Laura Linney Movie:

		List Price: $79.98		Label: HBO Salesrank: 691 Released: June 16, 2009
		Our Price: $34.75
		Used Price: $33.36
		MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated) Media: Blu-ray

Editorial Review:
John Adams is a sprawling HBO miniseries event that depicts the extraordinary life and times of one of Americas least understood, and most underestimated, founding fathers: the second President of the United States, John Adams. Starring Paul Giamatti (Sideways, Cinderella Man, HBOs American Spendor) in the title role and Laura Linney (You Can Count on Me, Kinsey) as Adams devoted wife Abigail, John Adams chronicles the extraordinary life journey of one of the primary shapers of our independence and government, whose legacy has often been eclipsed by more flamboyant contemporaries like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin. Set against the backdrop of a nations stormy birth, this sweeping miniseries is a moving love story, a gripping narrative, and a fascinating study of human nature. Above all, at a time when the nation is increasingly polarized politically, this story celebrates the shared values of liberty and freedom upon which this country was built.

Description of John Adams [Blu-ray]:
Based on David McCullough's bestselling biography, the HBO miniseries John Adams is the furthest thing from a starry-eyed look at America's founding fathers and the brutal path to independence. Adams (Paul Giamatti), second president of the United States, is portrayed as a skilled orator and principled attorney whose preference for justice over anti-English passions earns enemies. But he also gains the esteem of the first national government of the United States, i.e., the Continental Congress, which seeks non-firebrands capable of making a reasoned if powerful case for America's break from England's monarchy. The first thing one notices about John Adams' dramatizations of congress' proceedings, and the fervent pro-independence violence in the streets of Boston and elsewhere, is that America's roots don't look pretty or idealized here. Some horrendous things happen in the name of protest, driving Adams to push the cause of independence in a legitimate effort to get on with a revolutionary war under the command of George Washington. But the process isn't easy: not every one of the 13 colonies-turned-states is ready to incur the wrath of England, and behind-the-scenes negotiations prove as much a part of 18th century congressional sessions as they do today.

Besides this peek into a less-romanticized version of the past, John Adams is also a story of the man himself. Adams' frustration at being forgotten or overlooked at critical junctures of America's early development--sent abroad for years instead of helping to draft the U.S. constitution--is detailed. So is his dismay that the truth of what actually transpired leading to the signing of the Declaration of Independence has been slowly forgotten and replaced by a rosier myth. But above all, John Adams is the story of two key ties: Adams' 54-year marriage to Abigail Adams (Laura Linney), every bit her husband's intellectual equal and anchor, and his difficult, almost symbiotic relationship with Thomas Jefferson (Stephen Dillane) over decades. Giamatti, of course, has to carry much of the drama, and if he doesn't always seem quite believable in the series' first half, he becomes increasingly excellent at the point where an aging Adams becomes bitter over his place in history. Linney is marvelous, as is Dillane, Sarah Polley as daughter Nabby, Danny Huston as cousin Samuel Adams, and above all Tom Wilkinson as a complex but indispensable Ben Franklin. --Tom Keogh

John Adams [Blu-ray] Reviews:
Very enjoyable and educational!
2009-12-18 - We watched this on PBS and enjoyed it so much we wanted to own it!

Miniseries
2009-12-15 - This is a movie you should not miss. Great Acting, Great detail for the time period. An all around good story. If you like History this this is a real plus.

Great Hisorical Film
2009-12-15 - Our family enjoyed this miniseries. It gave my kids (8,12) a good feel for the early years of US history. The acting is terrific.

Founders
2009-12-12 - This is a sidenote for this series based on what I have learned on the founding fathers.

This series probably does the best it can of making the founding fathers human, and 200 years ago people weren't as "pretty" as people are now. So yes, Washington did hold a grudge against Jefferson and never spoke to him again. Hamilton really was an irrate person who I believe was shot and killed in a duel.

Lastly, if you really believe that the founding fathers had Christian intentions for forming a separate government, then you haven't learned the most important thing about how most decisions are made, which is "How did money effect this decision?"

Part of the founding fathers were not Christian, though they did go to church. Parts of them did believe that most people were idiots. Some were political scholars, which is rare today. They had good ideas about governments in general, and that's why they could develop a pretty effective government on the second try, basing most of their ideas on the Virginia plan, which was the work of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, the political scholars.

You really think this country is about some glorified version of history that you learn in elementary school? There are plenty of documents that disprove that, though if you have doubts then I suggest you become a Historian and do the work that they have done.

a liberal version of history
2009-12-10 - I read the book first. The film humiliates and distorts and belittles the founding fathers. It has to. It's HBO. HBO AND Tom Hanks, both far left liberals, and now they are in the process of making "1776". Can't wait to see what they do to the founding fathers in that. One of the goals of our new social justice policy is to foster disrespect in the American people for our forefathers and all that they did and stood for. John Adams is made to look ugly, friendless, idiotic, a mean and careless father (he did, in real life, actually beg Alexander Hamilton to give Charles a job), and Thomas Jefferson is made to look like a nut, and Alexander Hamilton an immature idiot. Just more left-wing Hollywood propaganda. Look for more of the same in the upcoming "1776".