With another presidential campaign in action, it felt like a good time to look at a film related to politics. While not connected to an election, 2000’s The Contender deals with contentious issues related to elected officials.

After the recent death of the Vice President, Democratic President Jackson Evans (Jef Bridges) needs a successor. The obvious choice - Virginia Governor Jack Hathaway (William Petersen) - doesn’t get the nod for some amusing reasons, and President Evans (Jeff Bridges) turns to a less well-known selection: Senator Laine Hanson (Joan Allen).

This won’t go smoothly, as Republican Congressman Shelly Runyon (Gary Oldman) fights against Laine’s appointment, largely to get back at Evans for prior conflicts. As Laine’s life becomes tabloid fodder, she fights to stay above the fray and earn her new position.

The Contender fits the mold of a thriller in a loose manner. There’s no action, and it’s not like there’s a killer out in the woods or anything.

However, it seems more tense and taut than a pure drama would be, so I think it does qualify as a thriller. The various twists and turns taken by the plot make it moderately nerve-wracking at times, and I remained interested throughout the majority of the film.

Until the last 30 minutes or so, that is, when the plot devices overwhelm the structure. What had been a rich, serious piece becomes overly mawkish and seemed too concerned with unusual twists.

I don’t want to go into the details of what happens, but the final act tries too hard to resolve matters neatly without any thought for the plot that came before it. The tone shifts fairly radically, as All the President’s Men suddenly becomes Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

That’s not a slam on the latter film, but I mention it just to demonstrate the tonal shift. I still like The Contender, but I find the finale to be less than satisfying.

However, the high quality of the preceding 90 minutes or so makes up for the ending’s flaws. Much of the reason for this stems from the uniformly excellent performances.

The Contender’s two Oscar nods came for its actors, as both Allen and Bridges received nominations. Allen proved herself to be a consistently excellent actress, and her portrayal of the senator becomes no exception.

Allen makes the character well-rounded at all times. Hanson seems appropriately hard-edged but not in the nasty Hollywood bitch mode that’s so prevalent.

When Hanson takes the moral stand and refuses to discuss her private business, Allen avoids excessive emotion and makes sure the character doesn’t seem smug or self-righteous. It’s a terrific performance that lends the movie a strong grounding in reality.

Even better is Bridges’ wonderful supporting turn as the president. He virtually steals every scene in which he appears as he uses his limited screen time to create an indelible portrait of a political animal.

It’s tough to play the president as anything other than statesman. We never see how a president behaves behind closed doors, so it’s all speculation.

I think Bridges provides as believable an account of the non-public president that I’ve seen. He’s wonderfully human but still serious and he shows realistic tones.

Bridges also offers some of the film’s best comic moments, which become gently inserted into the action. These bits - including a running gag in which Evans tries to stump the ultra-stocked White House kitchen - don’t come across as simple relief, as they fit snugly into the structure of the movie and never appeared gratuitous or forced.

I think Bridges’ performance becomes responsible for much of the neat integration, as the character’s changes in tone and mood flow effortlessly. His cool, slick and rich portrayal of the president ends up as one of the best presentations of a politician I’ve seen.

As Runyon, Oldman again hides himself under a layer of make-up. He’s not quite unrecognizable, but he certainly looks different in the role.

I like Oldman, and I think he does well in the part, but I must admit the Lon Chaney routine grew a little old.

One positive aspect of The Contender is that it tries to discuss sexual double-standards usually without becoming heavy-handed. Other than some mildly emotional testimonials toward the end of the movie - which feature some excessively-emotive music - the flick stays surprisingly cool and objective.

However, I disagree with some of its theories. For one, we’re told that had a man engaged in the activities of which Laine stands accused that no one would have cared.

I don’t think that’s really the case. If a male screwed a bunch of women in public at a frat party and there were pictures of it in circulation, I think it’d cause a huge uproar.

Yeah, Clinton got away with lots of indiscretions. However, we never saw photographic images of Monica Lewinsky - or the others - at work.

Hanson’s alleged escapade wasn’t about the number of partners per se, which is how the characters discuss it. No one’s upset because she’s had sex with more than one or two people in her life.

The issue relates to the impression that she was with a few guys at a time and really went over the top. I agree that there is a double-standard for women when it comes to sex.

Behavior that makes a man a “stud” portrays a woman as a “slut”. However, a frat party gang-bang performed in front of a crown is a totally different issue.

Actually, the film largely ignores a topic that I think would have derailed Hanson’s career much more firmly than college sexcapades: her atheism. She clearly acknowledges that she doesn’t believe in God, which remains something of a kiss of death for national politicians.

The idea of an atheist Vice President - a heartbeat away from the presidency - would send many folks into a tizzy. They’d oppose that selection extremely strongly.

I can accept an atheist governor or senator in a liberal state, and I can definitely see an atheist in lower office such as the House of Representatives or local government. However, in this day and age, it find it extremely hard to accept that an atheist would stand a chance in hell of getting anywhere near the vice presidency.

Writer/director Rod Lurie should have left out any mentions of her religious status. They have no bearing on the story and simply make it less realistic.

Actually, that raises another small problem I had with The Contender that detracted from its believability. Although the film seems to take place in the present day of its 2000 release, we hear mention of the Clinton presidency.

Since President Evans nears the end of his second term - he has about 18 months to go - this means that the movie can’t take place any sooner than 2007. However, Evans at one point mentions that we’ve entered the new millennium.

Granted, considering the length of a millennium, it still would’ve been pretty fresh in another seven years after this flick’s release. However, no one continued to call it “new” in 2007.

The mention of Clinton seemed surprising, since Evans feels like a stand-in for Clinton in many ways, as both are relatively young, aggressive political animals. However, the film wants to discuss Clinton so it can focus on the sexual double-standard, and we’re told how Clinton’s approval rating went up after his scandals.

Unfortunately, the iffy timeline makes the movie less convincing. I recognize that this may seem like nit-picking, but I don’t think it is.

Ultimately, the time confusion creates a story that comes across as less solidly-grounded in reality. These discrepancies tended to take me out of the story.

Despite the variety of flaws about which I’ve harped, I really do like The Contender. They don’t make many movies like this anymore, and that’s a shame.

For the most part, the film provides a tight and compelling political thriller that’s buoyed by a series of excellent performances. The Contender isn’t a perfect movie, but it still offers a strong experience.

The Contender appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though wholly watchable, the image seemed lackluster.

Sharpness became one of the inconsistent elements, as more than a little softness cropped up along the way. While most of the movie demonstrated fairly positive delineation, more than a few somewhat iffy shots materialized.

I saw no edge haloes or moiré effects, and edge haloes seemed absent. Grain seemed light and occasionally felt like digital noise. Print flaws showed up via sporadic small specks but nothing severe.

Contender veered toward a subdued palette that favored low-key ambers and blues. The hues felt acceptable but lacked much depth.

Blacks seemed reasonably tight, and shadows brought largely positive clarity. While not a poor presentation, this felt like an old transfer recycled for Blu-ray and not a new scan.

Due to its nature, The Contender didn’t offer a terribly active DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundfield for the most part, but it seemed to fit the material. Much of the film stuck strongly to the center channel because most of the audio involved dialogue.

Music and light ambience spread nicely to the sides, and they also provided modest reinforcement from the rear, but the majority of the movie stayed in the front. I did detect a few exceptions, though.

For instance, the accident at the start of the film and a couple of scenes with helicopters allowed the soundtrack to pick up steam and offer a solid and involving environment. But as it stands, the soundfield appropriately fit the film.

Audio quality seemed strong. Dialogue always appeared natural and distinct, with no signs of edginess or problems related to intelligibility.

Effects appeared clear and accurate and they betrayed no distortion concerns. Quiet scenes seemed convincing, and the louder bits mentioned earlier came across as dynamic and realistic.

The Contender featured a fairly gentle score, but it was appropriately full and bright, with modest bass when necessary. Ultimately, this was a fairly basic soundtrack, but it served the film well and accomplished what it needed to do.

How did the Blu-ray compare to the original DVD from 2001? The BD’s lossless audio sounded a bit warmer, but don’t expect much growth given the low-key nature of the soundscape.

As for visuals, I strongly suspect the Blu-ray recycled the DVD’s scan. Due to the format’s superior capabilities, it showed stronger colors, blacks and delineation.

However, it really could use an upgrade, as the image felt a little “worn down”. I thought the BD fared better than the DVD, but don’t expect a big leap.

In terms of extras, the Blu-ray includes only the movie’s trailer. Given that the DVD came with a nice assortment of supplements, their absence causes disappointment.

We don’t get a lot of political thrillers, but The Contender stands as a good entry in the genre. It suffers from some problems, most of which center around its somewhat sentimental final act, but as a whole, the film offers a solid and compelling story. The Blu-ray provides dated picture and good sound but it lacks bonus materials. We get a mediocre Blu-ray for a fine film.