The Front Runner

With Thank You for Smoking and Up in the Air, writer-director Jason Reitman displayed a rare gift for weaving charged political and social themes into intelligent and entertaining comedy-dramas. His latest, written with Matt Bai and Jay Carson, takes on the 1988 tabloid scandal that derailed Gary Hart’s presidential campaign. Hugh Jackman is remarkably convincing as the senator who is perhaps too interested in ideas and policies to succeed in a changing media culture. Vera Farmiga is quietly heartbreaking as his wife; J.K. Simmons plays the campaign manager unable to persuade the candidate to turn himself into a TV commodity. (Telluride Film Festival)