The Front Runner
61
metacriticBased on 39 Critics
64
Based on 11 Users

Release Date: November 6th, 2018

R |1 hr 53 min

Plot Summary

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.

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, J.K. Simmons, Alfred Molina, Mamoudou Athie, Josh Brener, Bill Burr, Oliver Cooper

Director: Jason Reitman

Genres: Biography , Drama

Production Co: Right of Way Films, Stage 6 Films, Bron Studios

Distributors: Stage 6, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment

Keywords: Tense , Emotional , House , Sacrifice , Temptation , Fall , Wife , 1980s

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Ratings & Reviews

  • 80
    Allan HunterScreen International

    The Front Runner may cover a lot of ground and raise more questions about morality and the media than it can ever answer, but it remains a punchy, absorbing political drama. show more

  • 50
    Joe MorgensternWall Street Journal

    The production’s shrill insistence on scandal-mongering as the poison of our political process is trivializing, too. Given the profound currents and countercurrents that have transformed — and menaced — the news media in the last few years, this story plays like quaintly ancient history. show more

  • 60
    Stephen FarberThe Hollywood Reporter

    The film never quite clarifies its own attitude toward Hart. It simply doesn’t spend enough time with him to allow the audience to decide whether he was a truly transformative politician undone by tabloid reporters or just another slick operator. This robs the film of a tragic dimension that it might have achieved. show more

See all critic reviews on metacritic.com