Ryan McNeil
We are in an age where political controversy seems to crop-up monthly. We are in an age where media coverage of our political process falls under much skepticism and misunderstanding. How did we get here? What was life like before all of this? Might it just be simpler to dial everything down and everyone back?
If we go back thirty years, we get the answer.
THE FRONT RUNNER is the story of Gary Hart (Hugh Jackman), an American senator from Colorado.
In 1988, Gary campaigns to be the Democratic nominee for president, and the opening polls actually have him as an early favorite. At the end of the Reagan administration, his ideas about looking after more Americans, taking a stand on the environment and education are seen as truly progressive. Everywhere Gary goes, people want to listen to what he has to say…including the press corps following his campaign.
His campaign team headed by Bill Dixon (J.K. Simmons) and Irene Kelly (Molly Ephraim) move heaven and earth to sharpen Hart’s message and keep his volunteers motivated. They have a deep understanding of the ever-changing political game, and believe that Hart has what it takes to win.
Following closely behind all of this calculated madness is a press corps that includes people like A.J. Parker from the Washington Post and Tom Fielder from the Miami Herald. They both believe that Gary Hart’s marriage and romantic life are up for discussion, especially after they catch glimmers of duplicity on the campaign trail. Hart pushes-back vehemently, stating that anything unrelated to the issues aren’t up for discussion.
After receiving a tip, Fielder presses his luck and stakes-out Hart’s Washington DC condo. Not only does he catch the senator in the midst of a tryst with a woman who is not his wife, but he comes face-to-face with the candidate and specifically asks about the ethical contradiction.
Gary Hart’s response is clear; it’s none of the press’ business whose company he keeps and why. But when Fielder, The Herald, and The Post all turn around and raise this issue to the voting public, the debate over what is and isn’t…well, up for debate…begins to rage.
THE FRONT RUNNER wants us to ask ourselves how we got here.
On the one hand, Gary Hart continually looks us in the eye and asks what business it is of ours what goes on between two consenting adults. What’s more, the media in this film argues amongst itself about what is and is not responsible journalism. Does it matter not only what the public learns about, but when and where they learn about it?
To Gary Hart’s question, the film has a clear answer – it’s absolutely our business. Not only does it hold a candidate who speaks of being transparent to account, but it speaks to the liability of their governance. Can they be counted on to lead responsibly, or will they be liable due to their own lack of ethics and morality. Hart seems to want to keep what happens behind closed doors off-limits, and to a certain degree, he’s allowed that. But there’s a world of difference between privacy and secrecy, and a public servant like Hart must understand the difference.
As for the question of responsible journalism, it’s a question that became more complex in the years that follow the setting of this film. Yes, the press needs to continue to hold itself to an agreed-upon code when it comes to the line between responsible reporting and salacious gossip. As THE FRONT RUNNER opens, we are reminded that the 80’s was an era seemingly dominated by salacious gossip. Journalistic institutions must have looked at smaller outlets at times and wondered what they were doing in the public trust, and what was done to boost sales.
However, watching the press in this film argue amongst itself reminds us not only that the fifth estate is not doing what they do only in the hopes of pilloring the leaders they don’t like, but that they often hold each-other to account when it comes to the manner in which a story is told. What’s more, now and again it’s the institutions that are in-the-wrong in the way they question the methods of the smaller outlets.
THE FRONT RUNNER sometimes seems to be in a rush to get to a conclusion we all know is coming. Some conversations never slip below the surface, and some conversations just aren’t had. There are glimmers of other films inside of this one, all of them making us think about what else Reitman and his team could have done. That’s what holds this film back from being something great, but none of it stand in the way of it being something good. The film is sometimes messy, but so is life in a chaotic political climate.
For as long as there has been a free and independent press, the press and the government have had an uneasy relationship. The two institutions are so deeply entwined – sometimes relying on each-other, sometimes at odds with one-another, They are supposed to serve the same master (the public), and they serve that master in such different ways. THE FRONT RUNNER wants us to consider that uneasy relationship; consider the true grind of bringing the truth, and balance it with an understanding of what’s possible when the truth slips into darkness.
The reality is that we live in an era where both institutions feel at-risk. On one side is a press people have a hard time trusting, and on the other a body politic with a growing disregard for the truth. What is up for discussion and how that discussion should play out is a messy proposition, but so is life in a chaotic political climate.
Great review. I liked this film a lot more than I was expecting to based on reviews I had read. In a way, I didn’t feel this was Jackman’s movie, the interesting stuff to me was everything that was happening around him with the journalists and the campaign workers. Their conversations were the most interesting ones.