Director: Jason Reitman
Screenplay: Matt Bai, Jason Reitman and Jay Carson, based on the book All the Truth is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid by Matt Bai
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, J. K. Simmons, Alfred Molina
Running Time: 113 minutes
Genre: Drama, politics
In 1988, US Senator Gary Hart (Jackman) is running as the Democratic candidate for the President of the United States. Despite his initial success, Hart's presidential bid is scuppered due to scandal, when allegations surface of an extra-marital affair.
This is an interesting and well-acted enactment of a real-life political scandal. However, you never really get a sense of who Gary Hart is, he dismisses any scandal or examination of his personal life as being irrelevant, which is really the theme of the film, whether or not someone's personal life should be made public. Hart comes across as prickly, defensive and not particularly likeable, despite a great performance from Hugh Jackman and, in the age of Donald Trump, Hart's scandals seem almost quaint. Interestingly the film never really states whether Hart had an affair or not. The film does a good job of taking you inside a political campaign and political journalism, and manages to be always interesting and entertaining. It does have some points to make about separating the public from the personal, despite being dated and never really exploring it's central character.,
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