By EWAN McDONALD
The Vice-President has died. The man most likely to replace him is Governor Jack Hathaway (William Petersen), who became a hero when he tried to save a woman trapped in a car that plunged off a bridge into icy waters (er, run that by me again?) But
President Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges) wants to appoint a woman and Senator Laine Hanson - happily married, young child - (Joan Allen) looks the best choice.
Unfortunately her seedy political opponent, Shelly Runyon (Gary Oldman), has photographic evidence that a younger Hanson entered into student life rather too enthusiastically, and he unleashes it in the confirmation hearings, leading to a sleazy mix of scandal and political infighting that couldn't happen in a modern, civilised democracy like Washington (oh, that's right, it did).
Hanson refuses to answer any questions about her past and it looks as if the President may have to dump her. Is she taking an ethical stand against what's on show and what's not in public life, as she insists, or covering up?
Joan Allen's performance has been nominated for numerous awards and will probably get the big one, too. She and the lizard-like Oldman make this a superb political thriller.
* Rental video, DVD: Tomorrow
* DVD features: movie (127 mins); audio commentary by writer-director Rod Lurie and Allen; deleted footage; making-of feature.
