ABOVE AVERAGE
HE UNITED THE STATES OF AMERICA.
Sometimes there are discrepancies between filmmakers and the people hired to market their work. The tagline of this ambitious HBO miniseries has nothing to do with what John Adams actually did. He remains a controversial figure who was dragged into the fight for independence and subsequently came to view Britain’s monarchy as a model for how the newly united states of America should be governed. He was never a uniter, but nevertheless one of those who brought about the Revolution.
Representing British soldiers
As the story begins in the 1770s, John Adams (Paul Giamatti) has moved his family to Boston and receives much negative attention when he as a lawyer represents British soldiers accused of massacring protesters. The trial shows Adams as a principled man who believes in law and order above everything else, but he soon becomes involved (not least thanks to his more rebellious second cousin Sam Adams (Danny Huston)) in the emerging struggle for independence. He is soon a member of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, becomes more convinced of the need for liberation and nominates George Washington (David Morse) to lead the Continental Army.
When he’s eventually elected the country’s first Vice President, his views of how the nation should be run are ridiculed and his future presidency is doomed to become a footnote in history.
Some chapters are rushed
There are many events in Adams’s unusually long and rich life that I have omitted in this plot summary… and so have the makers of this miniseries. There are times when you feel that some chapters are a bit rushed, but the filmmakers have ultimately accomplished their task. They focus on what’s important – Adams’s political philosophy and how it came to differ in comparison with Thomas Jefferson’s; his challenges as a politician; and what his 54-year-long relationship with his wife Abigail and their children looked like.
Rarely do we see TV movies that take us to an era like this in such a convincing way.
There’s also an ambitious attempt to portray life in the 1700s, especially the limited medical knowledge that caused much suffering. Rarely do we see TV movies that take us to an era like this in such a convincing way; the locations and the costumes do their part to make us feel like we’re actually there. One example is a fascinating sequence where we get to see the White House built in the middle of the woods, with the Capitol being worked on a few miles away.
An acquaintance of mine, a self-described expert on the American Revolution, calls Adams an “evil-intentioned clown”. Reading the letters between the Adamses over the years gives a much more complex image of the former President. So does this miniseries… even if the undeniably stirring music theme might have been better suited for a riveting war movie.
John Adams 2008-U.S. 501 min. Color. Directed by Tom Hooper. Teleplay: Kirk Ellis. Book: David McCullough. Cinematography: Tak Fujimoto, Danny Cohen. Music: Robert Lane, Joseph Vitarelli. Costume Design: Donna Zakowska. Cast: Paul Giamatti (John Adams), Laura Linney (Abigail Adams), Stephen Dillane (Thomas Jefferson), David Morse, Tom Wilkinson, Rufus Sewell, Danny Huston, Justin Theroux, Sarah Polley, Andrew Scott, Zeljko Ivanek, Tom Hollander.
Trivia: Co-executive produced by Tom Hanks. Originally shown in seven parts.
Emmys: Outstanding Miniseries, Writing, Actor (Giamatti), Actress (Linney), Supporting Actor (Wilkinson). Golden Globes: Best Miniseries, Actor (Giamatti), Actress (Linney), Supporting Actor (Wilkinson).
Last word: “When I did John Adams I was aware that American children thought these founding fathers were so on a pedestal that they found it hard to imagine them as flesh and blood. Since I’m not an American I had the freedom to not be inhibited by that.” (Hooper, Cinema Blend)
