THE FRONT RUNNER

Life is full of “what ifs” - even the movies dabble from time to time (Hi Gwyneth!) - but this is a real life head-fuck of a What If. Gary Hart was going to be the next President of the United States. If he had followed through, that would have meant no George H.W. Bush, and possibly no Bill Clinton (no Monica Lewinsky!), no George Jr, no Obama, and without Obama there definitely wouldn’t be a Trump. That’s the last 30 years of history, gone. Ain’t that something. But what of the the film ‘The Front Runner’? When you want handsome and charismatic, it’s hard to look past one Hugh Jackman. And while he’s incredibly talented and hits all the right emotional notes, it’s refreshing to actually see him act without a gimmick such as singing, dancing, muscles or a romantic storyline, yet he suffers under a screenplay that presents only half a character. Poor Hart isn’t fleshed out enough. All the good stuff goes to the campaign staff, the journos and newspaper editors and the in-cred-ible ensemble cast that portray them including JK Simmons (‘Whiplash’), Mamoudou Athie (‘Patti Cake$’) and Alfred Molina (‘Spider-Man 2’).

It’s hard to get behind or empathise with a character who we’re told is a political genius but are never really shown it. And in the pro and con column, no one ever actually confirms whether or not Hart had the affair. He denies it publicly and to his staff, as does the woman is question. Yet he apologises to his wife, but that presumably is for the chaos and embarrassment that has now befallen their family. Again, Hart is never presented as sleazy or misogynistic, nor is his marriage shown to be rocky, although we are informed of a separation years earlier. We’re never actually given a reason or systemic behaviour for his adultery - this presents the question of whether it actually happened or not, which isn’t nor should it be the point of the story, yet ultimately in this film it is.

In early 2018, 'The Front Runner's' director Jason Reitman (‘Up In The Air’) gave us his finest film in years, ‘Tully’. After a few too many missteps, the fan inside me was ecstatic that he finally looked like he was back. Now, I’m not sure if ‘Tully’ was a fluke or he’s simply stumbled again. I genuinely enjoyed ‘The Front Runner’ until enough post-screening time had passed that I was able to sit back and really examine what the film was telling me, and that’s when I felt sick. I just want to grab Jason Reitman and yell, “Dude! Read the room!” Five years ago, ‘The Front Runner’ could have been a standout, but today it just comes off as tone deaf. Well made, but tone deaf. Sorry Jason. Sorry Hugh.