LBJ

1960. Lyndon Johnson is the most powerful man in the Senate and loses the nomination; John F. Kennedy, who wins it, makes him vice president. In that office Johnson is useless; the Kennedy circle shuts him out and Robert Kennedy openly despises him. On 22 November 1963 the motorcade in Dallas comes under fire and within hours Johnson is president. His first decision is to pass the civil rights bill Kennedy could not. Rob Reiner directs. Woody Harrelson plays Johnson, Jennifer Jason Leigh plays Lady Bird and Michael Stahl-David plays Robert Kennedy. The narrative runs in two times, alternating the day in Dallas with the three years leading to it. What interests the film is Johnson's position. A Texan, coarse, southern and a peasant in the eyes of the Kennedy circle; the narrative takes that humiliation on directly and ties the decision on civil rights to it. Woody Harrelson wears heavy prosthetics and that was the most criticised element; the make up gets in front of the performance. It was compared with other Johnson films made in the same period and did not do well commercially. Its limit is scope. Vietnam is not entered at all and the most contested part of Johnson's presidency stays outside the film. Who it is for: anyone interested in American political history and period biography. Who it is not for: the make up is distracting, the narrative is shallow, and the character's contradictions are not dug into.