The Contender

2000

2h 6m

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

255

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35 Images

Drama

Thriller

The vice president is dead, and as the president makes his choice for a replacement, a secret contest of wills is being waged by a formidable rival. When Senator Laine Hanson is nominated as the first woman in history to hold the office, hidden agendas explode into a battle for power.

Directors

Rod Lurie

Writers

Rod Lurie(writer by)

Stars

Joan Allen

Gary Oldman

Jeff Bridges

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Videos1

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Watch The Contender - Trailer

Photos35

Top cast

Joan Allen

Laine Hanson

Gary Oldman

Shelly Runyon

Jeff Bridges

President Jackson Evans

Reginald Webster

Kermit Newman

Jack Hathaway

Jerry Tolliver

Oscar Billings

William Hanson

Paige Willomina

Lewis Hollis

Fiona Hathaway

Makerowitz

Timmy

Dierdra

Paul Smith

Congressman Skakle

Congressman Harding

Directors

Rod Lurie

Writers

Rod Lurie(writer by)

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Featured review

6/10

Joan Allen is an American senator who is nominated to replace a recently deceased Vice-President by Jeff Bridges ("President Evans"). Once her confirmation hearing begins, she finds her rather interesting private life under the scrutiny of hostile committee chairman Gary Oldman who is determined to expose every aspect of her life - past and present - to the public. Oscar-nominated Allen is good as the feisty, intelligent, senator but the rest of this is all rather lacklustre and frequently overly contrived, with plenty of dramatic events designed to enhance the plot rather then create any sense of plausibility. Against the backdrop of the Clinton impeachment trial, the film had a certain resonance and it certainly does not show the constitutional processes, nor the male-dominated American establishment's approach to women, in a good light, but the older it gets, the less that causal impact it has and is now little better than a run-of-the-mill political drama that struggles to distinguish itself.

Geronimo196728 Aug, 2023