John Adams [Blu-ray] starring Paul
Giamatti, Laura Linney
John Adams
Based on David McCulloughs bestselling biography, the HBO miniseries
John Adams is the furthest thing from a starry-eyed look at Americas
founding fathers and the brutal path to independence. Adams (Paul
Giamatti), second president of the United States, is portrayed as a skilled
orator and principled attorney whose preference for justice over anti -
English passions earns enemies. But he also gains the esteem of the first
national government of the United States, i.e., the Continental Congress,
which seeks non-firebrands capable of making a reasoned if powerful case
for Americas break from Englands monarchy. The first thing one notices
about John Adams dramatizations of congress proceedings, and the
fervent pro-independence violence in the streets of Boston and elsewhere,
is that Americas roots dont look pretty or idealized here. Some horrendous
things happen in the name of protest, driving Adams to push the cause of
independence in a legitimate effort to get on with a revolutionary war under
the command of George Washington. But the process isnt easy: not every
one of the 13 colonies-turned-states is ready to incur the wrath of England,
and behind-the-scenes negotiations prove as much a part of 18th century
congressional sessions as they do today. Besides this peek into a les s-
romanticized version of the past, John Adams is also a story of the man
himself. Adams frustration at being forgotten or overlooked at critical
junctures of Americas early development--sent abroad for years instead of
helping to draft the U.S. constitution--is detailed. So is his dismay that the
truth of what actually transpired leading to the signing of the Declaration of
Independence has been slowly forgotten and replaced by a rosier myth.
But above all, John Adams is the story of two key ties: Adams 54-year
marriage to Abigail Adams (Laura Linney), every bit her husbands
intellectual equal and anchor, and his difficult, almost symbiotic
relationship with Thomas Jefferson (Stephen Dillane) over decades.
Giamatti, of course, has to carry much of the drama, and if he doesnt
always seem quite believable in the series first half, he becomes
increasingly excellent at the point where an aging Adams becomes bitter
over his place in history. Linney is marvelous, as is Dillane, Sarah Polley
as daughter Nabby, Danny Huston as cousin Samuel Adams, and above
all Tom Wilkinson as a complex but indispensable Ben Franklin. --Tom
Keogh
Features:
* John Adams is a sprawling HBO miniseries event that depicts the
extraordinary life and times of one of Americas least understood, and most
underestimated, founding fathers: the second President of the United
States, John Adams. Starring Paul Giamatti (Sideways, Cinderella Man,
HBOs American Spendor) in the title role and Laura Linney (You Can
Count on Me, Kinsey) as Adams devoted wife Abigail, Joh
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 cred entials 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 b ut
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 r eal
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.
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