Based on political journalist Matt Bai’s book All The Truth Is Out, The Front Runner stars Hugh Jackman as married Democratic senator Gary Hart, whose all-but-secured presidential nomination in 1988 was torpedoed by a sex scandal. Jason Reitman’s biopic misguidedly paints Hart in a sympathetic light, compounding the issue with one-dimensional treatment of its female protagonists. The director ambitiously attempts to wrestle with the role played in Hart’s undoing by a sensation-starved press, but ends up delivering a jumbled and somewhat nihilistic take on the elasticity of morality. The film is elevated by strong performances and a crackling first act, but its reach ultimately exceeds its grasp, excelling neither as a character study nor as a scathing indictment of immorality in politics and the media.
The Front Runner | Directed by Jason Reitman (US 2018) with Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga. Starts Jan 17.
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