The Contender

[TVFan]

From IMDB:

Sexy secrets from a womans past come to light as she runs for Vice President.



This is the role that led to her Lilly Rush role.

Out of the movies that I have seen, this is probably my favorite Kathryn character. She doesn't have a lot of scenes, but the ones that she does have are awesome. Plus, her character plays an important role in the film. Definitely worth checking out!

[KathrynFan]

i have screencaps

screencaps-movies.fotopic.net/c850299.html

[myril]

Totally agree with you, TVFan, definitely worth checking out. Kathryn is great in it (as are the other actors and actresses). Was interesting to listen to the commentary on the dvd I got. She really impressed people with this role I think.

Thanks KathrynFan for the screencaps!

[michelle]

I'm going to order a copy today.

[TVFan]

Netflix has this one for rent.

[sonny]

Unfortunately it's a blink and miss it part for Kathryn. Although she does look amazingly sweet with long brown hair and glasses!!

[michelle]

Once again, she's created a completely different persona. Tentative, a little subservient. And she can put such different tones in her voice! It fit her character perfectly the way she pitched everything as if it were an apology.

Favorite part: When she walked across the room to greet the senator (played by William Peterson) and tripped over the chair. :-) That was a "Me" moment.

[TVFan]

I loved that moment as well Michelle. Kathryn did such a brilliant job of playing the insecure card while underneath, she knew that she had what she needed to nail him. Great performance! I had seen this film when it first came out, but was unfamilar with Kathryn at the time. She really impressed me, though, because she made her character so memorable. Years later when she popped up on CC, I checked out her IMDB profile and saw that she was in The Contender. As soon as I saw her character's name, I instantly remembered who she was in the film. And, I hadn't seen it since it first premiered on the big screen! She left that much of an impression on me.

[michelle]

We'll have to get together for a KM film festival, TVFan. And make Mr. TvFan watch every single movie!! Haha!

[TVFan]

That would be hysterical! ;D

[riche]

Another "drag this thread from the mists of time" moment.

I haven't watched the whole film but I've seen Kathryn's bits ( ). It looks like she has a minor role that has significant part in the events. I can see certainly see Paige in Lilly.

To "go shallow" for a moment the hair is a little 'Abby from NCIS' for my liking (not that I dislike it or her), but Kathryn did look very sweet.

Predictably enough by now I'll be adding clips of Kathryn's 4 scenes to my podcast. I'll throw in the 3 second long end credits shot because it includes "that smile", and we all know I love that smile ;D

[LillyKat]

Thank you so much for the clip(s), RichE!

I finally got around to renting this movie over the weekend, and wow ... I'm wondering what the heck took me so long. LOL!

It.Is.Good.

It is a political thriller, so if politics isn't your thing, this probably isn't going to be fun for you. But the fact that, here in the US, we are in the middle of a Presidential campaign that may/may not see a woman elected to the Executive office for the first time in history, this film is AMAZINGLY timely. The fact that Kathryn was in it was a BONUS; I would've liked it with/without her.

Joan Allen is just amazing. I am a huge fan of hers. She is one of those truly sophisticated, classically trained actors (like an Alan Alda) that you develop such a respect for given their devotion to their craft, and what they can do with such ease in a role. She is not a "celebrity" actor. She's an actor's actor, and her performance in this film was top drawer. There are a slew of wonderful actors in this film - Jeff Bridges, Sam Elliot, Saul Rubinak - that make this enjoyable all the way around

I listened to the audio commentary once again with Rod Lurie and Joan Allen ... and can I just say that we all know how much Rod loves Kathryn (which is noticeably toned DOWN in this commentary compared to the gush session on the Champ DVD), but to hear Joan Allen sing her praises was really quite cool. Sort of like the older, wiser veteran praising the young up and comer. Such a great compliment to KM's ability.

It's also interesting to listen to the commentary given this was several years ago, and BEFORE Kathryn had become known as Lilly Rush on Cold Case. She was still sort of in that discovering-a-gem phase, "just" being cast in AI (and credit should be given to Rod Lurie for this given it was Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks who produced this film, which as we know, is how KM sort of got on the SS radar given SS and RL worked closely on cutting this film together, and it was RL who actually recommended KM to SS ... a nice bit of luck, but also a testament to what Kathryn brings to the table - then, now and in the future).

Totally great film. Lovely performance by Kathryn (and an important one given this was the performance Jerry Bruckheimer and Co. saw that made them want to pursue Kathryn for the role of Lilly Rush; you can see definitely crossovers between Lilly and Paige). And anyone who listened to the Champ commentary ... everything Rod criticized himself about on that film, he took care of in this film (cut the unnecessary stuff, didn't have too many tangents, made sure he stuck on point). It was kind of ironic.

And yes ... he did cut yet another one of Kathryn's scenes ... but only one. The funny part is he actually went back to film another one with her AFTER they had wrapped shooting on the film because, as he says, "I just wanted another scene with her." And since that one WAS kept in the film ... well, I guess it balanced out.

All in all, a great film.

[TVFan]

Thanks for the insight from the commentary, LillyKat. It sounds like there is a lot of good stuff in there (like, oh say, JOAN ALLEN praising Kathryn!!). I have the VHS b/c I've had this film for a long time, so I appreciate your wonderful commentary recap.

[LillyKat]

Apr 28, 2008 15:49:30 GMT -5 TVFan said:

Thanks for the insight from the commentary, LillyKat. It sounds like there is a lot of good stuff in there (like, oh say, JOAN ALLEN praising Kathryn!!). I have the VHS b/c I've had this film for a long time, so I appreciate your wonderful commentary recap.

Definitely, TVFan! I'm sure you would enjoy the commentary quite a bit (especially if you've only seen the film via VHS). Er, I KNOW you would.

The deleted scenes are good, and it's easy to see why Rod cut them (along the lines of how he berated himself on the Champ DVD for NOT cutting enough). The "Making of" is also very informative in that it talks about how political thrillers have kind of fallen by the wayside vs. their heyday in the 70s. With The Contender, Rod was trying to go back to that kind of filmmaking, and he pays quite a bit of homage to All the President's Men and the The Manchurian Candidate.

But yes ... the best part for me were Joan's thoughts/comments on what Kathryn brings with her to her role as Paige. Great praise from a great actress.

[longislanditalian2]

This movie aired awhile ago, once again Kathryn was awesome. The girl certainly has a lot of talent, more than most actresses

[lillyscotty]

Alright, I watched this a while ago and I just remembered it when it got advertised for Showtime. Kathryn looked adorable, especially with the glasses. I just wanted to hug her so hard. Her hair wad completely different, but it did kinda suit her. Altogether, she was magnificent like always.