The Contender (2000)

Laine Hanson is een senator die genomineerd is om de eerste vrouwelijke vice-president van Amerika te worden. Laine wordt echter het slachtoffer van een afpersingspoging: ze zou vroeger in haar studententijd aan een orgie hebben meegedaan, waar foto's van circuleren. Ze besluit niet te reageren op de beschuldigingen.

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In THE CONTENDER, the sudden death of the vice president of the United States forces U.S. president Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges) to pick a replacement. He decides against picking the popular governor of Virginia, Jack Hathaway (William Petersen), and instead makes the radical choice of Senator Laine Hanson (Joan Allen) to become the nation's first female veep. Governor Hathaway's political friends include Shelly Runyon (Gary Oldman), a powerful congressman who will oversee Hanson's confirmation. Runyon digs into Hanson's personal life and finds evidence that in college, Hanson participated in an alcohol-fueled or...
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gy as part of a sorority initiation. When faced with this scandal, Hanson refuses to respond to the attacks, causing a political crisis leading to further shocking revelations.

Former film critic Rod Lurie's second film (after the thriller DETERRENCE) is a tense potboiler with issues ripped from modern headlines, including the nature of political ideals and the national curiosity with leaders' sex lives. Joan Allen gives another in a long line of stunning performances as the tough, idealistic Laine Hanson, who stands up for what she believes in no matter what the cost. THE CONTENDER also features strong supporting performances from Bridges and Oldman, as well as a realistic look at the high-pressure game of insider politics.
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The hard-ball gamesmanship and casual character assassination of American politics sets the stage for this thriller from writer and director Rod Lurie. When the Vice President of the United States unexpectedly dies, all eyes in Washington D.C. are on President Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges) as he chooses a new VP. Sen. Jack Hathaway (William Petersen), a respected career politician enjoying a new swell of popularity after a well-publicized attempt to save a drowning woman, is expected to be Evans' choice, but instead he picks Sen. Laine Hanson (Joan Allen), a decision that raises eyebrows on both sides of the polit...
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ical fence. Veteran power broker Shelly Runyon (Gary Oldman) is vehemently opposed to Hanson's appointment, in part because the Democratic senator was once a Republican, and vows to do everything in his power to prevent her from being confirmed. Runyon and his staff start digging for dirt on Hanson, and soon make a surprising discovery -- her personal morality is called into question when it's alleged that she took part in a group sexual liaison while she was a college student. The Contender also stars Mike Binder as one of Hanson's advisors, Mariel Hemingway as an old friend with a surprising secret, Christian Slater as an ambitious congressmen assisting Runyon, and Philip Baker Hall as Hanson's father; it was the second feature from former film critic Rod Lurie.
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