Revival of the Political Thriller: The Contender, Part 1

Another point of interest in the film is Gary Oldman. The director, Rod Lurie, in an interview makes an interesting point about his character. I did notice this, but Lurie said it best when he described the character as someone that has all the potential to be a mustache-twirling villain. However, he turns out to be much more complex that that. Indeed, Shelly Runyon is not a simple character at all. It is very easy to paint him as the guy that is just trying to destroy a woman, however, it is much more than that. Many characters point out throughout the film that he is just doing what he believes is right. He does not want to vote for a woman in office for the very reason that she is a woman. He does everything in his power to make sure that someone with more political integrity is put into office.

Runyon's preferred choice is, in an ironic twist, Jack Hathaway. Now this puts him into an interesting position. Runyon, as chairman of the committee, is responsible for interviewing Senator Hanson for the office of Vice President. He digs up items from her past in an effort to paint an awful picture. He hopes to keep her out of office with this information. This begs the question of whether or not everyone will go along with this and allow it to happen.

We will continue our discussion in part two.

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