The Contender: Movie Review, DVD Review (2000)

Written and directed by Rod Lurie, 130 minutes, rated R.

(Originally published 2000)

Sex, lies and politics--they all boil together beautifully in Rod Lurie’s “The Contender,” a surprisingly strong political drama that understands the rhetoric of Washington, knows the dirty secrets of its players, and uses its excellent cast to infuse the action and quick-fire pace with the sleaze of a proposed youthful indiscretion.

Obviously taking its cues from President Clinton’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky and his ensuing impeachment, the film asks an important question--is a politician’s sex life the public’s business?

Wisely removing itself from real life, “The Contender” poses that question not around its president, Jackson Evens (Jeff Bridges), but around Laine Hanson (Joan Allen), a senator from Ohio asked by Evens to be his vice president after the former vice president dies in office.

Smart, savvy and the daughter of a governor, Laine seems to have it all to become the United States’ first female vice president-- respect from her colleagues, admiration from the nation, a solid marriage, a cute 6-year-old son, and a firm stand on the issues.

But when an old political foe of Evens, the indefatigable right-wing congressman Shelly Runyon (Gary Oldman), learns of an orgy Laine may have participated in while in college, he decides to go after her in a brutal effort to further his career, destroy Laine’s life, and with it, the president’s legacy.

But as Laine is grilled under oath by Runyon before the House Judiciary Committee hearings, it becomes clear that she’s not going to talk about the alleged orgy. Time and again, she refuses to discuss her private life, making the point that if she were a man, no one would care how many people she’d slept with while in college.

Marked by its outstanding performances and its intelligent script, “The Contender” is stirring entertainment that only falters toward the end, when Lurie, a former film critic who should have known better, hauls in the violins to punctuate emotions that would have resonated clearly without swelling musical accompaniment.

Further, since Lurie stacks so much of his film on Laine’s right to privacy, it’s odd that he’d reveal the truth about what she did that night in college. Whether or not she participated in the orgy won’t be revealed here, but it’s a shame Lurie felt compelled to answer after making such a strong case for Laine’s silence.

Grade: A-