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The Front Runner

2018

Jason Reitman

Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, J.K. Simmons, Mark O'Brien ...

5.6

1,471

Drama A biopic about US Senator Gary Hart's 1988 presidential campaign and his scandalous affair that derailed it. Having lost the democratic ticket to Walter Mondale in 1984, Gary Hart (Jackman) made a triumphant return to candidacy in 1987, at a moment when his party was desperate to wrestle power back from the Republicans after two terms of Reagan. Hart had everything going for him: intelligence, charisma, and experience as a lawyer, ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Stephen Farber The Hollywood Reporter	"A lively but superficial chronicle of a politician's freefall (...) [It] is both provocative and somewhat disappointing"	NEU
United States	Peter Debruge Variety	"Jackman proves an inspired candidate to embody Hart (...) The 'Juno' director’s got his groove back"	POS
United States	David Ehrlich IndieWire	"The movie dulls into a talky civics debate that flattens every member of its massive cast into lame totems for the respective ideas each of them is meant to represent."	NEG
United States	Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"A commendably ambitious attempt (...) to throw audiences into the cacophonous circus of sexual politics and let them vote with their conscience (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Gregory Ellwood The Playlist	"Jackman’s impressive portrayal of Hart is at the center of 'The Front Runner' (it’s one of the best performances of his career)"	POS
United States	Christy Lemire rogerebert.com	"Reitman gets the superficial details of the era right (...) But he’s missing both key insight and satirical bite in his depiction of this pivotal point in American history (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"	NEU
United States	A. O. Scott The New York Times	"The film excites our curiosity about Hart’s behavior and then declares it to be none of our business. It scolds rather than illuminates, and prefers the defense of power to the pursuit of truth"	NEU
United States	Sasha Stone The Wrap	"To its credit, 'The Front Runner' doesn’t send us out the door with any easy solutions. It doesn’t tell us how we should feel or pretend to know all the answers."	POS
United States	Chris Nashawaty Entertainment Weekly	The best moments in the movie more often than not have almost nothing to do with Hart (...) feel about as subtle as a jackhammer."	NEG
United Kingdom	Benjamin Lee The Guardian	"There’s an authenticity underpinning the portrayal of events in 'The Front Runner' that lifts it above the less-than-groundbreaking set-up (...) The events feel presented truthfully but also with style (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Dan Jolin Empire	"A sharp-witted and wide-reaching account of a bright political hope’s fall from grace, with an impressive ensemble cast and a great performance from Jackman (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS

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