Ethan Hawke may not be a fan of superhero movies like Logan, but chances are he’ll appreciate Hugh Jackman‘s turn as doomed American politician Gary Hart in Jason Reitman‘s upcoming film, The Front Runner. Set to premiere in select theaters, then on a much wider release, in the thick of the 2018 election season this November, Reitman’s latest is a based-on-a-true-story tale whose subject really was a prime contender for the Democratic Party’s presidential ticket leading up to the 1988 elections. Seeing as how I used the word “doomed” earlier, it’s safe to assume that Hart didn’t win the party nomination.
According to the official logline:
The film follows the rise and fall of Senator Hart, who captured the imagination of young voters and was considered the overwhelming front runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination when his campaign was sidelined by the story of an extramarital relationship with Donna Rice. As tabloid journalism and political journalism merged for the first time, Senator Hart was forced to drop out of the race — events that left a profound and lasting impact on American politics and the world stage.
In addition to Jackman’s titular role, previous Reitman collaborator Vera Farmiga joins The Front Runner as Hart’s wife, Lee Hart. J.K. Simmons, Alfred Molina, and a sizeable ensemble of established and younger performers round out the cast as members of Hart’s presidential campaign, dogged reporters, and other politicos who had a hand in the whole affair — literally and otherwise. Also, comedian Bill Burr is playing George McGovern, a now-deceased U.S. senator from South Dakota on whose own presidential campaign Hart worked as manager, so this should be interesting.
