The Front Runner

In 1988, Gary Hart was going to be the next U.S. President. This is the story of what happened next.

A look at the scandalous US presidential election back in 1980s. Gary Hart, a U.S. senator from Colorado, is the widely accepted front-runner in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. After losing the 1984 nomination to vice-president Walter Mondale, Hart decides to run for President of the United States. At one point during his campaign, against the will of his manager Bill Dixon, Hart challenges the press and public to “follow him around” while he’s not campaigning on weekends. This proves to be a mistake when in 1987, photos of him and journalist Donna Rice are published by Miami Herald Reporters. In a desperate attempt to clear his name, Hart tries to fix his reputation at a news event concerning the affair but to no avail. Because of the consequences of his actions, Hart is disgraced, berated by Dixon, and forced to drop out of the campaign while his wife Oletha remains to be close with him. Donna also announces that she has personally denied sleeping with the now former senator..

113 minutes.
No persons under 13 (Language, Drug abuse).
Drama, Period piece, Thriller, On the art circuit

Not currently showing on the local cinema circuit.

Credits

Cast	Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, J.K. Simmons, Mark O'Brien, Molly Ephraim, Chris Coy, Alex Karpovsky
Director	Jason Reitman
Screenplay	Matt Bai, Jay Carson, Jason Reitman from the book by Matt Bai
Music	Rob Simonsen
Cinematography	Eric Steelberg
Editing	Stefan Grube
Soundtrack	Available
Made in	2018
Produced by	BRON Studios, Creative Wealth Media Finance, Right of Way Films

Official Site | IMDB page | CommonSenseMedia Report
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Film and Publications Board (FPB) Report (SA)

Genre	Drama
Language	Frequently used and of moderate impact and sometimes used to exclaim at situations and at time used against people.
Nudity	None
Sex	None
Violence	None
Prejudice	None
Blasphemy	None
Drug abuse	None (sic)
Comments	Complex and mature themes that look into the real life of Gary Hart who was a senator who ran for presidency but decided to pull out after he saw the unfairness of the media. Themes explored look at family relations, love, trust, political power, humiliation, sacrifices, damage control, changing the world, putting education first, not being able to have privacy, secret affairs, office campaign, making headlines and public scrutiny. The themes of secret affairs, unproven infidelity and fighting for privacy might seem to complex for children of below 13 years to grasp.
These details are supplied by the FPB. If you have a problem with any of the above, please take it up directly with the FPB. Read the Classification Guidelines.

USA MPAA rating

R: Restricted	Rated R for language including some sexual references
Runtime	113
USA version is usually but not always the same as South African release. Versions released on streaming or DVD, Blu-ray or Video may also differ.

CommonSenseMedia Report (USA)

Suggested age limit 15 +	Positive messages	Positive role models
Violence	Sex	Language
Consumerism	Drinking, drugs, smoking

Ratings

Scale (Max)	20
What the Critics say
24.com Ilan Preskovsky As it is, The Front Runner is a very solid bit of political drama but it lacks the resonance and relevance to make it a must-see for anyone but junkies of American political history.	10
Metacritic.com 44 critics	12
Rottentomatoes critics 189 critics	12
Rottentomatoes tomatometer Tomatometer The Front Runner exhumes the wreckage of a political campaign with well-acted wit, even if it neglects to truly analyze the issues it raises.	12
Movie Review Query Engine MRQE critics	12
CommonSenseMedia Sandie Angulo Chen Thought-provoking, well-acted drama about politics, media.	10
What the People say
Metacritic.com users 15 users	12
Rottentomatoes users 314 users	11
IMDB 1975 Netizens	13
The Movie DB Community	12
Rottentomatoes popcornmeter Popcornmeter	10
Average .. 57%	11