''Running Mates'' is a 2000 American
made-for-television political comedy-drama film directed by
Ron Lagomarsino and starring
Tom Selleck. The film follows the presidential election campaign of James Pryce, a
Democratic Party presidential candidate, who has a hard time deciding whom to pick as his vice-presidential
running mate.
Laura Linney,
Nancy Travis,
Faye Dunaway, and
Teri Hatcher also star as Pryce's current or former love interests who have had a major influence on his success so far, but who also have a great deal of control over his decisions.
Created for
Turner Entertainment, ''Running Mates'' was initially aired on
TNT on the night of August 13, 2000, and has since been broadcast in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
,
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
,
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
, and
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
. Faye Dunaway's performance in the film earned her a
Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television, which she lost to
Vanessa Redgrave for her work in ''
If These Walls Could Talk 2''.
The 58th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2001)
, GoldenGlobes.org. Accessed October 23, 2008.
Plot
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
Governor James Reynolds Pryce ( Tom Selleck) is a popular liberal politician who, while running for the office of the President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
, finds out to what a great degree his life and career are influenced by the women in his life. As a front-runner for the Democratic Party presidential candidate, Pryce owes the success of his campaign to his manager Lauren Hartman (Laura Linney) and his wife Jennifer (Nancy Travis). Pryce has not yet chosen a vice-presidential running mate and has a hard time making the decision. Senator Parker Gable ( Robert Culp) was something of a mentor to Pryce in his early political career, but Gable is a womanizer which makes Pryce uncomfortable with making him the vice-presidential candidate. Nevertheless, Gable's Washington socialite wife Meg (Faye Dunaway) considers Gable to be the best choice and tries to exert pressure over Pryce to make this happen. Pryce's other choices are Senator Mitchell Morris ( Bruce McGill), a lobbyist whom Pryce dislikes due to his close ties to Big Business, and Senator Terrence Randall ( Bob Gunton), who is disliked by Pryce's shallow Hollywood campaign fundraising manager Shawna Morgan (Teri Hatcher). Having previously been sexually involved with Lauren, Meg, and Shawna before marrying Jennifer makes listening to their advice all that much harder for Pryce. All four women are seemingly more intent on exerting control over Pryce and winning their own personal battles against each other rather than honestly trying to help him make the correct political decision.
Cast and characters
Production
''Running Mates'' was intended to give the viewers a somewhat realistic although humorous and exaggerated insight into politics and decision-making of presidential campaigns, so Gerald Rafshoon was brought on board. Rafshoon was the media manager during Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign, as well as his tenure in the White House.[Marks, Peter]
If Real Conventions Lack Spunk, Try a Fake One
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', August 13, 2000. Accessed October 24, 2008.[Archerd, Army]
Douglas visits Israel, Jordan
'' Variety'', July 18, 2000. Accessed October 24, 2008.[Larry King Live: Tom Selleck Discusses 'Running Mates'](_blank)
CNN, July 21, 2000. Accessed October 24, 2008.[CNN Today: Gerald Rafshoon Discusses 'Running Mates'](_blank)
CNN, August 11, 2000. Accessed October 24, 2008.[King, Susan]
''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', August 13, 2000. Accessed October 24, 2008.[Wallace, Amy]
Hollywood’s Gift To The Political Process
''Los Angeles Times'', August 11, 2000. Accessed October 24, 2008. A private screening of the film was held for Carter, after which he agreed the film was, indeed, "realistic".
See also
* Cinema of the United States
* List of American films of 2000
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Running Mates
2000 films
2000 television films
American political comedy-drama films
2000s English-language films
Films about elections
Films scored by John Debney
2000s political comedy-drama films
TNT (American TV network) original films
Films directed by Ron Lagomarsino
American comedy-drama television films
2000s American films
English-language comedy-drama films