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Wednesday, October 30, 2019

The Front Runner (2018)

Camelot is nevermore: The Front Runner chronicles the decay of the era of the gentlemen's agreement between DC government and journalists when journalists discovered that 1988 Democratic presidential front runner Gary Hart might be having an affair.

In sum, we watch white male entitlement get it's commupence.

Chock-full of A-listers from Hugh Jackman, Alex Karpovsky, JK Simmons, Vera Farmiga to Al Morina, it also includes TV sisters from Last Man Standing, Kaitlyn Dever and Molly Ephraim.

The film takes a new spin on the trend of chronicling journalistic history, this time watching "serious" journalism begin to question its approach on how they handle political gossip.

This movie addresses issues that are still relevant: abuse of power, journalistic integrity, a public figure's right to privacy and, of course, gender inequality.

The saddest parts of this movie are:

- watching a young, idealistic African-American journalist getting schooled in cynicism
- listening to a smart, savvy female campaigner ask for emotional support from a jaded strategist after she witnesses the fall of Donna Rice, who simply tells her to "buck up"

The Front Runner perfectly captures Gary Hart's Achilles heel of paternalistic and intellectual arrogance destroy his career, his family and his life.

S.B. The film failed to note what became of Donna Rice. She is president of a company that advocates for internet safety for children. She is married to Jack Hughes and has six grandchildren. And she is a staunch and outspoken Republican.

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