IT'S THE PRINCIPLE THAT COUNTS.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

``The Contender'' is the pop movie reaction to the Monica-gate imbroglio that we were bound to get sooner or later. It's generally well-written by film critic-turned-director Rod Lurie, superbly acted by Joan Allen, Gary Oldman, Jeff Bridges and Sam Elliott, among others, and it appears to take itself somewhat more seriously than it actually is.

About what you'd expect on the subject from a liberal-minded moviemaker, Lurie still finds ways to have some fun with the project.

Bridges plays a vaguely Clinton-esque, lame-duck president, Jackson Evans, whose vice president's sudden death gives him one final opportunity to leave a historic legacy. So, this smooth ol' boy reckons, why not nominate a woman for the job?

The Republican-turned-Democratic senator he selects is Laine Hanson (Allen). Her turncoat, progressive ways don't sit well with Shelly Runyon (Oldman, almost unrecognizable with receding flyaway hair and black-rimmed glasses), the conservative head of the House judiciary committee that must approve her.

Runyon launches a deep background check and comes up with a doozy of a scandal. In college, a drunken Hanson allegedly let an entire frat house have its way with her, and there appears to be photographic proof. Employing two-faced self-righteousness and a velvet-gloved dagger hand (gotta love how he decries the tawdry unreliability of Internet reporting loud enough to guarantee that everyone with a modem will hit a damning tabloid Web site), Runyon turns the confirmation hearings into a circus of sleazy innuendo.

For her part, Hanson refuses to address the group sex allegations, a stand initially supported by the president and his gruff, pragmatic chief of staff (Elliott). But when she keeps mum after being all but ordered to switch tactics, the real question becomes just what kind of point is she trying to make. Only the preternaturally prim Allen could pull off an act like this and still seem entirely human.

Lurie impresses us with his ability to keep a dialogue-centered, politically savvy movie of ideas and conflicting moralities entertaining and engaging. But once the film takes partisan sides and discourse devolves into speechifying, the good times come to an end.

On the other hand, ``The Contender's'' overall enjoyment is linked to the reverent optimism that Lurie possesses for our governing institutions. Wised-up as he is about the system's human weaknesses (which is the main thing that separates him from, say, a partisan idealist like ``The American President's'' Rob Reiner), he has faith in its basic soundness that, well, the failure of the flawed Clinton impeachment effort demonstrated. This allows ``The Contender'' to be hard-hitting without slipping into the nihilistic satire of ``Wag the Dog'' or the scolding, instant obsolescence of ``Primary Colors.''

One nice touch: While Hanson may be an overprincipled pill and Runyon a puritanical hypocrite, there's something delightful about the way Jackson Evans, played by Bridges with delectably shrewd drollery, is more enamored of the 24/7 wonders the White House kitchen can whip up on command than any loose interns. He is a president, created by a filmmaker, who has an instinct for the real, day-to-day preoccupations of power.

``THE CONTENDER''

(R: language, nudity, sex.)

The stars: Joan Allen, Gary Oldman, Jeff Bridges, Christian Slater, Sam Elliott, William Petersen.

Behind the scenes: Written and directed by Rod Lurie. Produced by Marc Frydman, Douglas Urbanski, Willi Baer and James Spies. Released by DreamWorks Pictures.

Running time: Two hours, 12 minutes.

Playing: Citywide.

Our rating: Three stars

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Photo:

Mike Binder and Joan Allen's characters sit during a tension-filled confirmation hearing in Rod Lurie's ``The Contender.''