Through the lens of modern politics, former senator and presidential candidate Gary Hart is a fairly sympathetic figure. A self-starter and promising visionary, Hart’s political career was derailed after the media reported that Hart had a dalliance with a woman who was not his wife during his presidential campaign, deviating far from journalistic standards of the era.

Yet, The Front Runner can’t sell the media as the bad guys in their retelling of Hart’s fall from grace. It’s almost extraordinary that a cast led by Hollywood giants Hugh Jackman and Vera Farmiga took on such a half-baked script, one which fails to explain any of Hart’s motivations or to make a reasoned ruling on his guilt or innocence.