With
the most recent presidential scandals and success of certain TV shows, the public learned
more about the White House than ever before. From the geography of the estate to the
behind-the-scenes trivia, everything about the most famous American building intrigues the
interest and imagination of Joe Q. Public. Hollywood responds with The Contender, a
political drama that revolves around the process of replacing the recently deceased
fictional vice-president with a liberal democrat senator. To make things interesting, the
senator is a woman.Laine Hanson
(Allen) is a highly esteemed senator from Ohio, but she was originally only second on the
short list of possible sidekicks to the President (Bridges). The top spot was reserved for
Jack Hathaway (William Petersen), who fails to save a young woman’s life after she
falls from the bridge into a lake where Hathaway happened to be fishing. President decides
that even though Hathaway is a hero in public eyes, his eventual failure may be a stain on
his otherwise impeccable bio. However, Mrs. Hanson will have much tougher road through
congressional confirmation hearing, because it will be led by a republican Congressman
Shelly Runyon (Gary Oldman), who was a close friend of Hathaway’s. Sure enough, a
scandal emerges: Laine got wild and loose one night in college, at a sorority acceptance
party, and even a camera happened to be handy. Runyon is hitting hard, but graceful Hanson
doesn’t play his game, and persists in her refusal to comment. The clash of the
titans rages on, until the pieces of another investigation are put together in a
surprising puzzle.
What surprised me the most about The
Contender is that it is not a cheap courtroom drama with the White House backdrop.
It’s not a movie about the President either, or any other character in particular. It
looks like an ode to integrity among politicians, the praise to principles we choose to
live by. Laine Hanson says at one point that principles serve their purpose only if we
stick by them in times when that is not convenient. Us mortals are left wondering when
will she fold and what would we do in her place. Her position is that personal life has,
or at least should have, no place in business of politics. Runyon is stepping over the
line, but he’s not the only one with an agenda. President wants to leave a legacy
behind in his final years in the White House, and he’s sticking with Laine, even when
his own staff doesn’t think it’s a good idea anymore.
The script is obviously written for the
leading lady, and Joan Allen delivers the same irresistible charm she displayed in
numerous movies, like Pleasantville. Jeff Bridges brings almost a note of carelessness in
a President, which actually hides his true feelings and intentions when they need to be
hidden. He appears cunning, but likeable, especially in challenges he occasionally imposes
on his cook. Sam Elliott, his partner from The Big Lebowski is an imposing figure of
Kermit Newman, White House Chief of Staff, who doesn’t hesitate to raise his brooding
voice, and puts the interests of his President above everything else. But for me, the real
star of the movie is Gary Oldman, cast as a man years older than he in fact is. With a
bald spot and retro-spectacles, Oldman gives out an image of a man defeated and bitter,
but honest nonetheless. Along with Christian Slater as a young Congressman, these fine
actors make The Contender a good ensemble drama that is quick, witty and, on occasion,
even deep.