All the Way (2016)

The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.That's certainly a true statement about LBJ, portrayed by Bryan Cranston in "All the Way" from 2016. HBO adapted this from a play for which Cranston won a Tony Award.Due to his disastrous handling of the Vietnam War, Johnson isn't highly regarded today at least by baby boomers. And yet Medicare, Medicaid, environmental protection, The 1964 Civil Rights Act, and a year later, giving blacks the right to vote, plus his War on Poverty -- all occurred during his presidency.This film covers Johnson's presidency from the time of the assassination and stops before the end of his term in 1969.Johnson came in at a time of incredible turmoil in this country - and it was interesting to watch and realize that some of the same issues of discrimination still exist - maybe a tad more subtly, but they're still there.Then there was the fear that if Goldwater was elected, he'd drop a nuclear bomb. This is something we still worry about.A very seasoned and excellent politician, Johnson wasted no time twisting people until blood came out of them to support him. When three men, one black, and two Jews, were killed in Mississippi while attempting to register blacks to vote, Johnson called the chief of police to ask about it. The Chief of Police claimed the men were arrested for speeding (lie 1) and released at 10 p.m. (lie 2). Johnson says wow, he'd really like an investigation and he would HATE to have to send the Federal marshalls. Or the FBI. The chief of police, of course, panicked.Johnson fought with a man he considered to be his surrogate father, southern Senator Richard Russell (Frank Langella), over civil rights and actually winds up turning the entire south Republican after eons of voting Democrat. Georgia was going to leave the democratic convention because the Freedom Democrats (blacks) wanted to be part of the vote for the nomination, and if Georgia goes, the rest of the south goes too. Johnson goes ballistic and screams to the chief delegate: "You need to make up your mind once-and-for-all, what kind of Christian you are? Are you a once-a-week fella or do you hold the word in your heart? What kind of politician are ya? Are you just out for yourself or do you want to make a better life for all the people in Georgia? What kind of man are ya? You've got the balls to do what you know is right, or do you just slink away?" Georgia doesn't leave.Bryan Cranston is positively brilliant as LBJ, tough, uncompromising, sometimes nasty, compassionate but very political. The makeup work on some of the actors is astonishing: Bradley Whitford as Humphrey, Melissa Leo as Lady Bird (from a distance she looks exactly like her), Steven Root as Hoover, and Ray Wise as Everett Dirksen. Anthony Mackie was very good as Martin Luther King but lightweight for the role and looked too young, though I don't think he was. The acting was top-notch, but it's Cranston's show, giving us a complex man, still suffering from his early poverty where he supported himself by picking grapes, still remembering the Mexican children he taught in Texas and the discrimination they faced, and determined to get his way at any cost. Johnson's favorite quote was from the Bible, Isaiah 1:18. "Come now, and let us reason together ..." Unfortunately, it wasn't all that possible then, and it isn't all that possible now. This is a must-see, especially for those who don't know much about that time in our country.

Lyndon Johnson becomes the President of the United States in the chaotic aftermath of John F. Kennedy's assassination and spends his first year in office fighting to pass the Civil Rights Act. A great biography starring Bryan Cranston as President? Hell yes this movie was really good and the makeup alongside the prosthetics were terrific especially on Cranston's character. All the Way does have it's flaws tho which is mostly the slow pacing but other than that this was a great movie with a powerful message, outstanding performances by the entire cast and it also has Steven Spielberg as an Executive Producer so yeah this movie is definitely worth your time. (7.3/10)

All the Way is a Bryan Cranston tour de force as Lyndon B Johnson ascending to the presidency on the back of JFK's assassination and looking at ways to leave his mark as President.Cranston is unrecognisable under the heavy make up, something not afforded to costar Anthony Mackie who plays Martin Luther King.The inspiration for this HBO film is Steve Spielberg's Lincoln as we look at the political machinations of the Dixiecrat Johnson in trying to succeed with the Civil Rights Bill yet at the same time dealing with the leading lights of the civil rights movement who are making waves in the Democratic Party and keeping in line the southern Democrats who have little in common with the fellow party members from the north.The film is a little ponderous even flabby. Despite the stellar cast and shining performances by Melissa Leo and Frank Langella, the character of LBJ is let down by the writing, his unpleasantness, his complexities are not fully explored. I felt the whole thing to be rather uninvolving.

Far removed from his roles on "Malcolm in the Middle" and "Breaking Bad", Bryan Cranston plays Lyndon Johnson during his first year in office. Having taken the reins after the Kennedy assassination, Johnson made a strong effort to get the Civil Rights Act passed. "All the Way" - based on Robert Schenkkan's play - depicts the 36th president as a folksy type who sees that the time has come to do the right thing (ironically, it was around this time that he escalated the Vietnam War).Cranston does a fine job in the role, as does Melissa Leo as Lady Bird, and the rest of the cast as other political figures of the era. One important things that the movie makes clear is that LBJ faced a lot of opposition from the southern Democrats, who felt that he as a southern Democrat was betraying the party. Nevertheless, he pushed through the bill, knowing full well that it would cost his party the south. Also noted in the movie is the FBI's wiretapping of Martin Luther King Jr.The recent political-themed movies that Jay Roach has directed mark a sharp turn from the Austin Powers and "Meet the Parents" trilogies. And he's done a great job with this one. Everyone should see it.