A good movie

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Rob Reiner, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I thought it was seriously annoying that half of the movie was crippled by some useless back-and-forth chronology. Sure, you could argue that it was to convey the chaos and confusion following JFK’s murder but I would rather have had something more straightforward. At least, there is no doubt that Woody Harrelson gave here a really good performance and he completely disappeared in this character, even if the extensive make-up still didn’t really make him look like Lyndon B. Johnson. Apart from that, I thought it was a solid attempt to rehabilitate a US president who has always remained in the shadow of John F. Kennedy. Indeed, thanks to this movie, I discovered that Johnson who maybe didn’t have Kennedy’s good looks was actually a fine seasoned politician and his impact on the US domestic policy was huge. In fact, in this regard, he was probably one of the most important US presidents in office. Eventually, the only real issue with this movie was that it was too short. Indeed, if Johnson’s domestic policy was an historical success, his foreign policy was however a complete disaster as he pushed and kept the United States in the Vietnam war which would be a terrible and traumatic tragedy for this nation. So, it was some really strong material which would have resulted in a complex and more balanced portrait but the makers completely skipped this and focused only his tremendous achievements regarding the Civil Rights. As a result, you get only a partial portrait which was interesting but not really satisfying, I’m afraid. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, at least, if you like the genre.

7/10