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A review of The Contender
By Steve Ramos
THE POLITICAL INTRIGUES COME FAST AND FURIOUS IN WRITER/DIRECTOR ROD LURIE'S GRIPPING, POLITICAL THRILLER, THE CONTENDER. A CAR CAREENS OFF A BRIDGE AND INTO A RIVER WITH A WOMAN TRAPPED INSIDE. FROM THAT MOMENT EARLY IN THE FILM, YOU KNOW YOU'RE BOUND FOR A BRUTAL TALE.
THE VICE PRESIDENT HAS DIED AND PRESIDENT JACKSON EVANS (JEFF BRIDGES) DECIDES TO SELECT A WOMAN, SEN. LAINE HANSON (JOAN ALLEN). IT'S A CHOICE THAT OFFERS THE PRESIDENT'S ENEMIES PLENTY OF POLITICAL AMMUNITION. A LONG-AGO SEXUAL SCANDAL SOON PUTS HANSON IN JEOPARDY. IN FACT, SEN. SHELLY RUNYON (GARY OLDMAN), WHO HEADS THE PUBLIC CONFIRMATION HEARINGS COMMITTEE, INTENDS TO DRAG HANSON'S NAME THROUGH THE MUD.
LURIE HAS A KNACK FOR POLITICAL THRILLERS. THE CONTENDER IS A SUSPENSEFUL MIX OF SPIN-DOCTORING, POLITICAL AMBUSHES AND SCANDALS. THE RESEMBLANCE TO RECENT IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS IS CLEAR AND INTENTIONAL. BELTWAY POLITICS ARE SELDOM PORTRAYED SO CYNICALLY.
AN ENSEMBLE OF BELIEVABLE PERFORMANCES FUELS THE FILM'S EMOTIONAL POWER. BRIDGES AND ALLEN ARE CREDIBLE AS POLITICAL POWERBROKERS. A HIGH-TEMPERED SAM ELLIOTT UPS THE DRAMATIC TEMPO AS CHIEF OF STAFF KERMIT NEWMAN. CONCEALED BEHIND THICK, BLACK GLASSES AND A BALDING SCALP, OLDMAN DRIPS VENOM AS THE VETERAN POLITICIAN WHO PLOTS HANSON'S DEMISE. BASICALLY, RUNYON WANTS TO OBLITERATE HANSON'S LIFE.
YOU'RE NEVER QUITE SURE WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN IN THE CONTENDER. THE TWISTS AND TURNS ARE THAT BELIEVABLE. STILL, YOU'RE SO CONNECTED WITH HANSON THAT EVERY SETBACK FEELS LIKE A PUNCH TO THE GUT. AS I SAID, THE BEST MOVIE DRAMAS ARE OFTEN EMOTIONALLY BRUTAL TO WATCH.
CityBeat grade: A.
E-mail Steve Ramos
Previously in Film
That's Entertainment
By Steve Ramos
(October 5, 2000)
Land of 100 Cameras
By Steve Ramos
(October 5, 2000)
And Now A Few Words From Robert De Niro
By Steve Ramos
(October 5, 2000)
more...
Other articles by Steve Ramos
Couch Potato (October 5, 2000)
Arts Beat (October 5, 2000)
Opening Films (October 5, 2000)
more...
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Poet of the Avant-Garde
Retrospective highlights the work of experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage
Comes a Horseman
The Contender offers cowboy actor Sam Elliott the role of a lifetime
Opening Films
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