The Contender

Summary

“Sharksteak sandwich.”

Politics is a bloodsport. It takes thick skin to be willing to let every aspect of your life be picked apart by those who seek to point out your deficiencies for everyone else to see. My father was a politician, so I saw first hand some of the difficulties he had to face while running his campaigns. It isn’t just the vicious attacks on your character, but the lies that are spoken about you that cause many people to think twice about serving in political offices. Back in 2000, the film The Contender aimed to tell a story about character assassination in the political realm. The film was made after the Clinton and Lewinsky scandal, but a year before 9/11 and the ensuing wars. That means the film reflected the optimism of our country as we moved into the next millennia, but also reflected some of the cracks in decency that had begun to show themselves in the political discourse between Republicans and Democrats. Watching the recent confirmation processes for Supreme Court justices or the pressures applied even to house speakers shows just how rough these procedures have become over the last couple decades. The Contender has been released on a BD-R disc by Giant Interactive. I watched the film the other night.

As the film begins, Virginia Governor Jack Hathaway (William Petersen) is fishing underneath a bridge while fielding questions from a reporter. Suddenly, a red Volvo crashes off of the bridge and lands in the water a few feet away. Jack springs to action and dives down to the car to attempt to save the blonde woman trapped inside, but his attempts are futile. A few days later, Jack meets with Democratic President Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges.) Evans has been given the difficult task of choosing his next Vice President after the unexpected death of Vice President Troy Ellard. Jackson looks at this act as his political swan song because he is in his second term of his presidency. In the meeting between Hathaway, Jackson, and Jackson’s political adviser Kermit Newman (Sam Elliott,) Jackson calmly explains that he can not nominate Jack as his choice for Vice President. Kermit explains that they can’t “have another Chappaquiddick.” With Hathaway no longer a viable option, Jackson makes the radical decision of nominating Ohio Senator Laine Hanson (Joan Allen.) Meeting with Hanson, there is no reason she lists for them to worry regarding her past. Republican Congressman Shelly Runyon of Illinois does not agree with the nomination, having a long friendship with Jack Hathaway whom he finds more qualified. As the confirmation hearings approach, Shelly digs up some damning information in his opposition research. Apparently when Laine was in a sorority she had been photographed performing a sexual act with two partners at a fraternity party. As this news is unleashed, Laine’s character is put on trial in the confirmation hearings by Shelly and young Democratic Representative Reginald Webster (Christian Slater.)

The Contender is for the most part an excellent political drama. Like most political dramas, there are a few moments that ring hollow because writing this type of dialogue is seemingly extremely challenging. We are surrounded by political discourse every day and for those of us who watch the daily news or enjoy political reporting, it is always easy to point out the sequences in films that fly in the face of realism. For that reason, I would argue that the first two thirds of The Contender are truly excellent, and the final third settles for pretty good. This is due to two speeches in the film that I found less satisfactory than the screenwriter probably felt about them. One of those speeches had just a little more political edge than would be normally given under the circumstances, and one speech (while having its moments) didn’t quite hit for me. These speeches are by no means bad, but the realistic pattern of dialogue in the first two thirds of the film is so convincing that these two speeches stuck out as going against the grain. I would argue that the dialogue in the first two thirds of the film is some of the most convincing political dialogue I have seen in any fictional film, so I don’t want to come off overly harsh. It is also worth noting that the film did have the foresight to predict a female nomination for Vice President eight years before McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate, and twenty years before Kamala Harris was nominated.

Directing from his screenplay, Rod Lurie brings out wonderful performances from his fantastic ensemble. Joan Allen lights up the screen as Laine Hanson. The role was written by Rod Lurie specifically for her, and she is great in the film. Gary Oldman is a chameleon, and his turn as Shelly Runyon is one of his best roles. Every time he is onscreen, the film gains momentum and gravity. He brings nuance to a character that could easily be portrayed as a villain. Oldman played the character sympathetically which lent the role the proper amount of realism it needed. Jeff Bridges is great as the charismatic President Jackson Evans. His performance ranks as my very favorite fictional President performance, beating out esteemed colleagues such as Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, and Martin Sheen. I would vote for him tomorrow if he ran based simply on his performance in The Contender. Christian Slater is solid in a small but important role, and the great Sam Elliott plays against type perfectly in the role of political adviser Kermit Newman.

The cinematography for the picture by Denis Maloney fits the picture well. It isn’t extremely memorable, but it is well thought out. The music by Larry Groupe is appropriately dramatic and uplifting when necessary. Overall, The Contender is a damn good political drama. Check it out.

Video

The Contender has been released by Giant Media onto BD-R in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The Blu-ray presentation is in 1080p. The transfer is somewhat dated and appears to be the same HD transfer that can be purchased or rented online. The overall appearance on the BD-R is somewhat lackluster. I watched the film digitally before viewing the film on BD-R, and there is no real difference in the viewing experience. As one might guess, the encode is not of the same quality as a pressed disc. At times the transfer has a slightly blurred appearance, and at times the transfer looks pretty good. It is a bit disappointing, but not a complete miss.

Audio

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 track sounds good. The film is largely dialogue based, but the surrounds are used effectively. The score by Larry Groupe sounds really nice and provides a solid backdrop to the emotional beats of the film. I have no issues with this track..

Supplements:

• Unfortunately there are no supplements included from the prior release aside from a Trailer 

Overall Scores:

Video: 3.5/5

Audio: 4.5/5

Supplements: 0/5

Overall – 3.5/5

The Contender is a really good film with some of the best political dialogue I have ever seen in a picture. The biggest detractor to the film is just how well written the first two thirds of the picture are in comparison to the fairly well written final third. The acting is exceptional with great performances by Joan Allen, Jeff Bridges, Gary Oldman, Christian Slater, and Sam Elliott. The film is certainly deserving of being owned on the Blu-ray format. Sadly, this release is printed on a BD-R which loses all of the supplemental material from the DVD release. The video quality leaves something to be desired, but the audio quality is solid. Fans of the film (myself included) will be excited to have the film in their collection, but expectations should be tempered. The score above reflects the high quality of the film itself and the somewhat disappointing presentation.

The film can be purchased at www.moviezyng.com.