"The Contender" is even more preposterous. But it's well aware of that fact and is very entertaining. Rod Lurie is quite a character. I've known him for years as a journalist, and know how much he's wanted to break into Hollywood. He's always had the balls for it, but he manages to deliver as well. Who knew? Can't exactly call him an inspired writer-director, but he puts on a helleva good show. Joan Allen (who he has worshipped for years) is great as a candidate for vice preident who refuses to answer questions about her past sex life -- and a scandal the Republicans are tryingto cook up over it. Gary Oldman, who also exec produced, is the bad guy. If you've been reading in the papers about Goldman's upset with the movie, seeing it reveals how inane his canards have been. He's playing the villain -- as he has done so many times in the past. The script is crystal clear. There's no way in the world Lurie -- or anyone else connected with the film -- could have "misled" him as to what it was about. This notion that Rod's some sort of radical left-winger out to destroy a Principled Republican Recovering Heroin Addict is laughable in the extreme. He went to West Point for crying out loud!!!
There's a plot twist in the third act that's so deliciously absurd -- yet dramatically effective -- that I laughed out loud. Great fun.
