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Some of the subject matter covered by this well-acted political drama may have been visited in the 1962 film Advise and Consent, but that’s okay. A lot of things need to be restated from generation to generation. Starring Joan Allen as the Democratic senator nominated by a post-Clinton President (Jeff Bridges) to replace his recently deceased V.P, and Gary Oldman as a fine-haired (as in, Larry Fine) Republican congressman determined to defeat her with allegations of past sexual adventurism, The Contender is an understated but realistic piece that rewards patience. Well, mostly realistic – certainly moreso than writer/director Rod Lurie’s previous film Deterrence (reviewed on video here last month). The otherwise clever script does similarly have a convenient deus ex machina device near the end. But the issue of how important a public figure’s personal life is or isn’t to the governmental process has rarely been so ably explored. Credit the excellent cast, which includes Christian Slater, Saul Rubinek, and Sam Elliot (in maybe the best role of his career), for keeping it genuine.
The real fun started after filming was complete. Oldman, who you might be surprised to learn (considering he once played Sid Vicious) is very conservative politically, earned a producer’s credit on this independently financed project, which he felt from the outset presented both sides of the aisle in noble fashion. Then Spielberg got wind of it, and before you could say “what Buddhist fundraiser?” The Contender became the first movie marketed under the Dreamworks SKG banner not produced in-house. But somewhere along the way the two-hour, twenty-minute film got cut by fifteen minutes, prompting Oldman to accuse Lurie of caving in to pressure from the exceedingly pro-Democratic Spielberg, Katzenberg, and Geffen to make the liberals look more warm-fuzzy and the conservatives more venal.
Not having seen the original version, we’ll never know for sure. Whatever the case, the film exhibits a refreshing depth and originality despite taking place in familiar territory, inspiring an early campaign by Dreamworks to get Joan Allen a Best Actress Oscar. The fact that the movie was released in the last month of the presidential campaign is just a coincidence, I’m sure… B
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