In political drama The Front Runner, Senator Gary Hart (Hugh Jackman) is considered the front runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination. He’s young, handsome, charming and has a supportive wife and daughter. When rumors of his extramarital activity surface, he challenges the media to follow him, vowing he has nothing to hide.
The media takes him up on the challenge and soon discovers he’s having an affair with a much younger woman named Donna Rice (Sara Paxton). The news makes the front page, and although Hart’s team tells him he has to confront it, he wants to ignore the allegations instead, angry at the intrusion into his private life. Meanwhile, Hart’s team takes Rice under their wing in order to minimize the damage, hiding her from the press for as long as they can before she becomes infamous as Hart’s mistress.
Hart’s wife, Lee (Vera Farmiga) and daughter Andrea (Kaitlyn Dever) find their lives forever changed as well, as they cope with the media camping, day in and day out, outside their once-quiet home. Hart finally faces the allegations, questioning why his private life should matter, but he soon discovers that not only has his privacy been compromised, but his public life and career have also sustained considerable damage.
production details
USA | Sony | 112 minutes | 2018
Director: Jason Reitman
Script: Matt Bai, Jason Reitman, Jay Carson
cast
Hugh Jackman as Gary Hart
Vera Farmiga as Lee Hart
J.K. Simmons as Bill Dixon
Alfred Molina as Ben Bradlee
Sara Paxton as Donna Rice
Kaitlyn Dever as Andrea Hart
Ari Graynor as Ann Devroy
Mike Judge as Jim Savage
Toby Huss as Billy Broadhurst
Kevin Pollak as Bob Martindale
Evan Castelloe as John Hart
Jennifer Landon as Ann McDaniel
John Bedford Lloyd as David Broder
William Walker as Campaign Reporter
Bill Burr as George McGovern
Jonny Pasvolsky as Steve Dunleavy
Spencer Garrett as Bob Woodward
Gabriel Manak as David Axelrod
Lee Armstrong as Jack Germond
Molly Ephraim as Irene Kelly
Courtney Ford as Lynn Armandt
Mark O’Brien as Billy Shore
Josh Brener as Doug Wilson
Tommy Dewey as John Emerson
Jenna Kanell as Ginny Terzano
Chris Coy as Kevin Sweeney
Oliver Cooper as Joe Trippi
Mamoudou Athie as A.J. Parker
Alex Karpovsky as Mike Stratton
Randy Havens as Alan Weinberg