Bryan Cranston is LBJ in All the Way on HBO (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

HIGHLY recommended by me.
http://www.avclub.com/review/bryan-cranston-goes-all-way-his-characterization-l-237138

 

[Matt Hough]

HIGHLY recommended by me.
http://www.avclub.com/review/bryan-cranston-goes-all-way-his-characterization-l-237138

I agree completely. I thought it was magnificent.

 

[Patrick_S]

Just give Cranston the Emmy right now.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

He gave just as amazing a performance in the Sweet 60 video that ran on Jimmy Kimmel with Odenkirk and Aaron Paul showing up. Total commitment.

L.B.J. was huge, about 6'4," but Cranston still did an amazing job capturing the bigness of the man and the makeup was amazing.

 

[ScottH]

The timing on this one is interesting given the Rob Reiner directed LBJ biopic (with Woody Harrelson as LBJ) is scheduled for later this year.

 

[Ken H]

Finally got to see this and it was great. Having lived through the time as a young teenager, I had no sympathy for LBJ back then, but this slice of his life surely shows he was a great president and great American.

Solid performances by all with another star turn by Mr. Cranston. I thought the cinematography in particular was excellent.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Finally caught this. I haven't been a huge fan of Jay Roach's political telefilms, but this one was great. It definitely helped that he had such a great script from Robert Schenkkan, and a remarkable performance from Bryan Cranston as LBJ.

Finally got to see this and it was great. Having lived through the time as a young teenager, I had no sympathy for LBJ back then, but this slice of his life surely shows he was a great president and great American.

LBJ was a sonuvabitch. This movie showed it at times -- LBJ pushing the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution when he damn well knew that no attack had occurred, launching an impromptu Rose Garden press conference to get cameras off of Fannie Lou Hamer's testimony before the credentials committee -- but probably not the worst of it. That being said, I'm not sure that a more moral man could have gotten the Civil Rights Act (or the Great Society programs) through Congress. LBJ succeeded because he did what was necessary to achieve his objectives.

I thought the cinematography in particular was excellent.

I agree 100 percent. It walked the tightrope between being too stagey and too obtrusive. The way it was filmed felt both understated and contemporary, even though everything within the frame was 1963-64.

Stephen Root was great as J. Edgar Hoover in the historically-documented scene where LBJ reacts to Walter Jenkins's arrest for sexual deviancy in a YMCA men's room. LBJ had clearly never given much thought to homosexuality, one way or another, and bouncing thoughts off of the FBI director as he tried to collect his thoughts. Given what we know now about Hoover, that had to be a highly uncomfortable conversation. The loss of Jenkins explains many of LBJ's troubles in his second term (though probably not the 800-pound gorilla that was Vietnam). The American people's collective shrug at the scandal shows how little impact such social issues then had on the political conversation. While LBJ unhesitantly hung his top aide and close friend out to dry once the revelation surfaced, it's worth noting that he almost immediately sought him out again upon leaving office: "It's worth being out of office, to have Walter back with us," he said.

 

[Ken H]

LBJ was a sonuvabitch. This movie showed it at times -- LBJ pushing the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution when he damn well knew that no attack had occurred, launching an impromptu Rose Garden press conference to get cameras off of Fannie Lou Hamer's testimony before the credentials committee -- but probably not the worst of it. That being said, I'm not sure that a more moral man could have gotten the Civil Rights Act (or the Great Society programs) through Congress. LBJ succeeded because he did what was necessary to achieve his objectives.

A lot of great Americans have been SOBs, LBJ was just the SOB du jour, and a good one at that.

For me, it's easy in retrospect to value how he navigated the very difficult position he was in after Kennedy was assassinated, and as you noted, his accomplishments.

By 1968, I was a high school student who worked for Senator Eugene McCarthy as he ran a one plank campaign - getting out of Vietnam, LBJ be damned.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

The American Experience (PBS) has a great 4 hour documentary on him.