The Contender

This film was interesting even though it was somewhat predictable (the President still wanting Hanson's confirmation).  It did have a surprise within of Hathaway planning the rescue of the girl in the car that went off the bridge.  This was very unexpected.

The Contender also has its theme in the title just like Good Will Hunting, but unlike Good Will Hunting where the title is about one person, The Contender could be about two people, Hanson and Hathaway, although I think it is mainly about Hanson.

There was definitely an external conflict between Runyon and the President and Hanson (The Art of Watching Films, p. 58-59).  Runyon appears to have it out for Hanson because she was once a republican who turned democrat and Runyon wants to embarrass Hanson for her morality while also embarrassing the President for wanting her to be Vice-President.  Runyon wants Hathaway to be confirmed as Vice-President and resorts to low-life tactics to try and force Hanson out and Hathaway in.

Gary Oldman played Runyon well.  His appearance gave you the impression he was a little sneak.  I'm sure the scenes showing Runyon eating meat as well as the President always ordering food have some sort of metaphorical meaning, but I can't quite figure it out.  My best guess is that Runyon ate his food aggressively to try and show he was adamant about proving Hanson unfit for the job and the President was always trying to see if he could order something that the kitchen didn't have, which in the end just proved to be muenster.

All of the characters in the film were static characters, none of them changed during the course of the film (The Art of Watching Films, p. 69).  Hanson strongly held on to her beliefs and felt she owed no explanation of her past, including exculpatory evidence.  This did make her appear as kind of cold and aloof.

The director, Lurie, likes to direct political-based films and I think he did a good job of showing us a behind the scenes look at what goes on in the political circle.  This was a good movie pick for me.