The Front Runner

The Front Runner dramatizes the 1987 presidential campaign of Colorado senator Gary Hart, who briefly became the Democratic front-runner on the strength of his intelligence, charisma and appeal to younger voters. His path to the White House collapses when reporters learn of an extramarital relationship, turning his private life into a national story and forcing him to confront a scandal that threatens both his candidacy and his marriage.

Jason Reitman directed and co-wrote the film with Matt Bai and Jay Carson, drawing on the reporting around Hart's campaign. Hugh Jackman plays Hart, with Vera Farmiga as his wife Lee, J.K. Simmons as campaign adviser Bill Dixon, and supporting turns from Mark O'Brien, Molly Ephraim and Chris Coy. The film arrived in 2018, between Reitman's Tully and Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and is the eighth of ten features he has directed. It is based on actual events of the 1988 election cycle, when political reporting and tabloid journalism began to merge.

Against a production budget of about 25 million dollars, the film returned roughly 3 million dollars worldwide at the box office. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.1 from around 15,000 votes, while on TMDB its rating is 5.9 from far fewer votes. A critics' score of 6.2 from 229 reviews places it close to those audience figures.