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From:Paul Giamatti , Laura Linney , Warner Brothers , HBO ,
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User Rating: Amazon Sales Rank:#15 |
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1 of 1 customers found the following review helpful:
 Best mini-series book adaptation since "Lonesome Dove"!, 2008-06-26
HBO has taken the excellent David McCullough non-fiction award winner and adapted it to the screen in a manner that does the book proud.
While the book begins with Adam's birth and early life, the HBO series begins with his brilliant, but controversial defense of the British soldiers who took part in the event known as the "Boston Massacre".
The series does an excellent job of portraying not only Adams brilliance, but his shortcomings as well and his lifelong dependence on Abigail is treated as the unique and beautiful relationship that it actually was.
Here is a man (and a woman) who dedicated their entire lives to the founding of the country and the system of government that we enjoy today. They did this at not only great personal sacrifice, but unfortunately to the sacrifice of their children and others close to them.
John Adams was a great man ... Abigail Adams was a great woman. Together, they had as much or more influence on the early years of our democracy as anyone. Unfortunately Adam's own prediction that history would say that "Benjamin Franklin smote the earth with his electrical rod and out popped George Washington and Thomas Jefferson ...." has proven to be all too accurate until now.
I have now read two wonderful books that completely changed my perspective on John Adams' career. One is "Setting the World Ablaze" by John Ferling, the other is "John Adams" by David McCullough.
This HBO mini-series ... the best screen adaptation of a book I have seen since "Lonesome Dove" is simply the icing on the cake! Enjoy!!
3 of 3 customers found the following review helpful:
Extraordinary Man!!!, 2008-06-26
This is on my list for best movies of all time! I love it. He was an extraordinary man and the movie was clean and so well made. The details were wonderful. It was like watching an adult rated G movie, b.c. of the lack of filth so many other movies have today, yet it was still so suspensful and engaging! If I could give it higher than 5 stars I would and I am not usually drawn into political history, but this movie made it so interesting. Well worth the money. Enjoy!
1 of 12 customers found the following review helpful:
 Too draggy and too unreal, 2008-06-26
As portrayed by Giametti, Adams seems so depressed I'm amazed Adams was able to accomplish anything.
And hearing Brits try to speak American English is very funny. One actor pronounces Maryland as "Mary Land," which always catches the English. And shooting in Eastern Europe for Philly, etc. is always a joke. Do producers think we don't notice? Takes away from reality.
It would be nice for once if HBO used American actors to portray American actors. or to film movies where they take place.
Stephen Dillon, playing Jefferson, showed no such passion. I have not read the book yet but I have read bios of Franklin, Jefferson, Lafayette and the characters were real. What it hints at but does not show is the duplicity of America in its early stages. Helping England steal Canada from French while begging France for money (helping to bring down the fall of Louis and Marie because the support for the American Revolution drained France's bank). So much double dealling and the US was not good at paying back it's supporters.
Adams was a difficult person to be sure but this series shows him as a loser and depressive. I doubt that he was depressive.
Abigail had wits and brains and a voluminous correspondence with Jefferson over the years and had Patsy stay with her before she went on to join her father Jefferson in France. Adams and Jefferson in their last years wrote extensively and became close.
This series, for all its length, does not capture the passions of the times and just seems another historical drama.
Too bad this was not another Rome, full of intelligence, accuracy and brilliant acting.
3 of 3 customers found the following review helpful:
Another outstanding accomplishment for HBO, 2008-06-25
Unlike some of the reviewers on the site, I have seen all the episodes of the John Adams miniseries. It is true that not every episode is 5 stars, but even the less impressive episodes in this miniseries are far better than the majority of anything you will see on TV this, or any other year. Where John Adams excels is in the remarkable acting, not just of Giamatti, who is amazing, but particularly of Laura Linney. Linney's natural, understated, performance gives a level of depth and intensity that very few actresses could have conveyed in this role. The supporting performances are almost uniformly excellent, with standout achievement's from David Morse as George Washington, Stephen Dillane as Thomas Jefferson, and the reliable genius of Tom Wilkinson as Ben Franklin. The directing is competent but not inspired. I was rebuffed by the soundtrack's grandiose nature at first, however, the series lived up to insistent tone and delivery by the end. I have not read the book that the series is based on, however, my uncle has. His opinion is that the series is a very faithful portrait, but has far less detail. This is understandable. For any fan of history, this is a must see series. For any fan of drama, this is a must see series. You will certainly not be disappointed. If only history class was this engaging in school, then maybe our children would actually learn about our country.
2 of 2 customers found the following review helpful:
They were just people too...., 2008-06-24
It is easy to think of our founding fathers to be more than human. From our perspective, the freedoms and rights we enjoy are the result of the insight that these men had. This presentation gives me, the viewer, a look at the chances that these people took, risking all at times, to do what needed to be accomplished to assure "INDEPENDENCE FOREVER". Time has tested their ideals and thanks to them we are living in the most "free" nation on earth. I appreciated the attention to detail, the realistic costumes to the wonderful sets, whether real or digital.Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney were very convincing as John and Abigail. I was also blown away by the performance of David Morse as George Washington. Last but not least, I'll never think of Benjamin Franklin the same again.
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