John Adams (HBO Miniseries)

Description
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, John Adams chronicles the extraordinary life journey of one of the primary shapers of our independence and government, whose legacy has often been eclipsed by more flamboyant contemporaries like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin. Set against the backdrop of a nations stormy birth, this sweeping miniseries is a moving love story, a gripping narrative, and a fascinating study of human nature. Above all, at a time when the nation is increasingly polarized politically, this story celebrates the shared values of liberty and freedom upon which this country was built.

DVD Features:
Documentary
Featurette
Production Notes

Besides this peek into a less-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 America's 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 husband's 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 doesn't 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

John Adams, staring Paul Giamatti
I purchased this title with the Biography title of John Adams.

It is an excellent program, although I had trouble keeping straight the characters, Watching this series the second time solved that problem. In this series, all details were paramount. This viewer felt as tho she was in Boston, or New York, or Philadelphia, in those early days! The "Boston Massacre" story was told way differently than it was from my grade school days! And that John Adams was the representative in court for the accused British soldiers was never told in grade school history! David Morse portraying George Washington was a perfect casting choice! Various details of the various characters were also revealed in this series. For example, the founding fathers are always depicted in paintings as having hair, as school childeren, we are told they wore wigs. But when the founding fathers go to their lodging or home, they took their hair off & hung it, like they did their hats. That John Adams had a temper, I didn't know previously. He was a man, like any other man & this series doesn't "sugar-coat" his flaws. In fact each character's flaws as well as their strengths are revealed. A sad scene was when john went to the home of his son Charles, in a dirty back-street of New York, only to find his son passed-out from booze on his kitchen table. John shows a little "tough-love" to Charles & disowns him right then & there. Abigail is saddened by this, because he was joy in her life the years John was in France & England. Another gizzley scene is when a doctor performs a mastectomy on John's daughter "Nabby". The viewer feels as tho she is going to witness a battle-field scene of a limb amputation. Even the fact that the teeth would be decaying is part of the make-up as the scenes of life progresses. The genuine love & friendship are also portrayed here.

This video set features a sub-program "facts are stubborn things", in which various little factoids are displayed like sub-titles through the programs. These are very interesting, although in somecases, they are not displayed long enough to be read. In cases like this, I simply "re-wound" as I would a vdeo-tape and re-read them. The first time i watched this series, I din't use that feature. What is supposed to happen, I think is if the viewer clicks on that factoid, there is supposed to be further information. Perhaps, viewing the DVDs on my computer will allow that further exploration. When I attempted to click on it with my TV & DVD player, nothing happened.

The only negative things I have to say about this series is the length is a bit too-long, but if it is viewed in segments, as it would have been aired, it's much more comfortable. And, I had trouble keeping-straight the characters. What exactly causes the "rift" between John Adams & Thomas Jefferson, that lasted for many years is not made clear. That Abigail's death is the event that leads John to "touch base" with Thomas again, reveals that John held grudges for a long time too.

I am glad I purchased this video set. It might be a good reference for junior high or high school papers also. This video set was purchased used & it was in perfect condition. If there is a sizeable price difference between purchasing a used copy or new, my recommendation would be to purchase the used copy.

If I'd watched this in High School I'd have an A+ in history!
This is a first class movie in its own right. I did not give it 5 stars only because nothing is perfect. There seems to have been a lot of emphasis on historical accuracy, that and the cinematography transports you back to 1776. The acting is wonderful as the characters seem three dimensional. This is not for the pre-teen folks as the cruelty of life is not whitewashed. Every citizen should watch this! (Also loved the pop up history facts.)

Time's fun when you're having flies
In nearly every outdoor scene, you can hear flies buzzing. Once again, I needed closed captioning to hear the whispering of Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney and yet, I could easily hear the flies and see the words "flies buzzing" on the screen. And the crazy camera angles, zoom in, zoom out, all of it was distracting from viewing this miniseries in earnest.

I've not read the book on which this series was based but apparently several reviewers feel that HBO did not do it justice. I will say this, though: HBO portrayed Adams as a petulant, unforgiving, obnoxious toad. Perhaps this is good, however, because it's made me decide to read more about John Adams. It does appear that at least the relationship between him and his wife Abigail was portrayed accurately. I will watch The Adams Chronicles as well and perhaps I should've done so before reviewing John Adams so that I could make a comparison but, on the other hand, John Adams should be able to stand on its own merits and, for me, it didn't. I'll concede, however, that it was due to Giamatti's acting and the above mentioned annoying affectations that I did not enjoy this miniseries.

A time when men rose to the occasion and achieved greatness
I guess one could always quibble about what was included or not included, emphasized or not emphasized, from the David McCollough book of the same name, but looking at this production just as an HBO mini-series, it's a complete triumph. One gets a generous examination of a variety of events: the famous ones we all learned about in school, lesser known historical events (John Adams actually defended the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre, for example), and all kinds of other things that took place over the course of John Adams' personal life. It's all facinating and involving, without a shred of boredom.

Like the book's approach, the mini-series' seven parts (each a shade over an hour), examines history in an intelligent and detailed manner, but always filtering it through the personal lives of Mr. Adams and his associates, and the personal challenges that everyone dealt with at the time (in particular, the challenges of disease and pestilence). In other words, the story doesn't take the position of lauding great people in great times, but normal people doing their best in challenging times, which often resulted in greatness.

As pointed out by a few other reviewers, this IS some nudity during "John Adams", but it's used to illustrate things like the cruelty of tarring and feathering (it wasn't the "prankish" activity it seemed like when we learned about it in school) and the primitive nature of 18th century surgery. As such, "John Adams" is perfectly fine for older children on up, though not for those easily upset.

"John Adams" looks and sounds wonderful on standard DVD, with a special mention going to the outstanding orchestral soundtrack (both the rousing main theme and the subtle, crisp incidental music). In keeping with the theme of emphasizing the personal over the iconic, the special features on the final disc include a wonderfully entertaining profile of David McCollough, which highlights the writer's often whimsical personality and comforting home life, letting his skills speak for themselves. There's also a terrific special feature showing how many of the adaptation's special effects were created.

I often say in these Amazon reviews that the worst thing that a piece of creative work could be is boring. And "John Adams" is never that. You'll definitely learn a few things about our history and our founding fathers if you pick this series up, but you'll always be absolutely entertained along the way. As said at the outset, a triumph all around.

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