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
Saul Rubinek, Joan Allen, Sam Elliott, The Contender
"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 Lurie's 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 Otto Preminger's Advise & Consent and Franklin J. Schaffner's 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 instead of her qualifications for the job. Adding insult to injury, the Democrat Hanson used to be a Republican.
All of the above form 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, her presence in The Contender prevented me from either cringing or laughing while watching the myriad 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 "purity"? But as a star vehicle with more twists and turns than all daytime soaps put together, you will have a tough time finding something more amusing.
Note: This review of The Contender was initially posted in October 2004.
Hey, Nathan,
I agree. If you haven't already, you should check out Otto Preminger's "Advise and Consent" and Franklin J. Schaffner's "The Best Man." The latter was written by Gore Vidal. Both are good movies and deal very much with partisan politics of one kind or another.
I totally understand what you're getting at. She does seem to be flawless from a human perspective. Everyone has flaws… Especially politicians. It does make the attacks on her from Gary Oldman's character seem all the more awful, and I suppose that's what Lurie was getting at. But your point is well-taken. As much as it may work to help the audience side with Allen's character, it comes off more contrived than true.
I had forgotten about that. Really interesting of Demme to make that point (and interesting of him to do so with such subtlety). All in all, I have a really hard time thinking of movies with fictional politicians (and especially Presidents) who have clear political leanings. Even that show Commander in Chief with Geena Davis, which DID spell out their party affiliations, got around making a message by having the President be a Republican and the VP (Davis) be a Democrat who felt the need to nonetheless follow her President's will after inheriting the office. Ugh. I just wish that touching partisan politics in movies (and TV, since I mentioned a TV show right there) didn't always have to be so closeted.
Hey, Nathan,
Thanks for writing. Always good to hear (or rather, read) your point of view.
My problem with "The Contender" was that Joan Allen's character was just TOO perfect. Couldn't she have had perhaps one, however minor, flaw…? Say, she didn't like chocolate, or was a slob at home, or didn't know how to make enchiladas — or perhaps was a poor backgammon player??
As for most filmmakers being squeamish about letting us know who is a Republican, who is a Democrat in their movies, I'm sure you're right. I remember one such instance: Jonathan Demme's THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE. Strangely, Meryl Streep's Evil Mom turned out to be a veiled Democrat. You can see on a map the colors of her party winning in Democratic states.
I think the point you make about Hanson's qualifications is PRECISELY what the film is trying to convey. The thing to remember is how overtly partisan the movie is. It's about a Republican Senator trying to derail a Democrat. That's the basis of the film. If her qualifications seem intrinsic to you, then that's precisely what Lurie is saying: despite her obvious qualifications, she's still getting viciously attacked by a partisan Republican. That's not the only point that Lurie is making in the movie, but I think it's one of the major ones. He obviously has a bone to pick with the Republicans, and the portrayal of Gary Oldman's Senator is such that after production wrapped, Oldman tried to sue the movie for his character's portrayal. It was a complicated mess.
I personally really enjoyed The Contender. It doesn't have to strike a complete tone of realism (as most thrillers, political or otherwise, rarely do). But it is very well acted, nicely scripted, and it has the balls to actually label its characters by their political party. That's one thing that frustrates me to no end about most movies in which politics enters the equation: we NEVER know what party the politicians or President are from. And I feel as if it's mainly to not piss people off. Lurie doesn't care, because he's making a point about partisan politics. I give him props for that.