CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.
Podtalk: Director Jason Reitman Votes for ‘The Front Runner’
CHICAGO – The year 1988 marked a border crossing in the way that the media covered national candidates. Senator Gary Hart seemed destined for president, until a extramarital relationship with Donna Rice became the focus of media attention. Director Jason Reitman tells the story in a new film, “The Front Runner.”
Hugh Jackman as Gary Hart Meets the Press in ‘The Front Runner’
Photo credit: Columbia Pictures
In a remarkable transformation, Hugh Jackman portrays Hart, communicating the dismissal that the candidate had when reacting to the allegations… “Follow me around. I don’t care. I’m serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They’d be very bored.” That situation came to pass as the Miami Herald sent reporters and a photographer to stake out Hart’s Washington D.C. town home, and they discovered Donna Rice (Sara Paxton) was there. Hart’s denials of impropriety and the media’s unrelenting coverage derailed his presidential campaign. “The Front Runner” is an extensive re-creation and deep dive into the story, and chronicles a significant moment in history, when the media changed the way they covered the private lives of the candidates.
Co-writing the story and directing the film is Jason Reitman, son of comedy director Ivan Reitman (“Ghostbusters”), who became a filmmaker himself with “Thank You for Smoking” (2005), followed two years later by the very popular “Juno.” Other films include “Up in the Air” (2011), “Men, Women & Children” (2014) and this year’s “Tully,” an overlooked and unusual film about a woman (Charlize Theron) dealing with the postpartum pressures of a new baby and motherhood, written by Reitman’s “Juno” collaborator Diablo Cody. “The Front Runner’ is Reitman’s eighth feature film.
Director Jason Reitman of ‘The Front Runner’
Photo credit: Joe Arce for Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com
In a conversation with Patrick McDonald and Jon Espino of HollywoodChicago.com, director Jason Reitman of “The Front Runner” talks about how the media landscape changed after the Gary Hart incident, what the circumstance means to us today, and why he’s lucky to be a filmmaker.
By PATRICK McDONALD |