The Front Runner (2018)

In 1987, U.S. Senator Gary Hart's presidential campaign 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 & 4 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

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language including some sexual references

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Canada 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

Hugh Jackman, J.K Simmons and Alfred Molina have been in movies based on Marvel comics

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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

Bill Dixon: We're talking about how you get through today without pissing away everything we've all worked for on this campaign! If you lose this, we can kiss the White House goodbye.

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Crazy Credits

The film opens with the 1984 Columbia Pictures logo.

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Connections

References Miami Vice (1984)

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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

An underwhelming convoluted unsatisfying dragged out film

Good performances from the leads, but the screenplay was an underwhelming convoluted mess of many quick irrelevant scenes that dragged on into pointless plot issues. Although paced quite well, at the end of the 113 min length, I found myself asking "why" and saying "so what" and "who cares". I was left unsatisfied with this film. It's a 6/10 from me, and I'd recommend a 'pass' on watching this, unless you really need to know about Senator Gary Hart's 1988 presidential run - of which you can simply Google and read up on.