THE CONTENDER – Joan Allen, Jeff Bridges
The Contender (2000)
Direction and screenplay: Rod Lurie
Cast: Joan Allen, Gary Oldman, Jeff Bridges, Christian Slater, Sam Elliott, William L. Petersen, Saul Rubinek, Philip Baker Hall, Robin Thomas, Mike Binder, Mariel Hemingway, Kathryn Morris, Kristen Shaw
THE POLITICIANS’ HOUR
"Principles only mean anything when we stick by them when they’re inconvenient," says Senator Laine Hanson (Joan Allen) in Rod Lurie’s political thriller The Contender. She should know. In that film, the poor Democratic senator is grilled by a Republican inquisitor with a bad hairdo (a venom-spitting Gary Oldman) who wants to prevent at all costs her being confirmed as the next Vice President of the United States. Even if that means destroying Hanson’s political career by making public the senator’s alleged participation in an orgy during her college days. (Shades of Advise and Consent and The Best Man, in both of which evildoers threaten to disclose the gay past of a political candidate.)
Now, why such hatred? Well, the Republican watchdog is certain that the president (Jeff Bridges, shamelessly hamming it up) has chosen Sen. Hanson because of her gender, and not her qualifications for the job. Adding insult to injury, the Democrat Hanson used to be a Republican. That is the basis for the drama that ensues — and it is a whole lot of drama, involving, among other issues, betrayal, adultery, manslaughter, and shark sandwiches.
This political circus is fun to watch because of its melodramatic excesses, but not once does director-writer (and former film critic) Lurie make a convincing case that his story bears any resemblance to reality. First and foremost, Hanson is everything her foes say she isn’t: an experienced politician and an intelligent woman of solid principles. Therefore, the initial rationale that propels her enemies to look for dirt on her seems patently absurd. And so does everything that follows.
Hanson, in fact, is such an eloquent and just damn perfect paragon of virtue that her political views become nearly irrelevant. You may not agree with her religious beliefs (as an atheist, she has none) or with her choice of underwear, but orgy or no orgy, Senator Hanson is portrayed as someone much too good for such a lowly position as U.S. V.P.
The reason I didn’t get nauseated by this overabundance of honor and courage in one single individual was Joan Allen’s masterfully restrained performance. Allen is strong and determined, but never self-righteously so, and she doesn’t display an iota of self-pity during the grueling proceedings. Almost single-handedly, Allen carries The Contender without making one either cringe or laugh at the absurd and contradictory situations concocted by Lurie — not the least of which is an atheist nominee for Vice President of the obsessively religious United States.
As a political thriller, The Contender is simplistic, silly, and weak-kneed — did we really need to learn about the young Laine Hanson’s sexual purity? But as a star vehicle with more twists and turns than all daytime soaps put together, you will have a tough time finding anything more amusing.
2 Academy Award Nominations
Best Actress: Joan Allen
Best Supporting Actor: Jeff Bridges
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Tags: Film Reviews, Gary Oldman, Jeff Bridges, Joan Allen, Oscar 2000, Oscar Movies, Political Movies, Rod Lurie, Sex, The Contender
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