The Contender

“Sometimes you can assassinate a leader without firing a shot.”

Senator Laine Hanson (Joan Allen) is a quiet, careful Ohio legislator, and the president (Jeff Bridges) has just named her to replace the vice president who died in office. Rod Lurie sends her into confirmation hearings where Congressman Shelly Runyon (Gary Oldman) is waiting, intent on stopping her. Hanson would be the first woman to hold the office, and she has to decide how much of her private life she owes the country.