A film about history especially in politics maybe has less viewer than other genres, but this one proves that it can be packed as an interesting one. The film entitled All the Way is about the struggle of Lyndon Johnson who becomes the President of the United States of America after the assassination of John F. Kennedy and he fights to bring the Civil Rights Act which has been rejected by his own political party. This idea to bring an equality for all races comes from John F. Kennedy and in that time, Lyndon is the vice president. Now it is his turn to pass the Civil Rights Act. This movie is adapted from Robert Schenkkan’s Tony Award-winning play about the early days of Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency.
- Genre : Drama
- Directed By : Jay Roach
- Written By : Robert Schenkkan
- In Theaters : May 23, 2016 Limited
- On DVD : Sep 6, 2016
- Runtime : 132 minutes
Starting with the mysterious shot, John F. Kennedy is killed, and his vice president, Lyndon Johnson is appointed to be the “accidental” president of US. Johnson wants to win the next president election by inviting senators to have an affiliation with him. He also invites the African-American people to give their votes and for the feedback they want Civil Rights Act can be passed in the government. The idea of Civil Rights Act comes from John F. Kennedy. Lyndon wants to continue what they have started. But not all the people especially senators agree with that concept to give the same opportunity to African-American people with American people. They claim that African-American people do not fit to be treated as common citizen. That rejection sadly comes from Lyndon’s party itself. He realizes that it is difficult to pass Civil Rights bill. In the other side, African-American people who is led by Martin Luther King give a demonstration and movement to the government. They want Civil Rights Act can be passed soon. Finally, Lyndon gets his victory in the election and Civil Rights Act is passed.
This movie is the adaptation of a play in Brodway and give Bryan Cranston, the actor of Lyndon Johnson winning a Tony award. Bryan Cranston is one of the great actors in the world. He gives his best performance as Lyndon Johnson. Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ), as people know, he is a unique president. He does a lot of swearing, but that makes this movie also not that boring as a political movie. This movie takes a focus LBJ’s characters. So the requirement to cast LBJ is also high. This movie is different with a movie entitled “Selma”. If in Selma, the plot is more from Martin Luther King perspective. Overall, Bryan Cranston is doing great for the character of Lyndon B. Johnson.
Visualizing a story from a play into a movie is not something easy. Jim Denault as the cinematographer in this movie does his role for that complex camera work. The cinematography also includes high technique of camera movement. But all of the stuff in the movie is adapted with that time. So we can see the scene while LBJ is watching news from “black and white” TV, and then the recorder if LBJ wants to record his conversation with someone by phone, and so on. HBO is known as a qualified channel, and All the Way is one of its best production.
The music is high qualified. Mostly can be heard in a sad situation. It uses instruments like in orchestra music. The lighting is more in a gloomy tone, because the situation suits in that tone. The situation here is represented with a drama and tragedy in a politic war. So the gloomy tone is suitable for presenting the situation of that era. Overall, the aspect of a good cinematography is mostly fulfill in this movie.
Actually this movie is based on a history of a US former president named Lyndon Johnson. Robert Schenkkan writes it into a play and it is showed in Brodway. The symbolism in this movie can be seen by the title itself. “All the Way” is a slogan by Lyndon B. Johnson that strengthen him to bring an equality between black and white people. The use of term “black” is also forbidden because of his kindness. This movie also represents how people struggling to gain poverty, how the African-American people have to survive in a discriminating life such as in US. They use a long march for representing their sufferings for being discriminated by the white people on that day.
What this movie trying to tell us is that there is also a morality in politics and power. Being a leader of the great country especially the United States of America is a big deal. Lyndon has to lose his friend because having a different idea for creating a policy. Lyndon also puts his family in danger. Some people tend to take everything for their own importance because politics is such a black hole. If we do not capable to handle its gravity then we can be trapped into that hole. Bryan Cranston deserve to receive that Tony award.
There are several point review for All the Way. Based on experts in film review, Rotten Tomatoes gives 88.7%, Metacritic 78%, and Roger Ebert gives 3.5/4. And in my opinion, I give this movie 8.3. It is really suitable for people who try to know more about politics of USA, and how the great history is created. The movie contains a heavy issue but the production house pack the plot with a simple and rich movie. But be careful, mostly some production house gives his perspective on its own movie. So do not pay attention only from one side of view. You can also watch Selma as the comparison of All the Way. In the end, I do recommend you to watch this movie.