John Adams
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Movie Reviews of John Adams
Movie Review: John and Abigail Adams: patriots and heroes
Summary: 5 Stars
I chose both J & A in my summary because one without the other would not have succeeded in the deep and profound lives they lived. First of all a sober assessment of this film should be put aside until one has read David McCullough's fantastic historical account of J.A. The reader is entertained by a master storyteller, who first caught my ear in the ever great Ken Burns series "The Civil War", where he was used as narrator and historian. Once you have read this book then the many facts that you face when watching the film will make all the more sense.
Why is J.A. such a great series? The producers and director took great pains to reproduce the look and feel, the authenticity of the times. (my one and only criticism of this and just about every such series is that costumes, especially of the soldiers all look like they were just freshly pressed and taken from the closet. Soldiers of the day had no such luxury and probably looked pretty shabby, notwithstanding the bright colours. But I quibble....) The overall view is the impression that we are looking at the times as they really were. What I noted in particular was the extreme hazards of a winter time boat crossing of the Atlantic !!!! Good heavens, I can think of few things at that time or our own that were more perilous and as we watch poor J.A. wretchedly sick as the boat crashes upon the waves....we tremble at their fate. Never mind that they had to fight a pitched battle against a British ship....and could have been sunk themselves.
John Adams was a complex man but a very good and moral one. Bull headed when he dug in his heels, opinionated, erudite, hard working, a devoted and loving father and husband. All of his life's energies he channelled through the filter that was his beloved wife, Abigail. John trusted no other human as much as his Abigail. They say that they had one of the great love and literary affairs of the century. If the volume of correspondence and the expressions therein are adequate testimony, then we witness a true love. John was both a farmer, scholar and lawyer, something not seen much in our time. He was also guided by a simple but iron willed principle that all men must be governed by laws and that society that abandons them opens itself up to the rule of the mob. Early in his life he is tested as he is given the thankless task of defending British soldiers who stood accused of killing several colonists. His uneasy but fierce and successful defence of the soldiers gives us an idea of the depth of this man. He was to be tested over and over again as he was torn away from wife and children to tend to national duties as they rapidly evolved. There was not a single time that he did not gain his wife's blessings to his paths, no matter the pain it caused her.
The series quite accurately tells their story. From the incredibly difficult days where he was away in Philadelphia helping hammer out the declaration of independence while sickness and the British forces gave his wife and children many sleepless nights to the even more wrenching times when John was alone in Europe trying with great vexation to motivate French and Dutch bankers and royalty to support the erupting American revolution. The series shows the physical depredations he lived through and the mentally trying decision to send his young son John Quincy off to St. Petersburg as a diplomatic assistant.
The ensemble cast is superb from top to bottom. Much detail is given to making the actors appear as close to the historical characters. While they had no photography back then they certainly had plenty of portrait painters and we know pretty much what they looked like. David Morse's depiction of Washington was almost inch for inch what he would have looked like, the actor being as tall as Washington was. As well it is known that Washington's teeth had been removed or came out and that he wore ivory dentures. Look at all the stuffing in Morse's mouth and the attempt to reproduce the generals face is all there.
While there is so much tragedy in the Adams family, with the loss of a daughter to cancer and a son to alcoholism, the most shattering moment comes when John watches his wife slip away. Such very great people you cannot find much in the historical record. I still must say that I find Thomas Jefferson one of the most vile of the founding fathers. A prosperous, brilliant, urbane, conniving, calculating and charming man who simply could not see his pleasures and wealth compromised by ever giving up his slaves, of which it now appears that he fathered a number of children; I find him personally disgusting. Give me John Adams and the manner in which he was a father, a husband, a Vice and President of the United States. When all is said and done, this is one of those very great series that should be mandatory in every American school system.
The chemistry between Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti is composed of a wealth of excellent dialogue, quotes from their huge output of letters to each other and by the unbreakable bonds of love. Clearly these actors felt a sympathy for these founders and were able to channel their spirit with such clarity. Tom Wilkinson's depiction of Dr. Benjamin Franklin is wonderful to behold. Watch for the hilarious chess game played in the bathtub. As I am watching the series all over again it motivates me to re-read McCullough's book. Both are treasures you should own and learn from.
Movie Review: The second President rescued from obscurity
Summary: 5 Stars
A pro-American Brit reviews the series:
A few years ago I set a quiz which included the question "Who was the second President of the United States". Nobody, not even a visiting American got the answer - which seems to sum up John Adams' position in history. Certainly before I watched this fascinating HBO miniseries I knew nothing of the man: now I feel I don't just know about him, I have a much better grasp on his times.
Adams was a Boston lawyer who sympathised with the grievances of his fellow-colonists but not all of their activities. His desire to see justice done led him to defend - successfully - the British soldiers accused of murder following the so-called Boston Massacre, but he was canny enough not to accept the Crown preferment offered to him after the trial. He was a delegate to the Continental Congresses that discussed and finally decided on declaring American independence, a move he promoted, and he became an active spokesman for the new United States.
He certainly wasn't perfect - his courtroom performance tended to long-windedness unless his sensible wife had toned his speeches down in preparation, and when sent to Europe to rally support for the Americans in their War of Independence he proved undiplomatic and not very successful. But his prominence and activities meant he came second to George Washington in the first US presidential election and therefore served as his Vice-President, eventually succeeding him.
Adams served only one term as President but the programme makes clear (and the history books seem to confirm) that he sacrificed his position rather than act in a cynical and political way - he kept the young USA out of a European conflict for which people and politicians were clamouring.
Several things combine to make this mini-series successful. Paul Giamatti turns in a stellar performance as Adams as does Laura Linney as his intelligent supportive wife. Theirs is both a love-match and a true working partnership. Giamatti inhabits the role and his presence and eloquence give him a real presence even though Adams is rendered accurately as a short tubby man (next to the towering George Washington he looks almost hobbit-like). At the same time his flaws such as short temper and stubbornness are not glossed over. The production values are excellent, helped by the wise decision not to try to recreate battle scenes or similar spectacles. Great attention is paid to contemporary living, fashion, manners, habits and speech - it is good to see that not all the Americans speak with modern American accents, many sound very British, as was the case.
Even better, the British are not two-dimensional cardboard baddies. Usually they are off-stage and referred to, but when they appear in the drama they are human. Actually there are only two such episodes - the scenes involving the Boston redcoats (mainly frightened boys plus a hard-bitten but basically honest professional officer), and later on Adams' meeting with King George III when he presents his credentials as the new and recognised nation's ambassador to London. The surprisingly generous sentiments expressed on both sides are confirmed by the history books.
But most refreshing of all is the hard look taken at America's "Founding Fathers" who are seen not as a collection of sanctified noble visionaries but as men, and men who whatever their courage and vision also had their own flaws, personalities and agendas. George Washington is noble and inspiring but not a whole lot more, Benjamin Franklin fiercely intelligent but more than a little devious (though his deviousness sometimes achieves more for the infant nation than Adams' straightforwardness), Alexander Hamilton an ambitious posturing buffoon, and Thomas Jefferson...
Adams' relationship with Jefferson, his successor, is at the heart of the later episodes. From friendship and cooperation they pass through years of political and personal estrangement, only to be reconciled towards their deaths (they died on the same day). Jefferson is shown as noble but flawed, a wealthy man whose vision for America differs radically from that of the self-made and hard-working Adams. And this, I think, is the message of the series and why the realistic or revisionist (according to your views) vision is conveyed. Adams is a federalist. His vision is of a United States with a strong central government, a single nation bound by national institutors. In other words what the USA is now. Jefferson is the spokesman for the alternative position, a vision of America where the real power resides with the individual states and a weak central government has only such powers as are needed for practical purposes. The tension between the two positions would cause problems for the nation until the huge and bloody Civil War decades later when the "states' rights" position that inspired the seceding Confederacy was finally crushed and a strong Union was firmly established. Adams, in short, is the man who had the vision of America as she is now. He deserves this rescue from his obscurity.
Movie Review: vivid masterpiece with ambiguous and complex characters
Summary: 5 Stars
HBO continues to amaze me with its mini-series. With the depth of personality development and historical (or in the case of The Wire, current events) accuracy, they develop stories and ideas that I have never seen so finely achieved in any other fictional film media. This series in many ways is even better than Rome - less melodramatic, a better treatment of the issues, and a wider historical canvass.
This is essentially a bio-pic of one of the neglected founding fathers. Starting with his career as a shrewdly ambitious lawyer in the British colony, we witness Adams as he becomes a revolutionary, following his more radical cousin, Sam Adams. He established his national career by defending the troops who fired upon colonial subjects in the Boston Massacre: he was impartial, relied on the law rather than mob rule, and on the street meticulously put together his case, which showcased his political skills. His court victory, shown with high drama, got the attention of some of the best minds of the age, getting him into the original continental congress as a delegate, leading next to his ambassadorship in France and then Holland. In each locale, we get a wonderful window into the local society: it is funny, evokes the political culture, and portrays the evolution of the characters in it (i.e. Franklin, Adams, and Jefferson). Upon return to the US, Adams is chosen as VP to Washington, then the second President.
While you get a great sketch of Adams' career in context, the film does not shy away from showing Adams' warts, and there were many. He was an irascible presence, concerned more with ideas - his idea of what was right - than the practical realities of politics. Interestingly, as the US was in formation, this was in many ways needed: he was setting precedents as he went along, which other would emulate. However, this meant that he was not the kind of politician you would want at the top, at least in my reading, as he often couldn't compromise and confused being right with getting things done or at least preserving the potential to do so in the future.
In addition, those around Adams are given a depth of treatment that is sadly lacking in the supporting characters in most historical films. Abigail, Adams' political anchor and partner in love, is by far the best character, but there are also their children, many of whom had troubled lives, perhaps due in no small part to Adams' rigidity. Jefferson is particularly subtle: a brilliant and charismatic man, you can sense he is always operating in accordance with his own political calculus, though he is and was a good friend to Adams before becoming his worst political enemy; while conservative in terms of limiting the power of the federal government, he was also a radical democrat in favor of the French revolution and advocating a new constitution for every generation. Franklin is also wonderful as a protean adaptor who revels in his environment; he was often at odds with Adams in terms of method and life style, but respected and then then used him to higher purpose. There is a hilarious scene where his relationship with Madame Helvetius is made clear to an outraged Adams. These portraits jibe wonderfully with my own research into these fascinating pols, who frankly ran rings around Adams in his rigid righteousness. Finally, there is Washington himself, the great unifier, whose work takes place for the most part off stage. The actors for all of these characters are absolutely first rate.
To be honest, I was a bit wary of this purchasing this. Though I greatly admire McCullough's writing powers, I think at heart that he is a sentimentalist, giving a kind of softball version of mythic American figures without enough context or skepticism. I have not read his Adams book and will, for in this series I happily found I was wrong about his limitations. Unfortunately, the accompanying mini-documentary shows him as a self-satisfied, if consciously humble, everyman who wants to produce literature as popular history (at which he definitely succeeds, don't get me wrong); he goes on and on about how happy he is, what a charmed life and marriage he had, etc., in the silliest kind of hagiography that exemplifies the sentimental mythmaking that I find an utter bore.
Warmly recommended. I am on a delighted binge of HBO series and have not been disappointed yet!
Movie Review: An important series
Summary: 5 Stars
I watched this on HBO and I DO NOT buy movies or DVDs but I had to buy this. Why? If you love this country and want to understand how it was founded as well as WHY OUR GOVERNMENT IS BROKEN AND NOT WORKING AS IT WAS MEANT TO, this is an important movie to own and share with your children.
I very strongly believe that the government is supposed to be "for the people, by the people" and that the people in government only have power because We the People allow them to have it. Unfortunately, our government has become corrupt with all the money passing thru congress and the congress doing what THEY want and not what we want. Politics was never meant to be a career. It was an inconvenience that people did in order to serve their fellow citizens. A person hired for 4-6 years at $140,000 a year who was not a millionaire before they got the job should not become a millionaire with in that same time span but they ALL do! Running for congress has become the "get rich quick" scheme for the 21st century. The problem is that instead of sticking to values, the people in congress are solely concerned with their own power and vote on things not based on right or wrong but based on how it will affect their career. That applies to BOTH sides. I don't care which side you are on, if you are intellectually honest, you have to admit that the people in our government today care about their career more than what's right.
The best quote from the movie is when John Adams tells his son "The peoples business must be done. If wise men won't then others will". Look at what we have today and you can see our country is being run by "others" right now.
Besides all that, it is a well told story and incredibly well acted and should win all kinds of awards. You are left with a feel of what it was like to live in that time right down to everyones rotting teeth. (That was a bit scary to be honest) It is a story filled with Honor, conflict and drama as well as characters you really care about. When the Declaration of Independence is read, if you love this country you find yourself tearing up with pride! I'm a guy and was almost blubbering during it. It is a very powerful moment in the movie.
This is a must watch for any Patriot and anyone who loves America. If you want your children to learn to love history, sit down with them and watch this over the course of a week and discuss it with them.
In reading the negative reviews they seem to be more related to how this was done compared to the book and/or that it was boring. I don't expect American history is exciting to everybody but take those reviews with a grain of salt. If you have ADHD this isn't a good movie for you. But, if you feel you don't know enough about this Country's founding and how we got where we are, then this will be "can't stop watching" TV. What's more, if you want to know what it felt like to live in a different time this movie transports there. I lost track of time watching this and was more engaged than almost anything I have ever watched. When I first watched it I thought it would be another "America is a bad country"/"the poor are always being taken advantage of" Hollywood movie that would make me angry. Instead I found myself amazed and inspired and a little confused as to how this got out of Hollywood without someone losing a job. I am so impressed that I am ordering copies for many of my friends and family.
Last, I was always proud to be an American but this movie made that so much stronger and is the reason why this is the first DVD series I have ever bought. Order it now and you will learn more about the founding of this Country in just a few hours than most of us did in all of our years in school. If I had the money I would buy 400 million and send one copy to every citizen. I can not recommend this strongly enough!
Movie Review: A "must see" for every red-blooded American.
Summary: 5 Stars
John Adams: deeply principaled, no-nonsence, ornery, lawful good, brilliant, fallible, passionate founder of our country. This is the story of the unbridled defiance, the shrewd intellect, and the angry pounding fist that tore the American colonies from British rule and gave birth to one of the greatest experiments in the history of the world - the United States of America. Stunning and haunting, this is John Adams like you've never seen him. Myth and poetry have been stripped away to reveal the far-more-fascinating, truly-human story of one of the greatest men who has ever lived.
Giamatti is simply brilliant as Adams. If he doesn't win the Emmy for this, I may declare my own independance from the "dark tyranny" of the ATAS. Linney is equally wonderful in her portrayal as the groundingly sapient Abigail. Their love story is one of the greatest in American history, and it's been marvelously recaptured here.
If it's even possible to have "spoilers" for a factual historical drama, then the following might qualify, but if you want to see what each eposide covers, here's my stab at it:
Episode 1: Join or Die.
Begins with the Boston Massacre, and covers the period leading up to Adams departure for Philidelphia to represent Massachusettes in the First Continental Congress.
Episode 2: Independance.
Covers the First Continental Congress, the beginning of the American Revolution at Lexington and Concord, the nomination of GW (by Adams) to serve as general of the new Continental Army, the Second Continental Congress, and Adams collaboration with Jefferson and Franklin to bring forth the Declaration of Independance.
Episode 3: Don't Tread on Me.
Covers the journey of Adams and Franklin to France to secure support against the British, Adam's tone-deaf approach to French diplomacy, his painful separation from Abigail, his dispatch to Holland (where his approach is somewhat better receive), and a terrible illness that befalls him.
Episode 4: Reunion.
Covers the defeat of the British forces, Adam's return to Paris and reunion with Abigail, his appointment to represent the new nation to the English crown, his frustrating absence from the Constitutional Convention, his return to America, and his election as Vice President.
Episode 5: Unite or Die.
Covers Adam's Vice Presidency under George Washington, the ongoing British and French conflict, his strained relationship with Jefferson over their very different ideas about how the new nation should be governed, and his narrow victory over Jefferson to become the second President.
Episode 6: Unnecessary War.
Covers Adam's uneasy presidency, including the retention of Washington's cabinet, largely controlled by Hamilton (mistake #1), the imfamous Alien and Sedition Acts (mistake #2), his arrival at the White House in the new capital of Washington (both still under construction), his estragement from his son Charles, the XYZ affair, his successful prevention of war with France, his loss of the Presidency to Jefferson, and his somber return to Massachusettes.
Episode 7: Peacefield.
Covers Adam's post-presidency, including the death of daugher Nabby, followed by Abigail, his reconciliation with Jefferson, the election of John Quincy as President, his long and introspective reflections on his life and legacy, and his death on the same day as Jefferson - the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration which they masterminded together.
I hope you enjoy this rare masterpiece as much as I did. I watched every episode as they aired, and plan to watch them all again as soon as the DVD is available. This is television at its finest, and I give it my highest recommendation.