Movies: Buzz Worthy or Buzzer?
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ENID, OK - We will review many of the top movies being released today. Our goal is to let you know whether a new release is worth the "Buzz" or needs to get hit with the "Buzzer." We will rate each film on a scale of 1-5 Buzz's. If a film only gets 1 Buzz, it's a "Buzzer" and you should avoid it like a zombie neck licking contest. Enjoy the show!
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You can search for other movie reviews by just typing movie review in the search feature in the right sidebar.
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Movie Reviews: The Front Runner
by Jeff Owens
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During the first third of its 113-minute running time, I didn't think I was going to like The Front Runner at all. It's deliberate in setting the stage for the three weeks in 1988 that derailed Democratic Senator Gary Hart's presidential campaign. In a long sequence that plays like a diluted cross between The West Wing and Spotlight, Hart's election team strategizes while the staff of the Washington Post brainstorms story ideas for their newspaper. Only later did I realize the significance of establishing the baseline for a critical juncture in American political history.
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In fact, the actual plot of the dynamic "young" politician (Hugh Jackman) whose affairs are overlooked by his wife, Lee (Vera Farmiga) and the media, until they aren't, isn't as compelling as the shift in consciousness that emerges in the United States as a result of them. The tagline on the movie poster explains it succinctly: "The week America went tabloid." Until the press got antsy to find a story that would interest the public, politicians and their affairs weren't historically newsworthy. Among their peers, they were even acknowledged and accepted.
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As I'm sure this turn of events put the real Gary Hart in an uncomfortable position, it puts the character of Gary Hart in The Front Runner in a dramatically problematic one. Is he a good guy or a bad guy? On one hand, he's just maintaining the status quo; he hasn't done anything that hasn't been done many times before him. On the other hand, this fact doesn't forgive adultery. Hart is probably a cad, but how important is that in relation to the job for which, in essence, he's applying? Should his ideas be discounted because he cheats on his wife?
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He insists that it's nobody's business and that his private life has nothing to do with his public life. I almost wanted to believe him, then the movie finally, late in the game, addresses why that may not be the right thing to do. A reporter at a press conference in which Hart reluctantly agrees to participate asks what an affair means in relation to telling the truth. Can the country trust a man who keeps a secret and then lies about it? Jackman looks like a deer caught in the headlights when confronted with personal questions.
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In fact, The Front Runner made me believe in one single instant, had Hart been a little less stubborn, he could have reversed the narrative. After nearly two hours of escalation, a reporter bluntly asks him the question everyone wants to know: did he in fact have sex with another woman. He pauses uncomfortably. For someone not familiar with his story, I thought if he right then and there told the truth, history could have evolved differently. He didn't, though. He instead says that the question is out of line.
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Based on the book, All the Truth is Out, by Matt Bai, The Front Runner is written by Bai, Jay Carson, and the director, Jason Reitman. I commend them for staying ambiguous and not creating clear heroes and villains. This perhaps makes it a little hard to like the movie. I mean, you have to think about it and draw your own conclusions. Concluding as matter-of-factly as it begins, The Front Runner is more relevant than ever. Jackman's Hart warns us all that if we go down the road of turning politics into entertainment, you never know who we'll get as President.
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Buzz Score:
The Front Runner = 3.5 out of 5
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Jeff Owens
Jeff, a graduate of Enid High School, is the Managing Editor and Senior Movie Critic of Boom Howdy, an entertainment and web culture site featuring news, movies, podcasts, comedy and gaming.
Jeff is also the Movie Buzz Guy for Enid Buzz and a member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle. Email Jeff Here or follow his Twitter Page.
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