The words politics and scandals go together like peanut butter and jelly. And like PB & J, if you’re not careful, things can get messy in an instant. U.S. Senator Gary Hart (Hugh Jackman) seemingly had it all. He was a man on the rise, and after failing to get a presidential nomination for the Democratic party in 1984, he vowed to work hard and give a stronger showing the next time around. As the 1988 primaries draws nearer, Gary Hart looks to be the The Front Runner, at least until a political bombshell known as Donna Rice (Sara Paxton) is dropped. This is when everything changes.
Hugh Jackman is more subdued in his role as Gary Hart, which is by design. He does all that is asked of him and yet I don’t feel that this is one of his better performances. Vera Farmiga as Gary’s wife, Lee, is not around for enough of the drama to really have an impact, so it’s nice to see a familiar face but it’s all for naught. Sara Paxton could have been better except she was never given a chance. For someone that stirred up so much controversy, there was a serious lack of Donna Rice in The Front Runner. J.K. Simmons probably turned in the best performance. He’s funny, blunt and very believable. There are a ton of recognizable names that played small parts but none that really shined that weren’t mentioned.
The Front Runner certainly seems to have its share of critical acclaim. That being said, I found the biopic of Gary Hart to be lacking the type blatant scandal that we have coming to expect in 2018. Our collective skins have thickened over the last 30 years and there’s nothing like “big news” from three decades ago to remind us of the change. Quite honestly it sickens me to have come to that realization but this is the world we live in today. And with this being the case, director Jason Reitman under-delivers for the type of story he’s trying to tell.
Yes, what happened in Hart’s private life was devastating but the way that it plays out on the screen is very anti-climatic to witness. Hugh Jackman certainly looks the part and acts the part, and yet disappointment still radiates. Even with the platoon of seasoned actors that Reitman presents, there isn’t enough star power to shine bright enough to make the political biopic worth watching, especially when people can simply tune into CNN or Fox News to find subject matter that’s much more hard hitting. So unless you had a personal stake in this true story, you’d be better served seeing something else in theaters and catching this one a few months down the road when it’s available for home viewing. You can see The Front Runner in theaters now.
