1988 was 30.Years.Ago. It’s amazing how the world can change in 30 years. Computers. Cell phones. Reality Television. 24 hour news coverage. Gary Hart, the Democrat who wanted to be President in 1988, thought he had the future figured out for the kids of the United States….except maybe he didn’t really think about it himself. The Front Runner show’s how Hart’s mistake and seemingly little misunderstanding of what Americans value completely destroyed his political career and almost his family.
Hugh Jackman plays Hart, a Denver based Democrat who was a policy whiz and progressive policy thinker. He wanted computers in all classrooms (still a problem today in the US), displayed aggressive campaign strategies (getting his name out their in the 1984 Democrats would NOT win against Reagan so he could be the front runner in 1988 against the more beatable George Bush), and was a leader on economic policy decision making, you know, things you might want a president to be good at understanding. However, Hart’s biggest flaws are twofold: he was a womanizer, meeting Donna Rice (Sara Paxton) on a boat called Monkey Business (just, amazing) and flying her to his place in Washington DC. His 2nd was underestimating how being caught by Miami Herald reporters (Bill Burr and Steve Zissis) and photographed would lead to a public outcry and dominate his campaign. Not only would it dominate his 1988 campaign for President, but in 3 weeks, The Front Runner would drop out of the race, to gain back the privacy he, his wife Lee (Vera Farmiga) and his daughter Andrea (Kaitlyn Dever), wanted back in Denver.
The Front Runner is basically a study of a family and campaign in crisis mode. However, in this case, the campaign cannot escape the tailspin. We start off watching Hart’s campaign team enjoy a decent run in 1984, having a good time and truly believing in their guy and his amazing head of hair. Then slowly, their optimism and hope is replaced by incredulity and eventually sadness. The quiet moments between Gary Hart/The Hart Family/Donna Rice and the Hart campaign team really give The Front Runner its potency and emotional heft. The campaign comes out the best in this catastrophe of a Presidential run, taking care of the Hart Family by helping pass the time with board games or sitting down Donna Rice and explaining what is going to happen to her, despite knowing reaction to her will be disproportionately worse (nice job by Molly Ephraim as the campaign person). Bill Dixon (JK Simmons), Hart’s campaign manager, tries to prep Gary for the firestorm he will be receiving but is oblivious of. All of this went for naught because of Hart’s ignorance, but the team seemed ready and prepared to deal with it. However, at the end of this thing, you can see the silence and frustration at all the hard work these people were doing, hoping for a better tomorrow and undone by their leader’s monkey business.
Hindsight is 20/20, and Jason Reitman really delivers home his message a little too hard most of the time, with lines like “What kind of President will America get?”, “I am not an US Weekly President,” etc that reek of smugness. Reitman’s best points are in the study of how compartmentalization of a person was easier in 1988. Political beats were composed of specific questions about policy. The press would travel with them and follow suit, ignoring the other things going on in a politician’s “personal” life. I think Reitman means to condemn the press for sinking this campaign into the mud with gossip and merging public life with private life, and they do deserve some blame for sure. However, I think in 1988, we are starting to see the signs of the fact that that line will cease to exist: there is ONLY a public figure should you choose to be one. Gary Hart, and especially his wife Lee (thanks to Jackman and especially Vera Farmiga) can understand that Gary Hart, womanizer, and Gary Hart, progressive leader are one in the same, and can look past his flaws to see the greater good he’s delivering and present that person. However, for most people, a politician is one person, and any poor parts of their personality are flies in the ointment. Al Gore was boring. Sarah Palin was too dumb. Hillary Clinton was drunk on power. But we are used to that by now, since the Presidency is a popularity contest. Gary Hart wasn’t prepared for the non presidential parts of the campaign, because he had compartmentalized himself. Sobering, but well observed by Reitman.
The Front Runner is too confusing to leave an amazing lasting impression, unsure to make Gary Hart more tragic or more of a bonehead. Or maybe they’re compartmentalizing him, like I just wrote above. Maybe Gary should have put more women in power around him. They seem like the smart ones in this film. Hey, maybe that’s Reitman’s message! #MeToo, Jason Reitman! I’m on board. More women in power!