From the Editor's Desk: Anyone Else Addicted to 'John Adams' Yet?
Filed under: Drama, Fandom, Home Entertainment
I am in no way a history buff. I like to think I know all I needed to know when I graduated fourth grade -- names, faces, places, dates and documents. It's not that I'm not interested in history, it's just that I never found time to dive into everything. I've enjoyed reading up on New York's history (where I'm from) and I'll enjoy the occasional historical flick (until everyone trashes it for not being accurate), but apart from that ... nada. However, lately I've been pulled into the first two installments of HBO's John Adams, starring Paul Giamatti as that legendary pimp (aka the second President of the United States). Should we just give him the Emmy now?
The mini-series is a great conversation piece; my wife and I stayed up late last night watching the second part, then looking up stuff on Wikipedia and discussing the events just prior to the American Revolution. In case you haven't watched it yet, the first two parts (which premiered this past Sunday) cover everything from the Boston Massacre up to the writing of the Declaration of Independence (loved the scene where Adams, Franklin and Jefferson are reading over the Declaration, sharing notes). Additionally, the cast is pretty awesome -- you have Laura Linney (as Abigail Adams, John's wife), Tom Wilkinson (as Benjamin Franklin), Danny Huston (as Samuel Adams), David Morse (as George Washington) and Justin Theroux (as John Hancock).
The only issue I was having was that the series jumps around in years, and you need to pay close attention to dialogue in order to figure out where we are in time. But other than that, I'm absolutely addicted already. It's intense, it's extremely well-acted, it's beautifully shot and it's definitely something you should watch ... if only to learn a thing a two about how we here in the United States came to be.
How about you? Early reactions?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-19-2008 @ 6:15PM
Philip said...
I'm unabashedly addicted. And pissed that I have to wait till this weekend for the rest of it.
Paul Giamatti is simply extraordinary as John Adams, and Laura Linney is no small shakes herself as his headstrong wife and confidant, whose role in history is given proper credit here. This may very well be the best movie I see all year.
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3-19-2008 @ 6:16PM
Philip said...
And in a separate yet related note:
I'm still mourning the loss of The Wire.
McNulty I miss you.
3-19-2008 @ 6:35PM
Jay said...
This is a great mini-series. The acting of Giamatti and Laura Linney is outstanding, and the choice of David Morse as George Washington seems to be just as good. I am looking forward to the next episodes and learning more about this man!
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3-19-2008 @ 7:09PM
Mary Jo said...
I do not have HBO on my cable.......so I am missing the mini series, but hope to purchase the DVD when it comes out. the BOOK however was outstanding that Abigail was quite a match for John. I visited his birthplace burial(next to him is John Quincy , President #6) and last home he lived and died in .....in Quincy Mass..........extraordinary.
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3-19-2008 @ 8:27PM
AJ Wiley said...
I really need to watch this...
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3-19-2008 @ 8:33PM
Argent said...
i thought the second episode was just extraordinary.
the 'making of' special was kinda interesting because it showed just how much they were meshing sets and greenscreen.
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3-19-2008 @ 10:22PM
aytunc said...
I am absolutely in love with the show, I am not American, I am an immigrant and early history of US just amazes me.
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3-20-2008 @ 9:01AM
Gina said...
I would be addicted if I had HBO. I've loved Adams ever since I saw "1776" in my high school days. :-) Can't wait for the DVDs of this one!
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3-20-2008 @ 3:12PM
Bhist said...
Not only is this a well acted and magnificently filmed HBO movie (it’s even more stunning in HD) but it’s an excellent testament on how history should be filmed. It’s accurate compared to many previous HBO historical films.
I love the fact that the filmmakers are confident enough in their material to take us behind the scenes of the birth of America. They could have easily become wrapped up in the battles of the revolutionary war, instead all of the battles take a back seat to the work of a handful of men who spent countless hours in a hall in PA forming a new nation (at least in the first two episodes). In the case of the Battle for Bunker Hill, we see it from a far distance. Yet, its impact is dramatic as told through sound and the reactions from Abigail and her children as they observe this pivotal battle from a far.
What I am most thrilled with in “John Adams” is that finally, a great American historian (David McCullough) gets his place in the sun.
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3-20-2008 @ 4:23PM
chris m said...
I wholeheartedly agree! Giamatti is a juggernaut. Looking forward to this one. Does anyone know how many episodes this series is running?
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3-20-2008 @ 9:39PM
Herbert said...
I am totally addicted. My wife and I, however, thought that the guy who played Jefferson was somewhat bewildering. Did anyone else think that he seemed somewhat blasé or disaffected about having written the Declaration of Independence and more excited about the desk chair he created? What was the ratio between chair making and declarating? Imagine the document we would have gotten had he been in to it.
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3-23-2008 @ 10:45PM
john said...
Hopefully more fact than fiction, the John Adams series is
stupendous. The acting is well done by just about everyone
who has a line to speak. The cross examination scene by
Paul Giamatti is classsic lawyering which resulted in a not
guilty verdict of the Captain and soldiers.
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