THE FRONT RUNNER
US, 2018, 113 minutes, Colour.
Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, J.K.Simmons, Mike O’ Brien, Molly Ephraim, Alfred Molina, Mamoudou Athie.
Directed by Jason Reitman.
For audiences who remember the 1984 and 1988 campaigns for presidential nominees, this will be an interesting retrospect film – especially from the point of view of 2018, the change in the expectations of the American public about the moral behaviour of nominees, the Bill Clinton era, the George Bush era, the change with President Obama, the experience of Donald Trump and a divided America. For those who do not remember or who are too young, this could be a tantalising case study of standards for both Democratic and Republican nominees.
Hugh Jackman, always a screen presence with great charm, has to play a more ambiguous character, Democrat nominee, Gary Hart. However, the screenplay presents him as, generally, a man of principle, who may or may not have been a womaniser but who, most imprudently to say the least, becomes entangled in an affair during his campaign – and, from front runner, to poor runner, to non-runner and pulling out of the race. A mighty political fall.
The film opens with the buzz (literally, a lot of the conversation being indistinct, finally becoming clearer) of the 1984 campaign, the issue of the re-election of Ronald Reagan or the Democratic candidate, Walter Mondale. Reagan was successful. Then there is a transition to 1988, the significance of Senator Hart from Colorado, his decision to run – and, very quickly, emerging as the front runner.
2018 also saw the release of Vice, a very clever satire on Donald Cheney, the Republicans, the election of George W. Bush, the influence of Cheney as vice president, and so many fiascoes associated with the invasion of Iraq. It was a powerful film, both serious and often hilarious at the same time. The Front Runner is much more straightforward, not so much of the subtlety that there was in Vice. Somebody remarked that as a film, it was interesting and “serviceable�.
We are taken into the hectic nature of a candidate’s campaign, focusing on three weeks, at the end of which Gary Hart is no longer running.
Dramatically, he goes to Colorado, climbing a mountain with the press corps to announce his candidature. He also visits Kansas where he lived. But most of the action is in and around Washington DC with some excursions to Miami.
J.K.Simmons, always effective, is the head of the campaign, cynical and sardonic, brusque remarks, criticisms of planning. He does his best with the enthusiastic younger aides and volunteers, not always understanding or agreeing with them. So, when the scandal breaks, he and his staff try their best to handle the situation, an impossible task; they are finally seen receiving envelopes with their severance pay.
And, in the background, is Gary Hart’s wife, Lee, played with some sympathy by Vera Farmiga - the Colorado house surrounded by the press, pressure on her and her daughter. She comes to Washington to be with her husband during the scandal, standing in the press conference to support. (There is a note in the final credits that after all these decades, the couple are still together.)
Gary Hart is something of an idealist, very serious on policies, forward-thinking, even prepared in 1988 to invite President Gorbachev from the Soviet Union to his inauguration. There are a number of sequences of his being interviewed on television, declaring his policies. He is not always so personal regarding his private life, thinking that the public had no right to know anything about it.
Of course, this is part of his downfall. While Ben Bradlee (Alfred Molina) and Bob Woodward are amongst those discussing how they would handle stories about him in the Washington Post, journalists from the Miami Herald don’t have scruples, get wind of the affair after Hart goes on a whim-trip on a society boat during a visit to Miam. They stake out his house, get the information they want, question him in the street, photograph him – and the pursuit of the issue is on.
It is interesting in retrospect to look at the moral standards expected of the candidates in 1988 – and to look forward to Bill Clinton and his impeachment, to Donald Trump and many of the crass statements he made during his election campaign. Times have changed – although the tagline for this film is “the week America went tabloid�.
For audiences not interested in American politics, certainly not for them. However, with election campaigns emerging in so many countries around the world, America anticipating 2020, Brexit complications in the UK, Australian elections in 2019, there is plenty of material here to illustrate the past and to present moral challenges for the present.
1. American political films released in 2018, during Donald Trump’s presidency? Perspectives on politics?
2. The 1980s, American politics, presidential nominees? The traditions of the presidents? Post-Nixon? During the Reagan era and at the end of his era?
3. Looking at the Gary Hart crisis from the 21st century perspective? In the light of the Bush presidencies, Bill Clinton, Obama, Donald Trump? Standards and values, presence, cameras, policies and vision, respect?
4. Washington DC in the 1980s, a presidential nomination campaign, offices, sequences in Colorado and in the mountains, homes, Kansas, scenes in Miami, the boat, newspapers and their offices? The musical score?
5. Audience memory about Gary Hart and the campaign? The scandal? Those not remembering? The impact the younger audiences?
6. 1984, Hart and the campaign, the presence of Hugh Jackman and his style, the senator from Colorado, working for Walter Mondale and his nomination, television news, the speakers, clips, the results?
7. The end of President Reagan’s term, the waiting of the Democrats for so many years, nominees? Gary Hart as the front runner? His credibility?
8. Gary Hart and his family, his relationship with Lee, the support, his daughter? Rumours of his being a womaniser? (And the final credits information that the couple were still together after the decades?)
9. Gary Hart has a personality, politician, his record, in the Senate, his policies, series presentations, the economy, the environment, the range of topics, Russia and Gorbachev, inviting him to the inauguration? The TV interviews and discussions? An idealist with a vision?
10. His not being personal, keeping his privacy, his personal behaviour? The relationship with Donna Rice, the shock with its publicity, whether he could cope or not? The media, tabloid mentality and reporting, before the 24 hours news service?
11. The campaign, the focus on three weeks, close attention to the detail, his appeal to the people, going to the mountains and climbing, the announcing of his candidature? The episode with his clothes and throwing the axe, the press scepticism, is genial overcoming them?
12. The range of staff, advisor, his sardonic perspectives and comments, arrangements, the planning? The young associated with the campaign, their ideas and plans, ideals, motivations? The arguments and discussions? The impact of the scandal, trying to cope? Dealing with the press, the answers for the press? The failing of the campaign, receiving their severance checks?
13. The action in Washington, the Miami reporters, discussions of the Washington Post? The reputation of Ben Bradlee? Bob Woodward? The discussions, suspicions, how to handle the situation in the press? The contrast with the Miami Herald, the staff, but the press conferences, the tips, the information, the decision for the stakeout, the photographer and his awkwardness, observing Gary Hart, Donna Rice, falling asleep and Hart seeing them?
14. The episode in Miami, on the yacht, the social people, Hart and his reaction, encounter with Donna, her being followed? Glimpsed? The Hart campaign taking her into custody, the declarations about her reputation, the scenes at the airport with the Hart associate, her disappearance?
15. The behaviour of the press, the behaviour of paparazzi, the stakeout, the numbers, the cameras, the shouting, photographing Hart at his house in the street, interviewing him? Surrounding his home in Colorado, the pressure on his wife and daughter? The press conferences, his entering the questions – and the Washington post reporter, African-American?, the previous questions, sitting next to the plane, his fear of flying, Hart and his reassurance? His directly asking Hart about adultery?
16. Hart thinking the public had no right to his private life, his comment about his moral expectations, inviting journalists to follow him – and the consequences?
17. Finding Lee, his confession, her going to Washington, the press conference, the phone call to her daughter? Her being upset, not making a decision instantly about leaving, but perhaps at some time? The end, the couple watching his speech on television? Their staying together?
18. The American presidency and politics in retrospect? Had Hart won? Changes in the US? And the comment that the public got the leaders that they deserved?
