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Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Booksmart (2019) in Movies
Sep 28, 2021
A raunchy but extremely funny teen-sex comedy.
A panda’s eye view of teenage life.
I tend to struggle to find a really good comedy to add to my top 10 of the year. Last year it was “Game Night” that made my list. One that is definitely heading there this year is “Booksmart”.
A retread on a well-travelled tyre.
The coming of age school comedy has been rehashed multiple times. These include films as varied as “Napoleon Dynamite”, “Superbad”, “Easy A”, “Mean Girls”, “Never Been Kissed” and “10 Things I Hate About You”. In tone, “Booksmart” is probably closest to “Superbad”, but it manages – under the direction of actress Olivia Wilde, in her debut feature – to establish a quirky likeability all of its own. An instant classic in the making.
Not for the prudish.
The story concerns two BFF’s – Molly (Beanie Feldstein, sister of Jonah Hill) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever). They have both spent their young lives trying to score A’s at school in lieu of all other distractions. On the eve of their graduation, Molly realises that this was not a binary option. Her school companions have managed to get all of the success without any of the self-sacrifice! She calls “Malala”! And the duo proceed on a drink and drug-fuelled night to catch up on all the school social life they have missed out on!
Part of this catching up includes sex, and with Amy as a naive wannabe lesbian, in awe of tom-boy skateboarder Ryan (Victoria Ruesga), coming out has never seemed so painful.
I first saw this on a plane and guffawed so much that I went out to buy the DVD for a family viewing. Watching it again though, it is really very, very rude. If you were to categorize it, I think “sex comedy” would be a primary tag. A clumsy but realistic scene between Amy and the “hot girl” Hope (Diana Silvers… who really is) is excruciatingly hard to watch. This can therefore prove an uncomfortable co-watch for ‘young folks’ who – despite all the obvious evidence! – assume their parents / in-laws have done nothing in the past other than hold hands!! 🙂
In a great ensemble cast, Kaitlyn Dever is a revelation.
Kaitlyn Dever has cut her teeth with supporting roles on a few B-grade movies this year including “Beautiful Boy” and “The Front Runner“. But here she takes centre stage and is an absolute revelation as the sexually bemused teen. While Beanie Feldstein has the more obvious comic lead role, it is Dever who continually grabbed my attention with her acting skills. This young lady is added to my “one to watch” list.
This is not to decry the rest of the cast. For this is a great ensemble performance from a pretty unknown cast. The only familiar faces are Lisa Kudrow and Jason Sudeikis, but they only have bit parts.
The only role that didn’t quite work for me was that of the kooky drugged out hippie Gigi (Billie Lourd). It was all a bit too over-the-top for me in a movie that didn’t really need that sort of manic angle. (However, this did set up a Marwen-style drug scene that made me snort… with laughter).
As a comedy, will this by the whole you think it is?
I think this will prove to be a firm young person’s favourite for many years to come. Whether you will find it funny or not will probably depend on the setting of your ‘crudometer’ and your resilience to bad language on screen.
For me, personally, I am clearly still 17 on the inside! I loved it. Not only do I think it a good comedy. It is also a feel-good movie about best friends; a coming of age lesbian adventure; and a film that treats the multi-coloured spectrum of modern sexual variety as something entirely normal and to be celebrated.
I tend to struggle to find a really good comedy to add to my top 10 of the year. Last year it was “Game Night” that made my list. One that is definitely heading there this year is “Booksmart”.
A retread on a well-travelled tyre.
The coming of age school comedy has been rehashed multiple times. These include films as varied as “Napoleon Dynamite”, “Superbad”, “Easy A”, “Mean Girls”, “Never Been Kissed” and “10 Things I Hate About You”. In tone, “Booksmart” is probably closest to “Superbad”, but it manages – under the direction of actress Olivia Wilde, in her debut feature – to establish a quirky likeability all of its own. An instant classic in the making.
Not for the prudish.
The story concerns two BFF’s – Molly (Beanie Feldstein, sister of Jonah Hill) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever). They have both spent their young lives trying to score A’s at school in lieu of all other distractions. On the eve of their graduation, Molly realises that this was not a binary option. Her school companions have managed to get all of the success without any of the self-sacrifice! She calls “Malala”! And the duo proceed on a drink and drug-fuelled night to catch up on all the school social life they have missed out on!
Part of this catching up includes sex, and with Amy as a naive wannabe lesbian, in awe of tom-boy skateboarder Ryan (Victoria Ruesga), coming out has never seemed so painful.
I first saw this on a plane and guffawed so much that I went out to buy the DVD for a family viewing. Watching it again though, it is really very, very rude. If you were to categorize it, I think “sex comedy” would be a primary tag. A clumsy but realistic scene between Amy and the “hot girl” Hope (Diana Silvers… who really is) is excruciatingly hard to watch. This can therefore prove an uncomfortable co-watch for ‘young folks’ who – despite all the obvious evidence! – assume their parents / in-laws have done nothing in the past other than hold hands!! 🙂
In a great ensemble cast, Kaitlyn Dever is a revelation.
Kaitlyn Dever has cut her teeth with supporting roles on a few B-grade movies this year including “Beautiful Boy” and “The Front Runner“. But here she takes centre stage and is an absolute revelation as the sexually bemused teen. While Beanie Feldstein has the more obvious comic lead role, it is Dever who continually grabbed my attention with her acting skills. This young lady is added to my “one to watch” list.
This is not to decry the rest of the cast. For this is a great ensemble performance from a pretty unknown cast. The only familiar faces are Lisa Kudrow and Jason Sudeikis, but they only have bit parts.
The only role that didn’t quite work for me was that of the kooky drugged out hippie Gigi (Billie Lourd). It was all a bit too over-the-top for me in a movie that didn’t really need that sort of manic angle. (However, this did set up a Marwen-style drug scene that made me snort… with laughter).
As a comedy, will this by the whole you think it is?
I think this will prove to be a firm young person’s favourite for many years to come. Whether you will find it funny or not will probably depend on the setting of your ‘crudometer’ and your resilience to bad language on screen.
For me, personally, I am clearly still 17 on the inside! I loved it. Not only do I think it a good comedy. It is also a feel-good movie about best friends; a coming of age lesbian adventure; and a film that treats the multi-coloured spectrum of modern sexual variety as something entirely normal and to be celebrated.
JT (287 KP) rated Booksmart (2019) in Movies
Mar 10, 2020
On the surface Olivia Wilde’s feature length directorial debut looks like any other coming of age film about teenagers graduating high school – and you’d be right.
Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) realise that despite all their A’s and hard work each should have spent more time drinking and going to parties, get ready for one wild night where the goal is to cram as much drunken debauchery in as possible.
There are some funny moments including; awkward discussions about masturbation and why you should always make sure the volume is down when connecting your phone to the aux cable. But outside of that it feels too similar to one film in particular, and I just couldn’t break away from it. Superbad for me is one of the best teen flicks of recent years, a laugh out loud comedy that had genuine flickers of drama. It was a joy to watch and one that has always stuck with me as one of the funniest.
I just didn’t get that same feeling with Booksmart, while their were some funny and tender moments I couldn’t help but think all that was missing was a female version of Fogell.
Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) realise that despite all their A’s and hard work each should have spent more time drinking and going to parties, get ready for one wild night where the goal is to cram as much drunken debauchery in as possible.
There are some funny moments including; awkward discussions about masturbation and why you should always make sure the volume is down when connecting your phone to the aux cable. But outside of that it feels too similar to one film in particular, and I just couldn’t break away from it. Superbad for me is one of the best teen flicks of recent years, a laugh out loud comedy that had genuine flickers of drama. It was a joy to watch and one that has always stuck with me as one of the funniest.
I just didn’t get that same feeling with Booksmart, while their were some funny and tender moments I couldn’t help but think all that was missing was a female version of Fogell.
Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated Booksmart (2019) in Movies
Jul 7, 2020
"Superbad" For A New Generation
Booksmart is a 2019 coming-of-age comedy directed by Olivia Wilde from a screenplay by Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel, and Katie Silberman. It was produced by Annapurna Pictures and Gloria Sanchez Productions and distributed by United Artists Releasing. The movie stars Jessica Williams, Will Forte, Lisa Kudrow, and Jason Sudeikis.
Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) are high school seniors and best friends. Molly confronts some of her peers when she overhears them making fun of her in the bathroom and tells them how she got into a good school. They, however, reveal that despite partying, they too got into good colleges. Angered, Molly tells Amy that they should have enjoyed their time in high school more and convinces her to go to an end-of-year party. Determined to make up for lost time, they decide to cram four years of fun into one night.
This movie was hilariously funny and full of funny relatable characters. It reminded me a lot of Superbad, but a female version. The main characters had awesome chemistry and you wind up liking them right away and the situations they find themselves in border on the absurd. This film definitely delivers on the laughs but it also makes some solid points about friendship and acceptance. It's full of femininity being that both the main characters, the director, and writers were all women, but I'm sure anyone would think this film is humorous. Olivia Wilde did an amazing job in her directorial debut.
Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) are high school seniors and best friends. Molly confronts some of her peers when she overhears them making fun of her in the bathroom and tells them how she got into a good school. They, however, reveal that despite partying, they too got into good colleges. Angered, Molly tells Amy that they should have enjoyed their time in high school more and convinces her to go to an end-of-year party. Determined to make up for lost time, they decide to cram four years of fun into one night.
This movie was hilariously funny and full of funny relatable characters. It reminded me a lot of Superbad, but a female version. The main characters had awesome chemistry and you wind up liking them right away and the situations they find themselves in border on the absurd. This film definitely delivers on the laughs but it also makes some solid points about friendship and acceptance. It's full of femininity being that both the main characters, the director, and writers were all women, but I'm sure anyone would think this film is humorous. Olivia Wilde did an amazing job in her directorial debut.
Darren (1599 KP) rated Booksmart (2019) in Movies
Oct 12, 2019
Characters – Amy is the quieter of the two friends, she is planning on going to Africa for her next step, before college that would see her following the plan set in stone, she does enjoy her life without the wild parties, happy to follow the crowds, while dealing with being confidently out. Molly is the leader of the pair, she is class president and believes she is going to do better than all the other students. She does push Amy into a lot of different things and does believe they will follow a set path in life. We do meet a host of colourful characters from the high school and the teachers on this final day, that have all been a big part of the lives of the pair for years.
Performances – The film is centred on two key performances from Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein who shows exceptional chemistry through the film, they also get to show their talents in the individual moments too, with Dever showing the awkward moments her character goes through while Feldstein shines in the over-confidence moments. Billie Lourd goes close to stealing every single scene in the movie, while the rest of the support cast are flawless.
Story – The story follows two high school friends who are ready to take the next step of their lives only to learn that they haven’t had as much fun as the other class mates and decide to spend the last night going for a party like the rest of the students, where they face life’s truths. This is a story that shows us that life needs to have fun, people will be there for people when they need them, only the pair need to learn this before it is too late. It is nice to see that the high schoolers are truly horrible to each other, while most of it is like life, you just don’t get on with everybody, but most of the time you just don’t know their story, their lives or anything about them outside rumours. Set in one 24 hour spell it also shows us just how quickly you can learn about life too.
Comedy – The comedy does come from how over the top certain characters are meant to be, without being anything you would expect to see in real life.
Settings – The film does seem to have a large-scale setting, with all the travelling the characters must do over the single night, it shows how far away the student might live from the school and shows different parties.
Scene of the Movie – Gigi’s boat moment.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The high school only seems to have one year of students in.
Final Thoughts – This is a delightful look at how difficult for life can be for high school students, they are always trying to fit in and stay in their comfort zones, or trying to impress people, it does have the message about making sure you find time for fun in life too.
Overall: Heartfelt teen comedy.
Performances – The film is centred on two key performances from Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein who shows exceptional chemistry through the film, they also get to show their talents in the individual moments too, with Dever showing the awkward moments her character goes through while Feldstein shines in the over-confidence moments. Billie Lourd goes close to stealing every single scene in the movie, while the rest of the support cast are flawless.
Story – The story follows two high school friends who are ready to take the next step of their lives only to learn that they haven’t had as much fun as the other class mates and decide to spend the last night going for a party like the rest of the students, where they face life’s truths. This is a story that shows us that life needs to have fun, people will be there for people when they need them, only the pair need to learn this before it is too late. It is nice to see that the high schoolers are truly horrible to each other, while most of it is like life, you just don’t get on with everybody, but most of the time you just don’t know their story, their lives or anything about them outside rumours. Set in one 24 hour spell it also shows us just how quickly you can learn about life too.
Comedy – The comedy does come from how over the top certain characters are meant to be, without being anything you would expect to see in real life.
Settings – The film does seem to have a large-scale setting, with all the travelling the characters must do over the single night, it shows how far away the student might live from the school and shows different parties.
Scene of the Movie – Gigi’s boat moment.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The high school only seems to have one year of students in.
Final Thoughts – This is a delightful look at how difficult for life can be for high school students, they are always trying to fit in and stay in their comfort zones, or trying to impress people, it does have the message about making sure you find time for fun in life too.
Overall: Heartfelt teen comedy.
Gareth von Kallenbach (965 KP) rated Bad Teacher (2011) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
Recently jilted by the sugar daddy of her dreams apathetic schoolteacher Elizabeth Halsey (Cameron Diaz) must return to her day job. Just as Elizabeth has settled in to her listless career reality, a single and wealthy substitute teacher (Scott Delacorte played by Justin Timberlake) appears. Elizabeth must now prove that she is the best teacher in the school to win Delecorte’s attention and wallet. However her nemesis the overachieving and oddly bubbly educator, Amy Squirrel (Lucy Punch) also has eyes for the new faculty member.
Rounding out the eccentric cast of characters is the shy teacher Lynn Davies (Phyllis Smith), the lazy yet funny gym teacher Russell Gettis (Jason Segel), and the dolphin obsessed principal Wally Snur (John Michael Higgins). Further supporting the leads are a number of up and coming child-actors such as Kaitlyn Dever who plays know-it-all student Shasha Abernathy to crush obsessed sad sack Garrett Tiara (Matthew J. Evans).
Despite the strong cast, “Bad Teacher” will likely become associated with Cameron Diaz who uses her intense and direct comedic strength to shine in the nefarious role. Portrayed by Diaz, the character of Elizabeth comes across as wickedly manipulative yet manages to remain likeable.
But, “Bad Teacher” will not have you gasping for air between fits of laughter. The film has slow moments and a number of letdowns. Among the worst is the lackluster comical styling of Justin Timberlake as Scott Delacorte. While the role is critical to the film’s plot, the character is underdeveloped. Moreover Justin Timberlake does nothing for the part which is an unwelcome shock to audiences who associate his name with some of the funniest moments in recent “Saturday Night Live” history as well as his impressive performance in “The Social Network”.
Brimming with vulgar language and shockingly bold comedic scene choices “Bad Teacher” will surely offend bashful audiences. Still, the film is funnier than “There’s Something About Mary” and the recently disappointing “The Hangover: Part II”.
It is not a slam-dunk but “Bad Teacher” will give audiences some unexpected summer laughs, if they are prepared for the onslaught of vulgarity that this film hinges upon.
Rounding out the eccentric cast of characters is the shy teacher Lynn Davies (Phyllis Smith), the lazy yet funny gym teacher Russell Gettis (Jason Segel), and the dolphin obsessed principal Wally Snur (John Michael Higgins). Further supporting the leads are a number of up and coming child-actors such as Kaitlyn Dever who plays know-it-all student Shasha Abernathy to crush obsessed sad sack Garrett Tiara (Matthew J. Evans).
Despite the strong cast, “Bad Teacher” will likely become associated with Cameron Diaz who uses her intense and direct comedic strength to shine in the nefarious role. Portrayed by Diaz, the character of Elizabeth comes across as wickedly manipulative yet manages to remain likeable.
But, “Bad Teacher” will not have you gasping for air between fits of laughter. The film has slow moments and a number of letdowns. Among the worst is the lackluster comical styling of Justin Timberlake as Scott Delacorte. While the role is critical to the film’s plot, the character is underdeveloped. Moreover Justin Timberlake does nothing for the part which is an unwelcome shock to audiences who associate his name with some of the funniest moments in recent “Saturday Night Live” history as well as his impressive performance in “The Social Network”.
Brimming with vulgar language and shockingly bold comedic scene choices “Bad Teacher” will surely offend bashful audiences. Still, the film is funnier than “There’s Something About Mary” and the recently disappointing “The Hangover: Part II”.
It is not a slam-dunk but “Bad Teacher” will give audiences some unexpected summer laughs, if they are prepared for the onslaught of vulgarity that this film hinges upon.
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Booksmart (2019) in Movies
Jun 22, 2019 (Updated Sep 25, 2019)
Due to terrible scheduling I managed to miss the Booksmart Unlimited Screening. (Who puts them on a bank holiday?!) Thankfully it appeared again in the listings and I pootled off out to see it!
Amy and Molly are about to graduate and do amazing things with their lives. They've worked hard, studying was their lives, but what soon becomes evident is that even those students that partied are going on to ivy league schools and getting their dream jobs. Have they wasted their high school lives thinking they couldn't have it all? More importantly, can they turn it around and see out their school career with the ultimate 180?
It's safe to say that the internet is obsessed with Booksmart. Olivia Wilde is making her film directorial debut, the cast is chock-full of talented actors and the subject matter is a continually popular one, so really that fact the internet has gone wild is a bit of a no brainer.
Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever play our leads, Molly and Amy. Both of them are particularly good and their chemistry is incredible. There was no point where I didn't believe they were best friends trying to deal with their situations. Even though Amy is the "back seat" friend in her relationship with Molly she thankfully gets a lot of screen time. Dever is probably my favourite bit of this film, she's very funny and creates a surprisingly laid back Amy despite all the drama.
The support cast is strong and I only had a couple of quibbles which was more to do with the characters than the acting. Jessica Williams as Miss Fie was a stand out for me, and I love the idea that she's that close with her students. Her part in the ending of the film was particularly amusing.
Going into Booksmart I was expecting funny, but I really wasn't prepared for the emotion. The party is a climax for a lot of the story points and we see Molly and Amy going for their own high school wins. As you'd expect, this leads to a bit of conflict. The way this is handled is thoughtful and stops the final scene from this sequence being over the top with the script.
Booksmart captures the larger than life high school experience and the only thing that might be a little too much is the fact that the character traits are all knocked up a couple of notches, they go get a little close to the line.
While I liked a lot of things about Booksmart I was surprised at how the beginning took so long to really get going. It wasn't until their scheme was underway that I started to enjoy it a bit more. It's an entertaining comedy with some surprise emotion thrown in but something didn't quick click and I'm not sure if it's the slow start or the sudden dose of reality at the end that's done that.
I kept thinking of other things to mention but I could have gone on for ages so I'll just add a couple of out of context comments: Barbies, pizza guy and "motherf***ing homework".
What you should do
Definitely one to watch, it's amusing and slightly awkward so perhaps choose your cinema buddy wisely.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
I would like Gigi's clearly superhero powers.
Amy and Molly are about to graduate and do amazing things with their lives. They've worked hard, studying was their lives, but what soon becomes evident is that even those students that partied are going on to ivy league schools and getting their dream jobs. Have they wasted their high school lives thinking they couldn't have it all? More importantly, can they turn it around and see out their school career with the ultimate 180?
It's safe to say that the internet is obsessed with Booksmart. Olivia Wilde is making her film directorial debut, the cast is chock-full of talented actors and the subject matter is a continually popular one, so really that fact the internet has gone wild is a bit of a no brainer.
Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever play our leads, Molly and Amy. Both of them are particularly good and their chemistry is incredible. There was no point where I didn't believe they were best friends trying to deal with their situations. Even though Amy is the "back seat" friend in her relationship with Molly she thankfully gets a lot of screen time. Dever is probably my favourite bit of this film, she's very funny and creates a surprisingly laid back Amy despite all the drama.
The support cast is strong and I only had a couple of quibbles which was more to do with the characters than the acting. Jessica Williams as Miss Fie was a stand out for me, and I love the idea that she's that close with her students. Her part in the ending of the film was particularly amusing.
Going into Booksmart I was expecting funny, but I really wasn't prepared for the emotion. The party is a climax for a lot of the story points and we see Molly and Amy going for their own high school wins. As you'd expect, this leads to a bit of conflict. The way this is handled is thoughtful and stops the final scene from this sequence being over the top with the script.
Booksmart captures the larger than life high school experience and the only thing that might be a little too much is the fact that the character traits are all knocked up a couple of notches, they go get a little close to the line.
While I liked a lot of things about Booksmart I was surprised at how the beginning took so long to really get going. It wasn't until their scheme was underway that I started to enjoy it a bit more. It's an entertaining comedy with some surprise emotion thrown in but something didn't quick click and I'm not sure if it's the slow start or the sudden dose of reality at the end that's done that.
I kept thinking of other things to mention but I could have gone on for ages so I'll just add a couple of out of context comments: Barbies, pizza guy and "motherf***ing homework".
What you should do
Definitely one to watch, it's amusing and slightly awkward so perhaps choose your cinema buddy wisely.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
I would like Gigi's clearly superhero powers.
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated The Front Runner (2018) in Movies
Sep 28, 2021
Candidate for a downfall.
We can all probably rattle off some of the classics movies with US politics as their backdrop. For me, “All the President’s Men”; “Primary Colors”; and “Frost/Nixon” might make that list. In the next tier down there are many great drama/thrillers – “Miss Sloane“; “The Post“; “The Ides of March”; “The American President”; “JFK” – and even some pretty funny comedies – “Dave” and “My Fellow Americans” for example. It’s actually quite difficult to think of many films on the subject that are outright dire, proving it remains a fertile ground for film-makers.
“The Front Runner” fortunately avoids this last category, but it’s certainly not good enough to make it into the ‘classics’ list either.
A true story.
The film is based on the true-story of US presidential hopeful Gary Hart (Hugh Jackman) and if you are NOT aware of the historical background then you might want to skip the rest of this review – and indeed all others – so you can see the film first and let the history come as a surprise to you.
Hart was younger than most candidates: good-looking, floppy-haired and refreshingly matter of fact in his dealings with the public and the press. Any interviews had to be about his politics: not about his family life with wife Lee (Vera Farmiga) and teenage daughter Andrea (Kaitlyn Dever).
Unfortunately, Hart has a weakness for a pretty face (or ten) and his marriage is rocky as a result: “Just don’t embarrass me” is Lee’s one requirement. His “nothing to hide” line to an intelligent Washington Post reporter – AJ Parker (a well cast Mamoudou Athie) – leads to a half-arsed stake-out by Miami Herald reporters and incriminating pictures linking Hart to a Miami pharmaceutical saleswoman Donna Rice (Sara Paxton). As the growing press tsunami rises, and his campaign manager (J.K. Simmons) gets more and more frustrated with him, can his candidacy survive and will his (now very much embarrassed) wife stick by him?
The turns.
Hugh Jackman is perfectly cast here; very believable as the self-centred, self-righteous and stubborn politician. But this central performance is surrounded by a strong team of supporting players. Vera Farmiga is superb as the wounded wife. Sara Paxton is heartbreaking as the intelligent college girl unfairly portrayed as a “slapper” by the media. The scenes between her and Hart-staffer Irene (Molly Ephraim), trying desperately to support her as best she can, are very nicely done. J.K Simmons as campaign manager Bill Dixon is as reliable as ever. And Alfred Molina turns up as the latest film incarnation of The Post’s Ben Bradlee – surely one of the most oft portrayed real-life journalists in film history.
“What did they just say”?
The biggest cause of dissatisfaction I have with the film is with the sound mixing. Was this a deliberate act by director Jason Reitman, to reflect the chaotic nature of political campaigning? Whether it was deliberate or not, much of the film’s dialogue – particularly in the first 30 minutes of the film – is drowned out by background noise. Sometimes I just longed for subtitles!
Just a little bit dull.
The screenplay, by Matt Bai (from his source book), Jay Carson (a Clinton staffer) and director Jason Reitman might align with the history, but the big problem is that the story’s just a little bit dull, particularly by today’s levels of scandal. This suffers the same fate as “House of Cards” (even before the Kevin Spacey allegations) in that the shocking realities of the Trump-era have progressively neutered the shock-factor of the fiction: to the point where it starts to become boring. Here, only once or twice does the screenplay hit a winning beat: for me, it was the scenes between Donna Rice and Irene Kelly and the dramatic press conference towards the end of the film. The rest of the time, the screenplay was perfectly serviceable but nothing spectacular.
When is a politician’s personal life private?
A core tenet of the film is Hart’s view that politics should be about the policies and not about the personality. Looking at the subject nowadays, it’s clearly a ridiculously idealistic viewpoint. Of course it matters. Politicians need to be trusted by their constituents (yeah, like that’s the case in the UK and the US at the moment!) and whether or not they slap their wives around or sleep with farm animals is clearly a material factor in that relationship. But this was clearly not as much the case in the 70’s as it is today, and the suggestion is that the Hart case was a turning point and a wake-up call to politicians around the world. (An interesting article by the Washington Post itself points out that this is also a simplistic view: that Hart should have been well aware of the dangerous game he was playing.)
Fidelity in politics.
Do you think that powerful politicos are driven to infidelity because they are powerful? Or that it is a characteristic of men who have the charisma to become political leaders in the first place? Such was the discussion my wife and I had in the car home after this film. Nature or political nurture? I’m still not sure.
It’s worth pointing out that to this day both Hart and Rice (interestingly, an alleged ex-girlfriend of Eagles front-man Don Henley) stick to their story that they never had sex.
Final thoughts.
The film’s perfectly watchable, has great acting, but is a little bit of a non-event. The end titles came and I thought “OK, that’s that then”…. nothing more. If you’re a fan of this style of historical political film then you probably won’t be disappointed by it; if not, probably best to wait and catch this on the TV.
“The Front Runner” fortunately avoids this last category, but it’s certainly not good enough to make it into the ‘classics’ list either.
A true story.
The film is based on the true-story of US presidential hopeful Gary Hart (Hugh Jackman) and if you are NOT aware of the historical background then you might want to skip the rest of this review – and indeed all others – so you can see the film first and let the history come as a surprise to you.
Hart was younger than most candidates: good-looking, floppy-haired and refreshingly matter of fact in his dealings with the public and the press. Any interviews had to be about his politics: not about his family life with wife Lee (Vera Farmiga) and teenage daughter Andrea (Kaitlyn Dever).
Unfortunately, Hart has a weakness for a pretty face (or ten) and his marriage is rocky as a result: “Just don’t embarrass me” is Lee’s one requirement. His “nothing to hide” line to an intelligent Washington Post reporter – AJ Parker (a well cast Mamoudou Athie) – leads to a half-arsed stake-out by Miami Herald reporters and incriminating pictures linking Hart to a Miami pharmaceutical saleswoman Donna Rice (Sara Paxton). As the growing press tsunami rises, and his campaign manager (J.K. Simmons) gets more and more frustrated with him, can his candidacy survive and will his (now very much embarrassed) wife stick by him?
The turns.
Hugh Jackman is perfectly cast here; very believable as the self-centred, self-righteous and stubborn politician. But this central performance is surrounded by a strong team of supporting players. Vera Farmiga is superb as the wounded wife. Sara Paxton is heartbreaking as the intelligent college girl unfairly portrayed as a “slapper” by the media. The scenes between her and Hart-staffer Irene (Molly Ephraim), trying desperately to support her as best she can, are very nicely done. J.K Simmons as campaign manager Bill Dixon is as reliable as ever. And Alfred Molina turns up as the latest film incarnation of The Post’s Ben Bradlee – surely one of the most oft portrayed real-life journalists in film history.
“What did they just say”?
The biggest cause of dissatisfaction I have with the film is with the sound mixing. Was this a deliberate act by director Jason Reitman, to reflect the chaotic nature of political campaigning? Whether it was deliberate or not, much of the film’s dialogue – particularly in the first 30 minutes of the film – is drowned out by background noise. Sometimes I just longed for subtitles!
Just a little bit dull.
The screenplay, by Matt Bai (from his source book), Jay Carson (a Clinton staffer) and director Jason Reitman might align with the history, but the big problem is that the story’s just a little bit dull, particularly by today’s levels of scandal. This suffers the same fate as “House of Cards” (even before the Kevin Spacey allegations) in that the shocking realities of the Trump-era have progressively neutered the shock-factor of the fiction: to the point where it starts to become boring. Here, only once or twice does the screenplay hit a winning beat: for me, it was the scenes between Donna Rice and Irene Kelly and the dramatic press conference towards the end of the film. The rest of the time, the screenplay was perfectly serviceable but nothing spectacular.
When is a politician’s personal life private?
A core tenet of the film is Hart’s view that politics should be about the policies and not about the personality. Looking at the subject nowadays, it’s clearly a ridiculously idealistic viewpoint. Of course it matters. Politicians need to be trusted by their constituents (yeah, like that’s the case in the UK and the US at the moment!) and whether or not they slap their wives around or sleep with farm animals is clearly a material factor in that relationship. But this was clearly not as much the case in the 70’s as it is today, and the suggestion is that the Hart case was a turning point and a wake-up call to politicians around the world. (An interesting article by the Washington Post itself points out that this is also a simplistic view: that Hart should have been well aware of the dangerous game he was playing.)
Fidelity in politics.
Do you think that powerful politicos are driven to infidelity because they are powerful? Or that it is a characteristic of men who have the charisma to become political leaders in the first place? Such was the discussion my wife and I had in the car home after this film. Nature or political nurture? I’m still not sure.
It’s worth pointing out that to this day both Hart and Rice (interestingly, an alleged ex-girlfriend of Eagles front-man Don Henley) stick to their story that they never had sex.
Final thoughts.
The film’s perfectly watchable, has great acting, but is a little bit of a non-event. The end titles came and I thought “OK, that’s that then”…. nothing more. If you’re a fan of this style of historical political film then you probably won’t be disappointed by it; if not, probably best to wait and catch this on the TV.