Movie: John Adams Miniseries

[Retriever Mama]

Well, we have finally finished the John Adams miniseries that originally aired on HBO and is now available on dvd. Starring Paul Giamatti (LOVE HIM!!) and Laura Linney (LOVE HER!!) as John and Abigail Adams I found this miniseries fascinating to watch. Starts with the Boston Massacre and goes right up until John Adams death and is based on the Pulitzer Prize winning book by David McCullough.

I cannot recommend this series enough. As someone who has a spotty and somewhat mis-remembered education in history I really learned so much from this. They even have a special function on the dvd set that will give you "pop-up" history info throughout the film. (I had my own personal wealth of history info sitting next to me on the couch who kept pausing the film to fill me in...sigh...) Paul Giamatti was amazing, as always, giving both arrogance and tenderness to a man that many found overbearing and pompous. Laura Linney's Abigail was so well scripted in her ability to advise and temper John Adams. The costumes were gorgeous and the sets...the scenes in France are breathtaking. Tom Wilkinson is perfectly cast as Ben Franklin and David Morse was almost unrecognizable to me as George Washington. And if you find the young wife of Charles Adams vaguely familiar then you too have seen Meryl Streep bring her daughter to way too many functions!

There were some graphic moments - mainly dealing with medical issues throughout the film. Blood letting, amputation, the original vaccines :vomit:, and an actual re-enactment of a tarring and feathering (you never gave much thought as to how hot the tar was did you?) made me a bit squeamish.

But even though you know the outcome of the tale and you remember your 6th grade American History - you should see these men come together to fight for and form our country in the image that they saw as our lawful right.

Here's a link to the HBO website for the miniseries:

http://www.hbo.com/films/johnadams/index.html

[Chester B. Dickens]

<<runs to put in Netflix queue>> But John Adams will, forever in my mind, be William Daniels (1776).

[MSUlady]

My husband and I have one episode left to finish this series up. We LOVED it! HBO makes a mean miniseries.

[Der]

I agree, an excellent mini series.

[bibber]

I really enjoyed it too.