The Front Runner (film)

The Front Runner
File:The Front Runner.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jason Reitman
Produced by	Helen Estabrook Aaron L. Gilbert Jason Reitman
Screenplay by	Matt Bai Jason Reitman Jay Carson
Based on	All the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid by Matt Bai
Starring	Hugh Jackman Vera Farmiga J. K. Simmons Alfred Molina
Music by	Rob Simonsen
Cinematography	Eric Steelberg
Edited by	Stefan Grube
Production company	Columbia Pictures Stage 6 Films Bron Studios Right of Way Films Creative Wealth Media
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Releasing
Release dates	August 31, 2018 (2018-08-31) (Telluride) November 6, 2018 (2018-11-06) (United States)
Running time	113 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$3.2 million

The Front Runner is a 2018 American political drama film directed by Jason Reitman, based on the 2014 book All the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid by Matt Bai, who co-wrote the screenplay with Reitman and Jay Carson. The film stars Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, J. K. Simmons, and Alfred Molina. It chronicles the rise of American Senator Gary Hart, a candidate to be the 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, and his subsequent fall from grace when media reports suggested he was having an extramarital affair.

The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2018, and was theatrically released in the United States on November 6, 2018, by Columbia Pictures. The film received mixed reviews; while Jackman was praised for his performance, critics said the rest of the cast felt wasted and the film did not "dive deep enough into its central issues to make a compelling argument."

Plot

After finishing second to Walter Mondale in the 1984 Democratic Party presidential primaries, former Senator Gary Hart is now the widely accepted frontrunner in the 1988 Democratic Party presidential primaries. Leading up to the formal launch of his campaign in April 1987, some of Gary's campaign staff are concerned he won't open up about himself (letting the public "get to know him"), instead focusing on ideas and policy. Meanwhile, at The Washington Post, editors and journalists discuss whether the paper should report on Hart's marital problems and rumoured promiscuity.

After the first week of campaigning, Gary joins his friend Billy Broadhurst for a yacht cruise from Miami to Bimini on the Monkey Business, where he meets Donna Rice, a young woman. Days later at an array of pay-phones in an airport, two reporters — A.J. Parker of the Post and Tom Fiedler of the Miami Herald — overhear Gary's end of a conversation, presumably with Rice.

On the campaign plane, Gary gets to know A.J., offering paternal advice and giving the young reporter a Tolstoy novel to learn about the Soviets. Later in Iowa, A.J. offends Gary during an interview by asking whether he has "a traditional marriage". Gary responds: "You want to know what I'm doing in my spare time, A.J., is that it? Follow me around, put a tail on me. You'd be very bored."

Meanwhile in Miami, Tom Fiedler has received an anonymous call from a young woman alleging that Hart "is having an affair with a friend of mine". Fiedler dismisses the call at first, but tracks two women on a flight to Washington D.C. and stakes out Hart's townhouse, seeing Hart go out and come back with Rice.

Knowing that the story will hit the news, Gary phones his wife, Lee Hart, and apologizes. After the story appears on page A1 of the Herald, Lee and daughter Andrea are besieged by reporters outside their home in Troublesome Gulch, Colorado. Meanwhile in D.C., campaign staffer Irene befriends Rice over alcoholic beverages for the purpose of getting information from her, and then sends Rice back to Miami, where her privacy is torn to shreds by the press.

Gary argues with his campaign manager, Bill Dixon, about whether to respond to the Herald story. Dixon thinks Hart needs to speak out to control the damage, but Hart vehemently argues that any response at all would legitimize the reporters' action, so that no politician would ever again have any privacy.

At the Post, reporters have received an anonymous package with photos taken months previous, of Hart with another woman. A.J. Parker argues that reporting on this aspect of Hart's life is not good journalism, but the editor, Ben Bradlee, overrules him.

Preparing for a press conference, Gary's campaign team notes that a majority of the public believe the Herald went too far, and candidates' private lives should be off-limits. When told that the media may ask whether he has ever cheated on his wife, Gary strongly retorts, "It's nobody's goddamn business!", which the team agrees is the perfect answer. As Lee arrives, the staff leaves. Lee tells Gary that she may leave him eventually, but not now.

At the press conference, it is A.J. Parker who asks whether Hart has committed adultery; instead of giving the rehearsed answer, Hart weakly stammers that he doesn't think it is a fair question. Later, A.J. asks for comment from the campaign, on the photos received by the Post anonymously.

Hart drops out of the campaign, and remains married to Lee for decades afterward.

Cast

• Hugh Jackman as Gary Hart
• Vera Farmiga as Lee Hart, Gary's wife
• J. K. Simmons as Bill Dixon, campaign manager
• Alfred Molina as Ben Bradlee, Washington Post
• Mamoudou Athie as A.J. Parker, Washington Post
• Josh Brener as Doug Wilson, Hart policy advisor
• Bill Burr as Pete Murphy, Miami Herald
• Oliver Cooper as Joe Trippi, Hart deputy political director
• Chris Coy as Kevin Sweeney, Hart press secretary
• Kaitlyn Dever as Andrea Hart, Gary's daughter
• Tommy Dewey as John Emerson, deputy campaign manager
• Molly Ephraim as Irene Kelly, Hart campaign scheduler
• Spencer Garrett as Bob Woodward, Washington Post
• Ari Graynor as Ann Devroy, Washington Post
• Toby Huss as Billy Broadhurst, lobbyist
• Mike Judge as Jim Dunn, Miami Herald
• Alex Karpovsky as Mike Stratton, advance man
• Jennifer Landon as Ann McDaniel, reporter
• John Bedford Lloyd as David Broder, Washington Post
• Mark O'Brien as Billy Shore, Hart's body man
• Sara Paxton as Donna Rice
• Kevin Pollak as Bob Martindale, Miami Herald
• Steve Zissis as Tom Fiedler, Miami Herald

Presidential biographer and historian Jon Meacham appears in a cameo role as the moderator of a Georgetown town hall.

Production

Development

Political columnist Matt Bai became interested in American Senator Gary Hart after writing a 2003 profile of him for The New York Times; he released the book on which the film is based, All the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid, in 2014. The screenplay was written by filmmaker Jason Reitman, Bai, and former Hillary Clinton press secretary Jay Carson; Reitman also produced with Helen Estabrook for Right of Way Films, and Aaron L. Gilbert produced for Bron Studios.

Casting

In June 2017, it was reported that Hugh Jackman would portray Gary Hart in The Front Runner. In August 2017, the extended cast list for the film was announced, including Vera Farmiga as Hart's wife Oletha "Lee" Hart, Kaitlyn Dever as their daughter Andrea Hart, Sara Paxton as Donna Rice, Ari Graynor as journalist Ann Devroy, and J. K. Simmons as Bill Dixon, Hart's 1988 presidential campaign manager and longtime friend. The following month, Jennifer Landon and John Bedford Lloyd joined the cast in unspecified roles. In October 2017, Chris Coy was cast as press secretary Kevin Sweeney.

Filming

Principal photography began on September 18, 2017, in Georgia, with Jackman revealing the first image from the set that day. Production took place in both Atlanta and Savannah.

Release

In May 2018, Sony Pictures and Stage 6 Films acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film at the 71st Cannes Film Festival, with a planned awards season release. The Front Runner had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2018. It then screened at the Toronto International Film Festival beginning September 8, 2018.

The Front Runner began a limited release on November 6, 2018, the first film to ever be released on Election Day in the United States, a Tuesday. It then expanded to 22 theaters on November 16, 2018, and nationwide on November 21, 2018.

Reception

Box office

The Front Runner made $6,849 from four theaters on its first day, Tuesday (an average of $1,712), a figure Deadline Hollywood noted as underwhelming; however, the site wrote that it is rare for a film to open limited on a Tuesday, and the film's impending opening weekend would be the true gauge of its box office strength. The film ended up making $56,000 in its opening weekend (a six-day total of $76,199), which Deadline called "awful" and "really horrible when you consider that it's a limited launch of an awards contender wannabe."

For its theatrical run The Front Runner earned $2,000,105 in domestic box office gross.

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 59% based on 228 reviews, and an average rating of 6.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Front Runner exhumes the wreckage of a political campaign with well-acted wit, even if it neglects to truly analyze the issues it raises." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on 44 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
AACTA International Awards	January 4, 2019	Best Actor	Hugh Jackman	Nominated
AARP's Movies For Grownups Awards	February 4, 2019	Best Actor	Hugh Jackman	Nominated
		Best Ensemble	The Front Runner	Nominated
Hollywood Film Awards	November 4, 2018	Hollywood Actor Award	Hugh Jackman	Won
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards	December 3, 2018	Best Portrayal of Washington D.C.	The Front Runner	Nominated

External links

• Official website
• The Front Runner at IMDb
• The Front Runner at Metacritic
• The Front Runner at Rotten Tomatoes