Putting words like “Nobody wants to shoot the vice president” as a wisecrack in a POTUS-obsessed 6-year-old’s mouth, Rod Lurie’s political drama THE CONTENDER conspicuously tries to salt the story’s central witch-hunt with some levity, but also betrays its manipulative, beggar-belief improbability.

Starting off as a choice treatment on USA’s bipartisan political landscape, THE CONTENDER concentrates on Senator Laine Hanson (Allen), who becomes the current POTUS Jackson Evans (Bridges)’s vice president nominee, a glass-ceiling smashing attempt, mainly to secure his own legacy, as Evans is in the dog-end of his second term. But the catch is, the nomination needs approval from both house of Congress, and Republican Congressman Sheldon Runyon (Oldman), who presides the confirmation hearing, doesn’t see eye to eye with Hanson, mostly because she is a Republican proselytizer, tinged with the usual misogynous undertone that is part of the furniture in every boys’ club.

After unscrupulously burrowing into Hanson’s past, Runyon trades on a salacious scandal Hanson may or may not be involved to discredit her qualifications, which Hanson roundly refuses to comment, because in her belief, it belongs to her own private life, whether to admit or deny it can only substantiate that such insidious behavior can be condoned, rightfully so. But Runyon’s insinuating ploy incites media circus and by clamming up on the issue, Hanson is on the back foot, aggravated by the fact that, when she was romantically involved with his husband William (Thomas), her campaign manager, the latter was still in a wedlock.

Just when the plot suggests that Hanson is out and Evans reluctantly concedes to nominate Governor Jack Hathaway (Petersen, a MANHUNTER reunion with Allen!), the white-bread emblem of a star-spangling hero (or is he?), Lurie’s script has an ace in its sleeve, a game-changer that is fairly unexpected, but also totally illogical (let me put it that way, there is simply too risky a subterfuge for a man of such prominence, it is also extremely implausible the said subterfuge could go misfire like that, why not leave the car door open?). From that moment on, the hitherto nip and tuck bipartisan political intrigue swerves to a patriotic and Democratic party-boasting fanfare, with Bridges assertively holding forth in one of his most spectacular turn, it rings hollower 20 years later, but Bridges is a force to be reckoned, that is for sure, his gourmand president has an unconventional front is both disarming and cunning.

A bellowing, head-corked Sam Elliott as Kermit Newman, White House Chief of Staff proves his bark is worse than his bite, while Petersen’s vile blandness leaving a tangy taste in one’s mouth , but Christian Slater’s up-and-coming democratic Representative is not entirely resonant with the rest of the gamey cast, most extraordinary is Oldman and Allen.

Taking a raw deal, Oldman’s Runyon is a hardened bigot and a sly fox, holding a grudge and vindictive, his blatant antipathy towards Hanson is unearned, the film dodges the issue to show us whether or not Hanson is a worthy candidate (she is pro-choice, politics-savvy, but there is not enough meat here), therefore, Runyon might be right when he reprimands her bluntly that she is not made for the job, Oldman miraculously impersonates him with an obnoxiousness that doesn’t repulse but engages us, Runyon’s complexity is never examined under the spotlight, but through Oldman’s masterful mannerism and effusion, we can glimpse his concealed interiority, a character much more mysterious to pin down than anyone else.

Allen, reaping her third Oscar nomination, is granted a bespoke leading role to shine, and she shines spectacularly, dignified, principled, unflappable in her crusade, putting on a strong face in the face of mounting adversary, only letting on her agony under fine-tuned restraint. Her Hanson is a full-bore perfection, the only quibble is that Lurie’s script festoons her with the projected perfection from a male angle. Were her alleged role in that sexual imbroglio not altered, she would end up being a worthier and more humane heroine (a tack might also solve the problem of her qualifications). But Lurie regrettably panders to a more wholesome image of his democratic presentation with a self-congratulatory finish, eventually THE CONTENDER’s punchy momentum peters out down the homestretch.

referential entries: Mike Nichols’ PRIMARY COLORS (1998. 7.0/10); Jonathan Demme’s THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (2004, 6.1/10).