I am not a history buff nor do I typically enjoy period pieces. I thought this might be an exception considering all the great reviews and the fact that it stars Morse, Linney, Polley, and Giamatti, all good actors in my opinion. The first disc was...
- 17.December.2010
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- by: tapwater
- tapwater rated this movie
 0/10
I am not a history buff nor do I typically enjoy period pieces. I thought this might be an exception considering all the great reviews and the fact that it stars Morse, Linney, Polley, and Giamatti, all good actors in my opinion. The first disc was fairly entertaining but I would have stopped watching if I hadn't jumped the gun and ordered all 3 discs at once. I feel that Giamatti was miscast or given bad direction. He almost always has this leering, 'I'm angry and misunderstood' face on. You see the face he's making in the picture? That's it! Imagine that face during a tender, meant to be touching, moment when he is supposedly moved by the loving words of his child. I guess he's trying to convey conflicting emotions but it doesn't come across. Also, he slobbers like a rabid dog when he gets angry. It's disgusting, saliva literally pours out of his mouth! Who does that?! As other reviewers have noted, in this film John Adams comes off as a whiny, inconsiderate jerk at a perpetual pity party. Supposedly the book paints a more complete picture but I couldn't care less at this point. There were a few things that I wasn't aware of before I found interesting but I have a hard time swallowing any history as complete truth. Especially in a film that portrays our second president as little more than an approval-seeking lap dog frothing at the mouth for a scratch on the belly. After the first disc I was bored mostly despite good performances from the rest of the cast, though some of the ancillary characters are laughably horrible. Speaking of characters without names, what kind of credible historical drama lists members of the Continental Congress in the credits as New York delegate and Maryland delegate? Aren't their names readily available? Yep, I found all their names online in less than 20 seconds. The devil is in the details, right? If you normally enjoy this kind of film, then perhaps you'll enjoys this. If not, don't expect 'John Adams' to change your mind.
- 17.December.2010
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- by: tapwater
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Very well done production--no Hollywood-style shiny teeth here and plenty of special effects depicting vistas that no longer exist. However, as with the biopic genre, after John Adam's presidency, there's very little motivation to watch except those...
- 21.September.2010
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- by: Jon Paul
- Jon Paul rated this movie
 8/10Great
Very well done production--no Hollywood-style shiny teeth here and plenty of special effects depicting vistas that no longer exist. However, as with the biopic genre, after John Adam's presidency, there's very little motivation to watch except those who are interested in Adams' history per se. The entirety of people's lives doesn't usually make a compelling story (i.e., there's a lot of non-essential events). Plus, the depiction of Adams by Giamatti (not sure how much is Giamatti's portrayal) does not produce a personally likable person that people would enjoy watching--he's essentially a grumpy vain man, personally (it's good that people have generally become more affable over the years). It's worth a watch, and I'd like to see more productions like this, but you may be fast forwarding some sections near toward the end.
- 21.September.2010
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- by: Jon Paul
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Excellent series. Paul Giamatti had an Emmy worthy performance and if he doesn't get it, I will be disappointed. This was very well done and gave many people like me a glimpse into what the life of one of our country's founding fathers was like....
- 06.October.2009
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- by: adamjgb
- adamjgb rated this movie0/10
Excellent series. Paul Giamatti had an Emmy worthy performance and if he doesn't get it, I will be disappointed. This was very well done and gave many people like me a glimpse into what the life of one of our country's founding fathers was like. Laura Linney also did a fantastic job and the historical accuracy was right on from what I had read and studied in college.
- 06.October.2009
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- by: adamjgb
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The acting in this series is excellent across the board and the story of Adams' life is an interesting one filled with a few triumphs and more tragedies than most could stand up to. On the other hand, it should be kept in mind that this is drama,...
- 25.September.2009
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- by: w00f
- w00f rated this movie0/10
The acting in this series is excellent across the board and the story of Adams' life is an interesting one filled with a few triumphs and more tragedies than most could stand up to. On the other hand, it should be kept in mind that this is drama, not documentary, and the miniseries glosses over a lot of historical fact to ultimately make both John and Abigail Adams look like more sympathetic characters than they really were. For instance, they buried their son Charles in an unmarked grave somewhere in New York and weren't nearly as kind to his widow as is depicted here. Abigail was, by all accounts, an overbearing mother who did a great deal of emotional damage to her children (read John Quincy Adams' memoirs on the subject). The series is also a bit choppy, leaving out a number of events and consequences in order to improve the narrative. We never see the public reaction to the Alien and Sedition Acts, nor do we learn of Adams' reactions to the War of 1812. Things seem to happen between episodes that are never seen on screen, so transitions are sometimes hard to follow. Still, it's worthwhile as a TV production and hopefully some of those who see it will become curious enough about Adams to search out more of the real story.
- 25.September.2009
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- by: w00f
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