The Contender (2000)

SPOILERS BELOW

I'm with Gary Oldman on this one - the ladling of didactic syrupy orchestral score (as well as Oldman being made up to look like some kind of evil Narnian turtle, holding meetings in dark rooms where creepy men lean out of the shadows and talk about the best way to stab someone) really does highlight the goody vs baddy nature of it. Not that the Republican Party isn't actually this awful, it's just that there's very little complexity here - the Republicans do crappy stuff and the Democrats hold the high moral ground until everything works out. It's an interesting set-up and a bunch of good actors, delivered with all the subtlety of Prince Caspian.

Rating: Fine.

BONUS REVIEW!

Found this on my imdb account, the only review I ever posted there (and recipient of one 'unhelpful' vote and no other votes):

Enjoyable, but ruined by nationalistic cheese

My main reasons for going to see this film were the great cast, and good buzz. As I expected, the performances were great across the board, despite the script's slight characterisation. JEFF Bridges gives another understated performance subtly different to his previous work, while Gary Oldman resists the urge to ham it up. The problem with the film is its shallow, hamfisted approach. Although the script is for the most part intelligent and witty, it succumbs to awful Independence Day style presidential speeches, and the characters are practically non-existent. The script is also let down by blind faith in bureaucracy and the American way, and a binary concept of good and evil not out of place in a Star Wars movie. I'm told the director is English, but there is no sense of irony in the film, so maybe the Hollywood fatcats chopped it up. Gary Oldman (also producer) has complained that the post-production editing and score removed all ambiguity from his character and performance, so something seems to have been changed. The direction also is generally intelligent save for a few George Lucas touches (such as Joan Allen -unquestionably the 'goody' of the film- dressed ALL in white, jogging, for some reason, amongst the white tombstones of American soldiers). This said, I enjoyed the film, and I'm glad I saw it. It's just a shame that the shallow, painfully cheesy aspects left a bitter taste in my mouth.