Reitman’s take on Hart/Rice scandal worth a look
To watch The Front Runner is to be amazed at how much the political climate has changed in 30 years. Back then, the well-regarded, young, smart, Kennedy-esque Colorado senator Gary Hart, widely considered the front runner for the Democratic nomination, had his campaign derailed by just the whiff of an extramarital affair. Fast forward to today, and a candidate with multiple accusations of affairs harassment, and vulgar language has no problem staying in the race, and, ultimately, winning. How far we’ve come. But director Jason Reitman’s (Young Adult; Juno; Up in the Air) new film is less a treatise on changing public perception, and more a study of how journalism has changed, opening the door to what is now considered acceptable and expected scrutiny of candidates’ private lives. And for that, the film is worth seeing.
Aussie Hugh Jackman plays Hart, and although his American accent tends to falter at times, he captures well Hart’s bewilderment that anyone would care about his private life, and not the issues. With a war room of young, idealistic staffers, helmed by campaign manager Bill Dixon (JK Simmons, terrific), Hart is respected and beloved, and, all think, sure to overcome his earlier loss in 1984 to Walter Mondale in the Democratic primary (a prelude that opens the film), as he has an overwhelming lead over his opponents. But as, the film tells us in text on screen, “a lot can happen in three weeks.”
Reitman and co-writer Jay Carson (no stranger to political drama, having written for House of Cards), basing their screenplay on Matt Bai’s 2014 book All the Truth is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid, use those three weeks as a framing device. After the prelude, each section of the film comprises one of the three weeks that set in motion the implosion of Hart’s campaign. Gen X and older readers may well remember the pivotal event: Hart is photographed in Miami on a break from the campaign on a party boat aptly named Monkey Business, which just may be the most fitting name associated with a sex scandal until Anthony Wiener came along. On board, Hart meets the young and pretty Donna Rice (Sara Paxton, very good); they chat, and the film chastely cuts to the boat adrift at sea at sunset. Say no more.
An anonymous phone call from one of Rice’s friends to Miami Herald reporter Tom Fiedler (Steve Zissis) sets Hart’s downfall in motion. Fiedler and his colleague Pete Murphy (Bill Burr) stake out Hart’s townhouse, photographing Rice coming and going. Hart confronting the two reporters in an alley outside his home is one of the film’s best scenes, as Hart is in utter disbelief at the reporter’s tactics, and even more shocked that anyone would care. “Why should I sacrifice my privacy?” he shouts in frustration at one point. “I care about the sanctity of this process.” And of course he makes a big mistake when he erupts at the press, “Put a tail on me. You’ll be very bored.” How wrong he is.
In ’88, tabloid shows like Hard Copy and A Current Affair were all the rage; instead of just covering celebrity gossip, they were now going after politicians as well, and Hart, who came of age under Kennedy, a womanizer who was left alone, failed to understand the change, though the Herald certainly did. Not to be slighted, both the New York Times and the Washington Post get in on the action, and the story quickly becomes a media frenzy, much to Hart’s confused dismay. Whether Hart was naïve or the media was out of line — or both — is left for the viewer to decide, but it’s a though-provoking question, and Reitman and Carson, with their quick cut pacing and almost Sorkin-like dialogue, give us what we need to see both sides and mull the question over.
A terrific cast helps bring the story to life. Alfred Molina might not seem like an obvious choice for Post editor Ben Bradlee, but he brings appropriate weariness and gravitas to the role. Mamoudou Athie (Patti Cake$) does nice work as Post reporter AJ Parker, a composite character loosely based on real-life New York Times reporter EJ Dionne, who reported on much of the story. Hart likes and trusts Parker, so is shocked when Parker confronts him with tough questions. And Kevin Pollak, as Herald editor Bob Martindale, shines in what’s easily the best scene in the movie, when Martindale and Hart go toe-to-toe in a testy exchange at an American Newspaper Publishers Association banquet.
But it’s Vera Farmiga, as Hart’s wife Lee, who does some of her best work here. She’s exceptional, giving the usually thankless role of the wounded wife complicated dimensions that rival Glenn Close’s bravura performance earlier this year in The Wife. Watch her face as she listens to Hart on the phone, as he tells her haltingly there’s going to be a big story about him in the next day’s news; everything you need to know about her inner life – and her marriage – is on her face here.
My only complaint is that the film ends rather abruptly; I would have liked to see the discussion surrounding Hart’s withdraw from the race – both with the campaign staff, and with Lee – but Reitman chooses not to include such a scene. Perhaps he felt the audience had more than enough to understand what probably went on, but I like that fly-on-the wall sense of being there, which the rest of the film does well. That said, though, what we are left with is an engaging and well-acted picture that lets us all sit back and think about where we are now, how we got here, and if it’s where we want to be.
—————————-
The Front Runner opens today at Bay Area theaters.
