- Critic Score
- Most active
- Publication
- Most clicked
-
100One of those rare movies where you leave the theater having been surprised and entertained, and then start arguing.
-
88It's an intelligent and informed look at the preposterous ways our leaders are often picked and sabotaged.
-
88Supplies the three key elements of the best political thrillers: suspense, credibility and the feeling that you're really sitting in the Oval Office.
-
83An assured and gripping political drama filled with remarkable performances and razor-sharp writing and editing.
-
75Heavy-handed and manipulative, it also proves formidably engrossing.
-
75Lurie has made an impressive contribution to the bulging library of political film, and he has showcased some performances sure to get Oscar consideration.
-
75Excellent performances in an entertaining if less than totally plausible story.
-
75A sharp, intricate political drama.
-
75Thoroughly engrossing.
-
75The sort of smutty scandalmongering the average moviegoer can really get behind.
-
70This smart political thriller gets pulses pounding with no pyrotechnics and only one car crash. And it's a doozy.
-
70What Lurie has made is "The West Wing" without the constraining niceties of prime time.
-
70It does move right along and it's enlivened by stronger, more enjoyable acting than this kind of picture usually provides.
-
70A cast that chews the scenery with such obvious enjoyment that you're happy to put up with its tin-eared oratory and preposterous plot turns for the sake of a good ride.
-
70Silly as it is, The Contende has a lurid zest that keeps you hooked, and a rambunctiously good cast.
-
70Has a nonsensical twist ending that almost wrecks it, but until then it has enough fast, hyperliterate venality to make it great fun.
-
70As entertainment of a tawdry but compelling sort, The Contender certainly delivers.
-
67A potpourri of issue-oriented drama enlivened by superlative performances and smart dialogue.
-
67Engages in the cinematic equivalent of not inhaling.
-
63Compelling and provocative -- though not memorable.
-
63Misfires by constantly tossing out liberal feel-goodisms.
-
60Until The Contender slips into partisan politics and platitudinous piety, it's a lively, entertaining ride.
-
60The large, talented cast elevates the film above the trappings of its loquacious debates, particularly Allen.
-
60I can recommend the first two-thirds of this movie with great enthusiasm.
-
60Bridges and Allen are so bracingly good that you're encouraged to overlook how manipulative the proceedings are.
-
58Annoyingly shallow, filled with one-note characters, and not half as daring as it seems to think it is.
-
55It's a polished, beautifully made movie with a rotten heart.
-
50The story is so calculated that it ultimately bears little relation to the real world.
-
50Wonderfully cast and slickly directed, but so crudely written.
-
40Graceless writing and shameless plot contrivance.
-
40The film's very premise, while initially promising, doesn't hold up to lengthy scrutiny.
-
40A sophomore writing-directing effort from former film critic Rod Lurie.
-
20The most gutless and naive political drama of recent memory.
-
20The most offensive movie of the year.
-
20The film looks horrendous, poorly composed and staged, and the rhythm staggers.
prev
next
Page:
- 1
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 2 out of 6
-
Mixed: 3 out of 6
-
Negative: 1 out of 6
-
GaborA.5Great dialogue. Everything else ranges from average to retched.
-
cam4Likable for the first half but utterly spoiled by the the woeful, corny ending.