The Accidental Flip - The John Adams Experience

This evening started different than most for me. Upon arriving home, I stopped in the living room to exchange pleasantries with my Dad and admire the new carpet which had been laid earlier in the afternoon. While practicing my putting stroke on the makeshift 17th, OMB was practicing his customary technique of haphazardly surfing the satellite.

"What the hell is this?" I heard him say. Turning around, the first thing that caught my eye on the gorgeous 56" LCD was a naked dude being tarred and feathered much to the delight of a gathering mass. For one, this was my first experience viewing a high-definition group humiliation. Secondly, I'm not sure why both my Dad and I attentively watched as the black goo was dumped all over this poor guy's head and body.

Luckily, our curiosity kept us in tune long enough to see Paul Giamatti come on screen next, decrying the group's ambition. The program in question is the critically-hyped, HBO/Tom Hanks collaboration, John Adams.

My knowledge of the miniseries was there and my excitement to see it was peaked, but my ability to watch was in question. First of all, I had missed the first two parts, which played this past Sunday. Despite my friend and co-worker Jon's ravings of the series, the chances of me actually watching were doubtful. My desire to "jump in" on programming just isn't there. If I'm not there from the beginning, I'll either wait for the DVD to come out and try to catch up, or forgo viewing altogether.

When we turned it on tonight, I was able to watch about 1/2 of the first part and the entire second part. By no means am I a history buff, but I do take an interest to these types of entertainment - especially the ones that showcase our country's origins. The miniseries format caters well to my inability to sit and watch a thirty-thousand hour film, a la Gettysburg. I'll gladly watch a weekly, hour and a half incarnation on Sunday nights for a couple months. After all, what the hell goes on on Sunday nights this time of year anyway? Golf ends around 6, so I'm left twiddling.

The cast is extremely well put together, with a bunch of "Hey it's that guy!" and "What else has he been in?" but most of all, Giamatti puts together a whale of performance, as usual, and Laura Linney plays a better Abigail Adams than well, Abigail Adams.

One of Jon's favorite aspects of the program and admittedly mine too, are the inclusion of all of the historic figures and their interactions. It blows my mind how incredibly bright these guys were. Their rationales and foresights are incomparable. Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and others all debating and thinking together in one room make for ridiculously educational programming.

A surprise for me was John Adams' importance in the whole thing. I had no idea how instrumental he was in the fight for independence. The majority of Act II revolves around the framing of the Declaration of Independence. Adams enlists Thomas Jefferson to write the thing, and later, Adams, Franklin and Jefferson sit in what could've been the first American "writer's room" and nitpick over every word featured in the document.

A depressing matter that had been ignored in the apparently propaganda-laced PA Studies class in 7th grade was Pennsylvania's complete resistance to join the revolution. Some quaker by the last name of Dickinson (who I'm assuming is the bearer of Dickinson University) fought that til the bitter end. I had no idea what a sissy state I live in.

Regardless, the movie was a pleasant surprise. I sat engrossed for three hours, still in my work attire because I didn't want to miss a second of it. It's a behind the scenes look of the war that started it all.

I give it five powdered wigs.




*UPDATE*

Immediately after writing I went to IMDB and found that John Hancock was in the show, quite prominently actually. I guess I'm just anti-John Hancock. I still think that "Bond as John Hancock" thing was funny though.