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The Contender

"Sometimes you can assassinate a leader without firing a shot."

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.

Top Cast

  • Joan Allen

    Joan Allen

    Laine Hanson

  • Gary Oldman

    Gary Oldman

    Shelly Runyon

  • Jeff Bridges

    Jeff Bridges

    President Jackson Evans

  • Christian Slater

    Christian Slater

    Reginald Webster

  • Sam Elliott

    Sam Elliott

    Kermit Newman

  • William L. Petersen

    William L. Petersen

    Jack Hathaway

  • Saul Rubinek

    Saul Rubinek

    Jerry Tolliver

  • Philip Baker Hall

    Philip Baker Hall

    Oscar Billings

  • Robin Thomas

    Robin Thomas

    William Hanson

Overview

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.

Rating

6.7 / 10
265 Reviews
2 Popular

1 Reviews

  • CinemaSerf
    CinemaSerf
    6 Aug 28, 2023

    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.

Trailers & Clips

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