Bryan Cranston Shines as Lyndon Johnson in ‘All the Way’

[elleng]

'Bryan Cranston brings his Tony Award-winning interpretation of President Lyndon B. Johnson to television on Saturday night in an adaptation of the Robert Schenkkan play “All the Way,” and it’s still quite a sight to behold, just as it was on Broadway in 2014.

Nothing beats witnessing this kind of larger-than-life portrayal onstage, of course. But the television version, presented by HBO, offers plenty of rewards, allowing Mr. Cranston to work the close-ups and liberating him from the confines of a theater set. In his hands, this accidental president comes across as an amazing bundle of contradictions, someone who seems at once too vulgar for the job and just right for it.

Mr. Schenkkan adapted his own play (which also won a Tony) for HBO, and he and the director, Jay Roach, have quickened the pace a bit. The slice of history, though, remains the same: Johnson’s pivotal first year in office, from his swearing in after John F. Kennedy’s assassination through his 1964 campaign for election to a full term.

The first half of the film, its most compelling stretch, focuses on Johnson’s wheeling and dealing to get the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed. Other prominent figures of the era are manipulated by this master of political hardball: senators like Hubert H. Humphrey (Bradley Whitford) and Richard B. Russell Jr. (Frank Langella); J. Edgar Hoover (Stephen Root); the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Anthony Mackie). Some, especially King and other black leaders, are quite good at manipulation themselves.

Given all we hear about the current climate in Washington, “All the Way” is enough to make you misty for the days when horse-trading in the interest of securing significant achievements was what national politicians did. Not that the film gilds this era. We hear some of the actual arguments used to oppose civil rights legislation (sometimes via archival clips of George Wallace and others), and they’re mighty ugly. Is the verbiage today any different? The film invites us to make the comparison.'>>>

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/20/arts/television/review-bryan-cranston-shines-as-lyndon-johnson-in-all-the-way.html?

[MADem]

1. It was SUPERB. nt

[Duppers]

2. Definitely, everyone should see this.

"The film invites us to makes comparison(s)" How can we not?

[elleng]

3. Really,

CONSTANTLY!

[brush]

4. Cranston did a great job as LBJ who would be listed as one of our top presidents . . .

except for the Vietnam war.

His civil rights legislation and Great Society programs rival FDR's New Deal, which exclude blacks from many of its benefits.

[Zynx]

9. The civil rights legislation, in my judgment, tops everything FDR did legislatively, but Vietnam was

an utter disaster while FDR successfully managed the most difficult foreign war we've ever faced.

[Spider Jerusalem]

11. A chicken sandwich could've been President during WWII...

and the US would still have been on the winning side. Japan couldn't win, in the long run, and in Europe the turning points of the war came before there was a single US soldier deployed against the Nazis.

[dhill926]

5. one of the best movies I've seen...

came of age during this period and remember just loving politics. The give and take.....shit actually sometimes got done. Today, thanks to the insanity of the republicans and their supporters, not so much...and Cranston....holy shit. He WAS LBJ. Also loved the portrayal of Lady Bird as much more than just the backdrop she seemed at the time (beautifying America notwithstanding...)

[Stallion]

6. LBJ-The Most Intriquing Politician of the 20th Century

I can't stop watching the PBS The Presidents video about this man. It is by far the best of the Presidents series. He accomplished the most important legislation in American History yet pissed it all a way with Vietnam. As the PBS special says its one of the great tragedies in American History. When he failed it was America failing

[elleng]

7. Haven't seen it;

will look.

Among other things, guaranteed the south wouldn't be Democratic for ??? generations.

[JI7]

12. he died early because of that war also

It's interesting seeing the difference in W Bush and LBJ to the disastrous wars .

[Bluenorthwest]

8. The play 'All The Way' originated at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which commissioned the

play along with a second play about Johnson called 'Great Society' which takes up where 'All The Way' left off. OSF commissioned the play as part of an ongoing 10 year new play project called 'American Revolutions' which will create 37 new plays about key moments in American History.
This year's American Revolutions play at OSF is 'Roe' by Lisa Loomer about the Roe vs Wade case.
https://www.osfashland.org/en/productions/2016-plays/roe.aspx

More information on the American Revolutions plays here:
"American Revolutions: The United States History Cycle is OSF’s 10-year program (2008-2017) of commissioning up to 37 new plays sprung from moments of change in United States history. Bringing together artists, historians and institutions from around the country, and mirroring the scope and scale of Shakespeare’s history plays, American Revolutions is the largest commissioning and production project in OSF’s history. Theatre contributes to vision, to conversation, to commitment, to belief, to action and must actively participate in the life of our country. These truths animate OSF’s American Revolutions goals and create value for our participating artists, our fieldwide collaborators and our audiences."
https://www.osfashland.org/experience-osf/upcoming/american-revolutions.aspx

[cloudbase]

10. My wife and I saw this live

at the Alley Theatre in Houston last February. Very well done.

[mnhtnbb]

13. Watched it last night. It was superb. Husband saw the play at Arena Stage in DC.

He liked the film adaptation better.