Reviews: MOVIES - Black comedy in the White House

0 Comments | Sunday Mirror, Apr 22, 2001 | by QUENTIN FALK

THE CONTENDER (15)

THE Clinton years in the White House may be officially over but the memory lingers on in this crackling political comedy about a top- level sexual cover-up.

Wily Democrat President Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges) wants Senator Laine Hanson (Joan Allen) to become his new Vice-President, but that's just the beginning of a ruthless probe for closet skeletons.

Keen to promote his own candidate, veteran politician Shelly Runyon (Gary Oldman) confronts Laine with a dark secret from her past.

Publish and be damned is her stance as she demands the right to privacy. The question is whether she can carry the White House with her.

As TV's The West Wing proves, insider tales of the Oval Office are always compelling and this sharply-scripted blend of politics, black comedy and brilliant performances gets my vote.

THE TAILOR OF PANAMA (15)

IT'S a great idea to get Pierce Brosnan to play the flip side of his supercool James Bond character in this stylish John Le Carre comedy-thriller. He revels in the role of shamelessly sleazy secret agent Andy Osnard, given one last chance to redeem his failing career in remote Panama. Andy hopes his passport back to the big time will be secured thanks to extravagant tip-offs from Harry Pendel (Geoffrey Rush), a Cockney wide boy now serving up Savile Row suits to the locals.

ONE NIGHT AT McCOOL'S (15)

A BARTENDER (Matt Dillon), a lawyer (Paul Reiser) and a cop (John Goodman) are all obsessed with a mysterious lady in red called Jewel (Liv Tyler)

Depending on whom you believe she's a homemaker, a sex goddess, an angel or a killer in this deliciously amoral black comedy. Even Michael Douglas as a bewigged hitman has his own theory.

THE HOLE (15)

SO what really happened when a plan by four public school kids to use a nearby disused World War Two bunker for a party ended in tragedy? Tight-lipped Liz (American Beauty's Thora Birch) is not telling, so it's up to a sympathetic shrink (Embeth Davidtz) to try to prise it out of her in this muddled Brit chiller.