John Adams

[mego73]

Anyone watching this on HBO? Very well done but I will forever identify Paul Giamatti (who plays Adams) as the station manager nemesis (known as Pig Vomit) of Howard Stern in Private Parts.

The guy playing Washington is something else. He looks exactly like I expect Washington to look and when they had him get sworn in as the first President I even got a little misty.

[Adam West]

I don't have HBO but plan on buying it on DVD when it comes out in June.

This is based on David McCullough's book right? It is an excellent biography which I highly recommend.

Not only does it give a biographical account of John Adams who is often overlooked between Washington and Jefferson, I really enjoyed reading about what it was like to live back in the day. We all take our freedoms for granted now and only when you go back and study U.S. History do you realize that our founding fathers were willing and expecting to die.

Hopefully, the mini-series shows a lot of drama and contempt that Adams and Jefferson had for one another but also their initial deep friendship and finally a renewed friendship toward the end of their lives...I think they both died on the exact same day and same year which was on a July 4th?

I also hope that they also portrayed some of Adams weaknesses. He wanted to establish a monarchy in the U.S. similar to England and apparently it was Washington who said he would not serve in any other capacity than as an elected official and no longer than 4 years.

[garagesale]

I don't have HBO, but I know I always ID Paul Giamatti as Harvey Pekar of American Splendor fame.

I think the casting's appropriate, since it was John Adams who first said, "Ordinary life is complicated stuff." He wrote that in the Constitution, didn't he? Maybe that's why he created that beer, to help take the edge off... or was that Samuel Adams? Wait... which one did they make a Mego-like figure of?

I'll check it out when it's on DVD.

JamesD

[Adam West]

John Adams and Samuel Adams were cousins I think.

It's been a while since I read the book but it sounds like Samuel Adams has quite a story too. I might be wrong but I think King George put a ransom on Samuel Adams head.

[Mikey]

I don't have HBO so i'm missing it .... But ever since i've seen Jeff Daniels as George Washingon--- I always think of GW when I see Jeff.....
Even on Dumb and Dumber
I can see where you're coming from

[sauce]

i saw the first one only and really enjoyed it. very nicely done. and yeah, i see harvey pekar as well! funny....

[huedell]

Giamatti's acting chops must not be all that wonderful....or maybe I'm just too impressionable
...an easy sell?

Harrison Ford's heroes are all very simillar----
yet I never get distracted by thinking of other roles he's had when watching them....
same can be said for my feelings on many other great actors.

[megoscott]

I'm loving it. It's very dramatic and even funny. Giamati is just great to watch and he creates a rich and complex portrait. David Morse (Of St Elsewhere fame) is Washington, and he looks like he stepped right off a Gilbert Stewart canvas. Laura Linney plays Abigal and she's an amazing character. The drama leading up to the Declaration of Independance was very well done as Adams tries to convince many different reluctant factions to agree unanimously to take the huge risk to break away and essentially go to war. Not an easy thing to do with dry political dialogue, but I was on the edge of my seat. I have the episode with the first Washington Presidency waiting on Tivo. Yahoo!

[Adam West]

I was in Philly last year to see the King Tut exhibit and we spent an extra day visiting Independence Hall etc.

It really never occurred to me but the Park Ranger brought us into the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed and explained that by signing that document, every single person was a marked man and had committed treason against England (punishable by death). Also explained that John Hancock must have had some serious gonads to place his signature front and center in big legible writing while other signatures are hardly legible. I can only imagine the agony some of those folks went through in signing that document knowing that they had a high likelihood of failure to win the war.

[megoscott]

One of the most dramatic and interesting parts was Adams being received by the King as Ambassador after the war. To go from being a marked man like that to become the face to face representative to your enemy. Very cool stuff. His discomfort at having to bow to the King was pretty evident.

[Hulk]

Shows like this remind me that the money I spend on HBO each month is the best bargain of my whole cable bill. Giamatti has become one of the best character actors (ie not a leading man), right up there with William H Macy.

[megocrazy]

I agree. I'm a huge Giamatti fan. It was only recently I realized who his father was. Bart Giamatti former commisioner of MLB. The man that kept Pete Rose out of the Hall of Fame. While I still disagree with that decision, especially in light of the recent steroid stuff, I do think his kid became a hell of a character actor. Recently picked up Paycheck with he and Ben Affleck. Great movie. I loved the storyline. He out acts Affleck in 1/3 of the screen time. It's in the Walmart bargain bin. I highly suggest it for that night when nothing else is on. Good sci-fi with a twisted plot. Big Fat Liar is still one of my and my daughters favorite movies.

[Hector]

The guy playing Washington is something else. He looks exactly like I expect Washington to look and when they had him get sworn in as the first President I even got a little misty.

David Morse, formerly a doctor in St Elsewhere, Jodie Foster's father in Contact, and one of the guards in The Green Mile with Tom Hanks.

[Hector]

Giamatti is hot and cold with me. Yes, solid actor, but tends to "scream" a lot in all his roles, it gets tiresome after a while.

HBO's John Adams is solid, but I liked the New Yorker's review of John Adams:

John Adams, scowling beneath fifty-seven different wigs. "He, the United States of America" is the mini-series' motto, giving credit to Adams for...everything. Franklin (Tom Wilkinson) is a rascal, Washington (David Morse) is a sapskull, Jefferson (Stephen Dillane) is distracted and, finally deluded. And poor Thomas Paine seems never to have been born.

[Adam West]

Giamatti is hot and cold with me. Yes, solid actor, but tends to "scream" a lot in all his roles, it gets tiresome after a while.

HBO's John Adams is solid, but I liked the New Yorker's review of John Adams:

John Adams, scowling beneath fifty-seven different wigs. "He, the United States of America" is the mini-series' motto, giving credit to Adams for...everything. Franklin (Tom Wilkinson) is a rascal, Washington (David Morse) is a sapskull, Jefferson (Stephen Dillane) is distracted and, finally deluded. And poor Thomas Paine seems never to have been born.

Actually, that's not too far off to the biography. David McCullough is a Pulitzer Prize winning historical biographer and he very much described Ben Franklin as a womanizer and Thomas Jefferson living a life well beyond his means. I think McCullough portrayed Franklin and Jefferson like this because that's how Adams viewed them.

Adams was portrayed as being very straight laced and a man who was very routine oriented. He had a lot of flaws himself but again for more of a dramatic effect, I do think McCullough pointed out a lot of flaws of his fellow founding fathers....historically accurate but not giving the few depth and scope of each person.