen, but Congressman Shelly Runyon (Gary Oldman) is constantly tongue-ing something out of his teeth, and at one point Evans and Hanson actually share a cigar.
The most happy surprise in the film is Mr. Oldman himself, finally ending his long string of scenery-chewing villains ("Air Force One", "Lost in Space", "The Fifth Element", etc) to create a wonderfully dimensioned character. His Shelly Runyon, head of the congressional investigation of Hanson, could have been the standard moustache-twirling Republican that is so easy to take potshots at in Hollywood. Instead, thanks especially to two insightful scenes with his wife, we get a character who believes, at least in part, that what he is doing is correct and, even more so, necessary.
Still, "the Contender" is absolutely a film full of Hollywood politics. The party lines are pretty clearly drawn. However, there are enough character moments to make the film work on another level, less political and more personal. This is why the film works. It is not just questioning our political muckrakers, it is questioning our own arrogance for standing in judgement of others. At one point President Evans remarks, "I only want people who have had sexual misconduct to vote for me". If all goes well, only those people will enjoy this film.
