Truman
by Frank Pierson
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Colm Feore, Diana Scarwid, Gary Sinise, James Gammon, Richard DysartDirector: Frank Pierson
Brand: SINISE,GARY
Cinematographer: Paul Elliott
Editor: Lisa Fruchtman
Producer: Anthea Sylbert
Producer: Doro Bachrach
Producer: Paula Weinstein
Writer: David McCullough
Writer: Thomas Rickman
DVD: 2 Layers, Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: Academy Ratio, 1.33:1
Running Time: 135 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-02-29
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Movie Reviews of Truman
Movie Review: Sinise's best performance
Summary: 5 Stars
No other actor other than Gary Sinise could have portrayed Harry Truman as lifelike as he does in this movie. His wife, portrayed by the just as talented Diana Scarwid, rounds out the First Couple.
This two-hour HBO movie starts out with Truman's entry in WWI, his marriage to Bess, but then kicks in suspense when Truman is chairman of a special Senate investigative committee on war contractor fraud at about 30 minutes into this movie. Here Sinise completey evolves into the president he is portraying and becomes the man the American public remembers. His manners of speech, his voice, the way he turns down the sides of his mouth, all reveal the Truman as the world knows him. Scarwid stands by her Truman and ages with him in a very convincing manner. A prosthetic nose of course helps with this realistic image.
This movie focuses on all the major events: Truman's shock and fear of becoming president, his use of the first atomic bomb, details of the Marshall Plan and the Berlin airlift, Truman's actions with the United Nations and the creation of Israel, the Korean War and the spread of the Red Scare, the firing of General MacArthur, battling Senator Joseph McCarthny, Civil Rights issues and in the end Eisenhower's refusal to sit with the Trumans over the traditional coffee chat before the inauguration.
Bess' refusal to live for long periods of time in the White House is covered only briefly. She never likes the attention as First Lady or of conducting press interviews. "You don't need to know me" she curtly tells the female reporters. She prefers the solitude of her Missouri home. Bess only comes back for important functions, but still maintains a busy life as First Lady.
The viewer sees where Truman's naivete sometimes governed his logic: he didn't understand the importance of the Middle East (outside of Israel) and Big Business' interest in Arab Oil.
The movie ends anticlimactically with Truman's arrival back in his home town train station.
Historical news footage is cleaverly interspersed in this movie to introduce the viewer to new events in the Truman White House. This footage works well to fill in background.
Overall, an excellent HBO production true to McCullough's book, and worthy of viewing for anyone.
Summary of Truman
Biographical drama of the simple man of the people who led American and guided the world through the most troubled period in history, Harry S Truman.Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 29-FEB-2000
Media Type: DVD
Harry S. Truman had a hard row to hoe as the 33rd president and he never enjoyed popularity while in office. Think about what occurred on Truman's watch: the bombing of Hiroshima, a nationwide railroad strike, the rise of the Southern States' Rights Party, integration of the armed forces, the ascendancy of McCarthyism, the early cold war, and finally the Korean Conflict and Truman's decision to fire General MacArthur. Few American presidents have been faced with more difficult and dangerous times than Truman. It wasn't until some 50 years later that Harry Truman, a farmer from Missouri, got his due appreciation in the history books. Truman follows the man from his beginnings as an artillery officer in WWI through his connections with Missouri's Pendergast political machine and onward to Washington. The always-excellent Gary Sinise is a perfect fit for the Truman character, having obviously studied the President's plainspoken Missouri twang and ramrod-straight bearing at great length. Diana Scarwid is also very good as Truman's long-suffering wife Bess; the film studies the relationship between the two in some depth, and also sheds light on the men who surrounded Truman in Washington. Truman's chief failing is that in its effort to detail 40 years of the man's life, certain historical events are given short shrift in order to fit them all in. Nonetheless, Sinise inhabits the character well; the scene where the President ruminates on dining alone in the White House (while Bess is back in Missouri) is a great, understated comment on the loneliness, isolation, and stress of the job. --Jerry Renshaw
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