Bryan Cranston plays Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ), the 36th President of United States -- in Jay Roach’s adaptation of Robert Schenkkan’s play “All the Way” (Cranston played LBJ in the stage too for which he won a Tony Award) -- with a verve that’s more than a brilliant imitation of the man. He takes us beneath the commanding stance of the President, seen in old TV news clips to embody the heavily weighing private hours. We see those deepening furrows as people see LBJ as ‘accidental president’ after the assassination of John F. Kennedy (in November 1963). We see his crafty side as he plays the political game with Southern politicians, while also navigating the Civil Rights Bill. We see the President’s impatience, rants, vulgarity, unbridled charisma, and firm nature. Cranston wears a perfect prosthetic, giving him the bushy, thick eyebrows, reducing hairline, and sharp nose, but what stands out in his performance as Lyndon B Johnson is the manner with which he adds meat (without being flaccid) to the bones of made-up LBJ figure. This performance is what makes “All the Way” (2016) an important & must-watch political drama, but on a little lamentable note, I must say that only Cranston’s presence makes it a memorable movie. The other vital characters of the period lacks the shades or facets imbued on LBJ (Hoover’s obsession over Martin Luther King Jr. is the only pithy aspect) and despite a speedy narrative, none of the dramatization of the real events is dealt with a profundity.
Jay Roach's “All the Way” is not a traditional biopic of LBJ, but more a
study of American politics in the 1960s. On one hand, it reiterates the
historical perspective by showing us the President, who doesn’t give a damn
expect for the passing of Civil Rights bill; a President who doesn’t want to
fine-tune American South population’s prejudice and he wants to bring South out of its scarred past. On the other hand, Jay Roach and Robert Schenkkan takes us behind
the close doors to exhibit the conniving and threatening things the men in power
performs to realize their grandiose public declarations. ‘Politics is war’
declares & believes LBJ, who is as recalcitrant as a freedom fighter and
also engages in cajolery like a salesman. Some of the conversations (based on
what’s said to be real transcripts) are so raw, arcane and racist that we get
the slice-of-real-politics. It is well known that how Civil Rights Act of 1964
is a watershed moment in American race relations, but the drama surrounding the
Act also suggests how the American political arena was gradually shifting into
a more cunning phase. However, despite such scattered nuances, it is the stagey
limitations of the narrative that halts it from being diffused with more depth.
The film definitely works as a brief, shrewd history lesson for the
uninitiated, while others may feel something is lacking in its presentation.
An emotionally resonant tone is set in the opening scene as
the camera ambles past JFK’s blood soaked backseat of the limousine, sad faces
in the hospital corridor to rest on a small room, occupied by weary Lyndon
Johnson and his wife Lady Bird (Melissa Leo). The next few scenes convey how
LBJ didn’t want to be perceived as ‘accidental president’ and was so dedicated
to dismiss any such description by immediately announcing the Kennedy’s Civil
Rights Bill. Writer Schenkken tidily punctuates each phase of Lyndon’s
political journey between November 1963 and November 1964 through a
confidential voice-over [“It’s only a matter of time before they haul me up
into the light where their knives gleam” says LBJ], giving us a bearing of what
kind of a man he is and where does he come from. Schenkken’s LBJ is neither a
cynical politician nor a heroic as history book teaches us. The use of some of
the very crude sexist remarks by LBJ to coax an ideal historical figure like
Martin Luther King Jr. humorously notes on how political compromises are attained
through ribald talks than well-meaning nudges.
Like “Lincoln” the main story-line concerns the procedural,
which makes President Johnson to lock horns with his mentor Senator Richard
Russell (Frank Langella) – whom he calls Uncle Dick (Senator Russell previously
defeated the passing of Civil Rights Bill when President Harry Truman made an
attempt). Johnson, the southern man, is well aware that the passing of the bill
will make Southern Democrats to bolt away from him in the 1964 Presidential
elections. Johnson wants the African-American votes and also knows that the
passing of the bill is the ‘right thing’ to do. Mr. King knows Johnson could
only deliver the bill as his Republican Party opposer Senator Barry Goldwater
is not a supporter of civil rights. What follow is Johnson’s stern, calculative
political strategies to win over the volatile situation and rein in the
polarized Congress. Nevertheless, the overview of political power scattered in
the film brings to mind the more intricate present political structure (and Mr.
Goldwater’s campaign proclamations could be related with Mr. Donald Trump’s).
There isn’t much juicy material for the other historical
characters involved in the narrative, even though the actors transcend the
limited room given to them. Anthony Mackie and Melissa Leo turns out a
dignified performance, while the impeccable acting comes from Langella as
Russell and Stephen Root as J. Edgar Hoover. The way Russell decries on Civil
Rights bill while a black man shines on his shoes and the manner with which
Hoover showcases his hypocrisy through the loathsome investigation of Martin
Luther King makes up for the fascinating parts of the narrative, which
otherwise reiterates history through a shallow perspective. The vital problem
for me is the small time allocated to the arguments presented in Congress
against and for the Civil Rights Act. The 1964 Democratic National Convention
is also pieced only through archival footage. As I mentioned earlier, what
transcends the limited quality one could expect from TV movie based on a stage
play is Cranston’s steely presence. As he did in Jay Roach’s previous venture
“Trumbo”, the renowned on-screen Meth-King once again makes a nuanced interior
journey.
Trailer
“All the Way” (132 minutes) deserves praise for zeroing-in
on some of the still at-large disquiet in the American political stage. The
generalist overview makes the film less emotionally involving, although Bryan
Cranston as LBJ is superb throughout.
★★★½
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