Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
Gary Hart, former Senator of Colorado, becomes the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1987. Hart's intelligence, charisma and idealism makes him popular with young voters, leaving him with a seemingly clear path to the White House. All that comes crashing down when allegations of an extramarital affair surface in the media, forcing the candidate to address a scandal that threatens to derail his campaign and personal life.
The Front Runner covers the Gary Hart scandal with earnest ambition but struggles to find a compelling narrative angle beyond the well-documented facts. Jason Reitman assembles a strong ensemble cast who deliver solid but rarely exceptional performances, with Hugh Jackman credible as Hart though the script keeps him somewhat opaque. Cinematography is competent and period-appropriate without being particularly distinctive. The film's central tension — the media's shifting role in political coverage versus a candidate's privacy — is genuinely interesting but underexplored, and the story feels familiar given similar political scandal dramas. The ending lands flatly, offering little emotional or thematic resolution beyond the historical record, leaving audiences with a sense of missed opportunity in a story that had real dramatic potential.