No sooner does Evans announce his choice than a compromising photo surfaces. Only when a benighted congressman suggests the activity in the photo is deviant sex does the progressive senator permit herself to comment. On matters of intimacy, this gal's a trooper for tolerance. This is Rep. Shelly Runyon, played by Gary Oldman, who does an uncannily accurate impression of a frustrated iguana. Runyon, the pro-life antifeminist chairing the confirmation hearings, won't abide a woman vice president.
Sides chosen, the film begins.
At first, it promises to be a lively debate on current issues, but as the one-sided dialogue kicks in, the audience is left nearly numbed by Lurie's liberal hubris. John Wayne displayed more evenhanded restraint in The Green Berets . Of all the telltale details, perhaps Hanson's visit to her father is the most revealing. Having accepted President Evans' offer, she wants ex-governor Dad's support and advice. Coming off the court, he asks his grandson if he knows how to get topspin on a ball.