All the Way

Bryan Cranston brings Lyndon Johnson to life in this absorbing real life drama focusing on 1964 when LBJ not only got a major civil rights bill passed, but set the stage for the 1965 voting rights act and the war on poverty. Cranston's portrayal is uncanny, and turns this made for HBO movie into a quasi-documentary. Cranston carries this movie and makes it one of the best television events of the year. The rest of the cast is excellent too but in some cases, the actors don't look enough like the characters they are playing: Hubert Humphery and Martin Luther King Jr., come to mind. The storyline is fairly well known to anyone who follows politics and U.S. history, but the behind the scene's maneuvering to get a very major bill passed makes for great story telling and LBJ was one of the great story tellers. The stories told by LBJ are the glue that holds this movie together. His poor upbringing gave him the resolve to do something about helping the poor once he got into office. And of course he saw first hand in his home state of Texas, the massive racism that prevented blacks from taking their rightful place in American society. No doubt LBJ could have been a candidate for Mt. Rushmore were it not for Vietnam which is explored in the movie but not in-depth. That should be a sequel. Melissa Leo is wonderful as Lady Bird Johnson, and Frank Langella is excellent as Senator Richard Russell. This is a must see movie. Cranston will be picking up more awards.

This portrayal of the 1963/1964 Johnson presidency is not only excellent but BRILLIANT. The acting was flawless about an era I knew well. The acting was so good I forgot about who was portraying whom. Bryan Cranston cannot be lauded enough.

Our nation is on the precipice of returning to those noxious racist-filled days as we are poised to elect a wingnut demagogue to office supported by many racist whites even of the KKK and white nationalist supremacist variety. Have we learned NOTHING from our tragic racist past? Is Vietnam but a memory and the race relations of Jim Crow tucked away neatly in the crevices of our national mind? I surely hope not but suspect they are.

Each and every American would do well to see this film and relive the 1964 shame-filled era of our nation and the legacy of its Civil War. Ultimately the war, though Union won, is still being fought and not only in the battlefield of the south but in the fields of the entire nation.

There are a lot of complimentary things one could say about HBO's "All The Way": great acting, historical ambiance, and cohesion of narrative. What really makes this a truly great film, however, is how its themes are just as relevant and striking here and now as they were in the 1960s.

For a basic plot summary, "All The Way" tells the story of President Lyndon B. Johnson's (Bryan Cranston) first year in office. The primary focus is on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the type of political and social upheaval/compromises that here undertaken to make it a reality. Key personal/political figures of the early Johnson Administration also feature heavily, such as Martin Luther King Jr. (Anthony Mackie), Lady Bird (Melissa Leo), Senator Richard Russell (Frank Langella), Senator Hubert Humphrey (Bradley Whitford), & J. Edgar Hoover (Stephen Root).

It is amazing (and equal parts inspiring and sad) to watch "All The Way" and understand how the Civil Rights Act was neither the beginning nor the end of race issues in this country. In this current era of Black Lives Matter and other racial-based demonstrations fighting for justice, the struggles of Dr. King, the NAACP, the American government, and the populace at large are driven home even further (as they are so much on the forefront of politics and society right now).

Acting-wise, the performances are solid all-around, with Cranston especially shining (when does he ever not?!) as LBJ (from what I have read/seen, an uncanny resemblance in terms of mannerisms). Cranston first inhabited this role on Broadway in 2014, so it makes sense that he is the most comfortable here.

Thus, with the combination of tremendous acting and incredibly relevant themes, I consider "All The Way" to be a biopic of the highest order (my only slight complaint would be it perhaps could have been trimmed by 15 minutes or so). I'm a big fan of the biopic genre, as I feel like it has so much power (along with a high degree of responsibility, obviously) to bring the past alive and more relate-able than a textbook or tome ever could. "All The Way" succeeds wildly in this regard.

While Lyndon Johnson's presidency was marred by his disastrous Vietnam policy, he was one of our most significant and important presidents in terms of social justice, passing laws that fought racism and pushed against poverty.

In All the Way's eagerness to show the good of Johnson, it sometimes pushes a little too far. Johnson is portrayed here as a sort of crude angel. Sure, he holds meetings from the toilet, but he single-handedly pushes through a civil rights bill!

I don't know much about the history of the civil rights bill, but I do know that politics is a vast, messy business that involves a lot of people and that even the noblest of politicians are still consumed with deal making and positioning and power. For me, this makes the LBJ portrayed in the movie a too simplistic. I am more interested with flawed humans whose angels sometimes beat down their demons to earthly saints.

In spite of my objections, though, this is a very entertaining, involving movie. Its main selling point is Bryan Cranston's amazing portrayal of LBJ. Cranston's LBJ is shrewd, calculating, noble, and briefly angsty. Cranston creates as much complexity as is possible within a role written with a lack of nuance.

The other performances are also quite solid, particularly Melissa Leo as the sweet but steel-spined Ladybird and Frank Langella as LBJ's mentor and occasional foe. Anthony Mackie plays a thoughtful MLK, but there is a slightness, both physical and oratorical, that is disappointing.

While I would have liked more complexity, this is a very entertaining movie that is well worth watching.

"HBO" still sets the standard for making original movies as their films of real life drama and political pictures are still simply the best! "All the Way" adapted from a play tells the years of the 1960's and the years of the Lyndon Jonhson presidency starting with the "JFK" killing to when Johnson becomes president it's a crazy and troubled time in the country. As the Vietnam war is still raging and the Democrats in the south still are still not liking black folks. Well a lot is about to change president Johnson is about to passing the civil rights act of 1964 that would give blacks rights and equality to vote and have the same freedom that the whites have. Still it's a struggle to get passed thru the congress and senate as the republicans and southern democrats fight it.

Yet thru backroom political under the table deals and promises and with the help of Dr. Martin Luther King and the coalition of blacks especially those in the south it is passed and this helps spur Johnson the southern draw twang talking Texan to stay into the white house in the 1964 presidential election as he wins big with the southern and black vote over republican nominee Barry Goldwater. This film was showcased as a political and social cultural triumph and Bryan Cranston hams it up as president Johnson give him a golden globe or acting award. Overall "All the Way" is one well done original film that shows cultural and social political significance that would become important for race, democracy, and freedom of justice and peace of mind for many.