The Front Runner (2018)

American Senator Gary Hart's presidential campaign in 1988 is derailed when he's caught in a scandalous love affair.

Director:

Jason Reitman

Writers:

Matt Bai, Jay Carson

Stars:

Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, J.K. Simmons

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hugh Jackman	...	Gary Hart
Vera Farmiga	...	Lee Hart
J.K. Simmons	...	Bill Dixon
Mark O'Brien	...	Billy Shore
Molly Ephraim	...	Irene Kelly
Chris Coy	...	Kevin Sweeney
Alex Karpovsky	...	Mike Stratton
Josh Brener	...	Doug Wilson
Tommy Dewey	...	John Emerson
Kaitlyn Dever	...	Andrea Hart
Oliver Cooper	...	Joe Trippi
Jenna Kanell	...	Ginny Terzano
RJ Brown	...	Bill Martin
Alfred Molina	...	Ben Bradlee
Mamoudou Athie	...	AJ Parker

Storyline

Gary Hart, a U.S. senator from Colorado, is the widely accepted front-runner in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. After losing the 1984 nomination to vice-president Walter Mondale, Hart decides to run for President of the United States. At one point during his campaign, against the will of his manager Bill Dixon, Hart challenges the press and public to "follow him around" while he's not campaigning on weekends. This proves to be a mistake when in 1987, photos of him and journalist Donna Rice are published by Miami Herald Reporters. In a desperate attempt to clear his name, Hart tries to fix his reputation at a news event concerning the affair but to no avail. Because of the consequences of his actions, Hart is disgraced, berated by Dixon, and forced to drop out of the campaign while his wife Oletha remains to be close with him. Donna also announces that she has personally denied sleeping with the now former senator..

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Plot Keywords:

politics | scandal | presidential campaign | senator | 1980s | 

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Taglines:

The Week America Went Tabloid

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language including some sexual references

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 November 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Front Runner

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$51,543, 11 November 2018, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$2,000,105, 20 December 2018

Company Credits

Production Co:

BRON Studios, Creative Wealth Media Finance, Right of Way Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ben Bradlee who's portrayed in this movie by Alfred Molina was also portrayed by Tom Hanks in The Post and Jason Robards in All the President's Men. Also his son Ben Bradlee Jr. was portrayed by John Slattery in the film Spotlight.

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Goofs

The film begins in 1984 then the screen displays "4 years later" but it actually picks up in early 1987.

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Quotes

Lee Hart: [on the phone] Go on, Gary, say it.
Gary Hart: There's going to be a story tomorrow about me.

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Connections

Featured in CTV News at 11:30 Toronto: Episode dated 8 September 2018 (2018)

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Soundtracks

In for the Drill (DCD090_02_2)
Written by Mel Wesson, Dirty Dick and Bart Hendrickson
Published by Extreme Music Production USA
Courtesy of Extreme Music

User Reviews

Unfortunately not a front runner

The movie tells a story of a disgraced presidential candidate Gary Hart, who was the front runner in 1988 but dropped out due to sexual misconduct. Sounds familiar? Yes. But let's move on. The main moral of the story is whether private aberration should effect political professionalism. Will one perform efficiently as a political figure if they misbehave in private life? Hugh Jackman as Gary Hart, is well enough, but didn't have much screen time for a main character to let us pick his head and get to know him as a politician, as a husband and father. Supporting cast, including astonishing Vera Farmiga and J.J. Simmons, did better work with equal screen time but less lines. The film never quite clarifies its own attitude toward Hart, as well as doesn't let us enough background to make solid conclusions ourselves. The Front Runner is definitely not a front runner this season