Warm Springs

This is a beautifully acted and directed HBO movie about Franklin Delano Roosevelt's battle with polio, his rehabilitation, and his eventual taking over of the Warm Springs center.

Kenneth Branagh gives a riveting, detailed performance as FDR (leave it to the British to portray our great Americans). One sees a vital man struck down and feels his pain as he struggles to walk again and deal with the ramifications of his illness on his political life.

The film brings to life the prejudice and shunning of the handicapped and the fear people had that they could actually catch polio from another person. It was unheard of for a person of FDR's stature to continue his career once he developed polio. Yet, as we all know, he did, and no one ever called him a cripple.

Cynthia Nixon gives a beautiful portrayal of Eleanor Roosevelt, who, though disillusioned in her marriage, remains a true partner to FDR. Their marriage was much more than one of love or even partnership - her admiration and commitment to this man, and his to her, was very real in spite of their problems.

I highly recommend this very beautifully done film.

My wife is a polio survivor, and obviously handicapped, from the disease's last American days in the 1950's. I was a little worried about selecting it for our evening viewing because too often movies about a physical or other handicap tend to fall into a mushy wallow of pity and become insulting. Whatever failings this one has as an historical or biographical document, so ably pointed out by my fellow reviewers, it was clear to us that the real topic was his facing, accepting, and surviving polio and then moving on. It did so realistically and with complete grace. The portrayals of paternalism/pity/revulsion shown the handicapped by many and by Franklin himself were spot-on examples of the well-meaning but hurtful attentions that people carrying many different burdens get handed daily. The polio didn't ultimately define FDR-the man, any more than his hair color did but the movie does a wonderful job showing his transition to that realization, and yet never asks us to feel sorry for him.

In spite of some liberties being taken with events and personages for dramatic effect, this is a remarkably well-done retelling of the first four years after Franklin Roosevelt was stricken with infantile paralysis.

This version is less sentimental and perhaps more truthful than "Sunrise at Campobello", Dory Shary's play and film, from 1958 and 1960, covering the same events. Perhaps that is because many of the people involved were still living at the time, and the events and personages were still in living memory for so many in the audience for that piece, in 1960.

This version, however, minces no words and does not turn away from the grim reality of all the challenges Franklin faced, emotional and physical, in dealing with his illness. The performances of all involved are excellent. It is a challenge to portray people so well known to so many, and these actors, all of them, shine in their roles.

Central to all of this of course must be the performance of the actor playing FDR. For many, after "Sunrise at Campobello", only Ralph Bellamy could play Roosevelt, and he did it with great panache, even to repeating his performance twice, twenty and thirty years later, in the miniseries "Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance" in the 80s.

Without a doubt Kenneth Branagh gives what must be one of the best performances on film I have ever seen. He never descends to caricature or impersonation, he does not really look like FDR, he only gives suggestions of Franklin's speech rhythms and accent. But this actor inhabits the character as written so completely, with such wide emotional, physical and vocal range that I for one was totally convinced. This is truly a great film performance, worthy of any awards that it gets. And I hope it is recognized.

This is a film that only Joseph Sargent could have directed. Mr. Sargent's work has been basically seen on television. This HBO film deals directly with Franklin D. Roosevelt's battle with polio. As written by Margaret Nagle, the film is rewarding in that one sees an aspect of this great man in human terms.

Mr. Roosevelt was a man that came from wealth and privilege. The Roosevelts and the Delanos were involved in politics most of their lives. When we first meet F.D.R. and his family, we find then living under the influence of his bossy mother, Sara Delano. His wife Eleanor is no fool, she soon realizes her husband is having affairs with other women. Eleanor's mother-in-law quickly takes command of things as she reminds the younger woman that some great men have mistresses outside the home, but that it shouldn't be a cause for a divorce, something that wouldn't have been Franklin's political death, at the time.

We watch in horror how Mr. Roosevelt is stricken with polio. In spite of his political savvy, Franklin is not ready to accept what has befallen him. With the reluctant aid of Eleanor, he answers an invitation to go to rural Georgia, to Warm Springs, where the owner has written him, some progress has been seen on people with suffering polio.

Warm Springs is more backward than what the Roosevelts expected. Franklin is determined to make a go of it. Helped by Tom Loyless, the man in charge of the springs, Mr. Roosevelt begins to see some progress. At the same time, he and other polio sufferers, are the target of some disdain and bigotry by people that have used Warm Springs for other afflictions. The arrival of a physical therapist, Helena Mahoney, works wonders for Franklin and the patients staying in the spa. Mr. Roosevelt ends up buying the place and turns it into a treatment center for people with polio.

We also watch how Eleanor, guided by the Roosevelt's loyal friend, Louis Howe, gets her involved in the political arena. She champions the cause for women to get into social issues, something she would pursue until the end of her days. Mrs. Roosevelt rises to the occasion when Franklin is taught how to walk and in an emotional finale, we see him appearing before a Democratic convention. Ironically, he would be elected on the next election and win three other terms as president of the country, in spite of his physical condition, that took a back seat to the reality of running the country.

If anyone seems to have been born to play Franklin Roosevelt, it is Kenneth Branagh. This actor bears an uncanny resemblance with the younger Roosevelt. Mr. Branagh makes an excellent characterization of the iconic man that still cast a strong shadow with the legacy he left behind. As Eleanor, Cynthia Nixon, is equally Mr. Branagh's match. With a prosthesis to change the look of her teeth, Ms. Nixon is extremely appealing as Mrs. Roosevelt.

The supporting players do amazing performances. Tim Blake Nelson who plays the kind Tom Loyless is a joy to watch, as in everything this actor does. David Paymer is the loyal friend Louis Howe. Kathy Bates is Ms. Mahoney, the therapist that is instrumental in teaching F.D.R. how to walk. Jane Alexander is also good as Sara Delano, a woman with an iron will.

"Warm Springs" takes us into the life of the man who battled infirmity with an amazing courage. Joseph Sargent is to be commended for his direction and the way he got good acting all around from his distinguished cast.

I'm in shock that two people gave this excellent film a 1 out of 10. I can perhaps see how some didn't enjoy it quite as much as I did, but to rate it as awful shows just plain ignorance to me.

Not only is this gem beautifully scripted, wonderfully shot and edited, as well as tremendously directed, but Cynthia Nixon and Kenneth Branagh dominate. I am familiar with a wide selection of Branagh's work, and this is one of his best performances to date! FDR is my favorite President, and I surely feel that Branagh does justice to the man.

On a personal note, I was brought to tears on three separate occasions when watching this film. Now, this may not seem like much, but rare is it that a tear falls from my eye even once during a showing.

Please, please see this film, if only for it's inspiration. I believe this is a sadly overlooked masterpiece, and we must not allow it to be forgotten. If you liked his Hamlet, you'll love his Franklin.