An excerpt from my script review for The Front Runner which will be available 11/27/18:
4.) Dialogue and Description
I mentioned in the marketability section that the second half of this story felt very much like the origins of #MeToo.
Whether the writers intended it or not, what their characters said was pretty timeless, even if written after the current movement to be more relevant.
One character in particular, Ann Devroy, via her blunt and insightful lines of dialogue.
Page 88:
KAISER
Would we have staked him out? If we
knew about the girl?
PARKER
I hope not.
DEVROY
So you get to decide which lies
matter and which lies don’t!
Page 113:
PARKER
Are you kidding me? He loves women.
Too much, frankly…
DEVROY
He uses them.
PARKER
Aren’t we being a little precious
here? He’s smart and handsome and
these women are throwing themselves
at him…
DEVROY
He’s a man with power and
opportunity and that takes a
certain responsibility. If he was
some day trader screwing cocktail
girls, I could handle just not
liking him… but as our potential
next president, as a woman, that
makes me nervous… And as a
journalist, you should care.
PARKER
I think you’re being a little
sensitive.
DEVROY
Oh, fuck you. You know what name
I’d like to hear Gary Hart say?
Donna Rice.
PARKER
(combative)
What exactly is he supposed to say?
DEVROY
I don’t know. I’m not running for
president. He is. And now we get to
see what he does when he’s under
pressure. He throws a woman under
the campaign bus.
Again, this was 1984! Devroy’s statements can be applied to Monica Lewinski, Harvey Weinstein, etc. What is good writing if not timeless?
And the notion of “boys will be boys” or “it was a different time” was also hinted at in that Gary Hart’s actions have consequences for the people he claims to care about.
Page 79:
A long beat as Lee absorbs the pain. We see Andrea watching
her mother with anxious curiosity.
LEE (CONT’D)
The one thing I ever really asked
is that you don’t embarrass me.
Hart nods painfully.
HART
I feel so stupid.
LEE
Good. Sounds like you should. Feel
stupid for a while.
And with that, she hangs up.
Page 118:
HART
I feel so foolish.
LEE
Maybe I’m the foolish one. I gave
you all that rope and then I
tripped over it.
Lee begins walking to Gary.
LEE (CONT’D)
Were you thinking of me when you
were flirting with this girl? Were
you thinking of me on that boat
when you were making her laugh in
front of fifty other people? Were
you thinking of me when you invited
her into our home?
Gary shakes his head then drops it. A long beat.
HART
Are you leaving me?
LEE
I didn’t fly across the country
just to say goodbye. That’s what
phones are for.
HART
You think you can you accept my
apology?
LEE
Not right now – Not yet – Maybe at
some point. And that might feel
like a burden. It should. You hurt
me… and you need to know that.
You need to feel it. Carry it so I
don’t have to.
(a beat)
There’ll be a time for us to talk
about why you did this and why I
should ever trust you again. But
that will have to wait. When it’s
just the two of us.
That’s some powerful shit, and speaks more to Lee’s nobility towards the country than Gary’s.
Most of the action unfolds via these Newsroom-esque exchanges, but for the sake of time, I urge you to read this script for yourself to see what I’m talking about.
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