Movie · 2000 · Drama, Thriller · 2h 6m · R · English
Curator score: 4.0/10 (35.7K ratings)
Sometimes you can assassinate a leader without firing a shot.
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.
Joan Allen, Gary Oldman, Jeff Bridges, Christian Slater, Sam Elliott, William L. Petersen, Saul Rubinek, Philip Baker Hall, Robin Thomas, Kathryn Morris, Mike Binder, Kristen Shaw, Douglas Urbanski, Noah Fryrear, Angelica Page, Joseph Lyle Taylor, Kevin Geer, Doug Roberts, Mariel Hemingway, Bev Appleton
Curator Review
Verdict
A sharp, if occasionally stagey, political drama driven by strong performances and a timely argument about power, gender, and principle. It’s talky and a little dated in places, but the central conflict still lands and the cast keeps it compelling.
Best for
Viewers who like dialogue-heavy political dramas
Fans of courtroom-style moral debates and institutional intrigue
People interested in gender politics and public image warfare
Audiences who enjoy strong ensemble acting over action
Skip if
You want a fast, suspense-first thriller
You’re allergic to speeches and procedural debate
You prefer subtle, understated political filmmaking
You want a modern, cynicism-heavy media satire
Overview
The Contender is a cleanly built political drama that treats public service like a blood sport. Its pleasures come less from plot mechanics than from watching smart, damaged people test each other’s convictions in rooms full of cameras, aides, and hidden agendas. Joan Allen gives the film its backbone, and the movie is at its best when it lets her hold the line against pressure from every direction.
Worth noting
Rod Lurie’s script is blunt, sometimes too blunt, but it has real force in the way it frames principle as something that only matters when it becomes inconvenient. The film is also very much of its moment, shaped by the late-90s/early-2000s Washington atmosphere and by anxieties around scandal, image management, and partisan warfare.
Bottom line
It can feel a little stiff and over-literal now, and some scenes play more like thesis statements than lived-in drama. Even so, the performances, especially from Allen and Gary Oldman, give the movie enough bite to remain watchable and, in the right mood, genuinely satisfying.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Will Sloan (1.5★) · 134 likes
This is one of those pieces of Oscar bait that comes out, gets four stars from Ebert, maybe scores a couple nominations, and then is never seen again. There's a good reason for this. It's a boring piece of crap with nothing interesting to say.
This is not even remotely convincing as a procedural, which is a problem given that it's also DOA as a thriller. Watching it, I realized that maybe the only* really first-rate non-documentary political movie of… more
sirrah993 (3★) · 89 likes
This is a great example of a film with a tanker scene, a scene so counterintuitive to the film's entire narrative that it almost tanks the film.
The Contender is one of those films.
Today, this film is extremely relevant, prescient, and revelatory. The whole idea of politically assassinating one's career to maintain power is diabolical and mind-blowing. We see it happening today, and it's getting nastier and nastier. Power is corruptive, and Gary Oldman is the epitome of that… more
Silent J (4.5★) · 84 likes
aka The Big Lebowki 2: The Dude's Presidential Years
Dave Taylor (4★) · 56 likes
I have very large physical media collection. I’ve watched probably less than half of it mainly because my wife is very particular about what she is willing to watch.
For my birthday this year I was like ‘just let me pick a movie every month from my collection we can watch…I promise it won’t be horror.’
Well, much to my surprise and delight, I got my wish. So this month’s pick was The Contender.
Now, we both saw The Contender… more
📀 Cammmalot 📀 (3.5★) · 49 likes
Principles only mean something when you stick to them when its inconvenient.
A solid political drama featuring a fantastic cast.
Joan Allen and Jeff Bridges earned Oscar nominations, but in my mind Gary Oldman kills it as the scheming Congressman.
Who doesn't want a shortcut to greatness?
Cinematic Time Capsule - 2000 Ranked
1992 · Drama · 2h 18m · R · Curator 7.6/10 (612.4K ratings) · Where to watch: Philo
Courtroom-style confrontation, institutional hierarchy, and high-stakes rhetoric.
Topics
political drama, political thriller, Washington D.C., power struggle, gender politics, institutional corruption, talky, late-90s politics, ensemble cast