From HBO and director Tom Hooper comes the DVD release of the miniseries John Adams adapted from the bestselling biography by David McCullough.

This three-disc, seven-part miniseries (running 501 minutes) is an extremely detailed, complex examination of our second President John Adams (Paul Giamatti), who is generally a lesser known and examined founding father, as well as an examination of the incredible time he lived in. 

The series begins in Massachusetts just prior to the start of the American Revolution.  Adams is a well-respected attorney with a devoted wife Abigail (Laura Linney) and three young sons and a daughter.  With tensions rising between Britain and its colonies in New England due to unfair taxation and other horrible foreign policies of Britain, an incident occurs between British soldiers and a mob of colonials.  The mob instigated the soldiers until they finally fired into the mob killing many.

The colonials, especially Adams’ cousin Samuel Adams (Danny Huston), wanted this incident to incite the revolution they all hoped for and tried to have the soldiers convicted and hanged even though the soldiers were obviously just defending their lives.  Adams ends up taking the defense for the soldiers to the dismay of his fellow colonials and through a principled and strict law-abiding defense, he wins the case. 

This sets the tone for the man’s life, both political and personal.  Adams is a just and principled man who believes in the law, justice, honor and balance over all else.  He is a stubborn man who has strong opinions on just about everything.  This helps him rise quickly in this newly forming government of what is becoming America but also hurts him later on when politics becomes a beast in itself (as we all know it is today).

His stubbornness also hurts him at home with his family at times.  He is stalwart in dealing with his children to the point where he almost pushes all of them away from him.  And after taking a critical assignment overseas to secure French assistance for the revolution and Dutch money, he grows apart from his children and from Abagail.  Missing Abagail dearly, he sends for her and they are never apart again.  But their time together overseas drives the children even further away, with the exception of John Quincy Adams (who eventually becomes our sixth President) who is schooled overseas and spends some time around his father.

The series begins with the cusp of revolution, through the war (with Adams overseas for most of it), through Adams turn as Vice President under George Washington (David Morse), through his own presidency, and even up to the presidency of his son (whom he lived to see become President).          

CRITIQUE

John Adams is an intensely engaging, intellectually stimulating and genuinely exciting miniseries that vividly takes you behind the scenes of one of the most interesting and exciting times in history.  The performances are just incredible, the script is thought-provoking, the production values are impeccable and the direction is remarkable. 

This is a sprawling epic that should be required viewing for high school students (who may learn about these events and people through textbooks but this experience makes you actually feel what it was like), history buffs, and anyone at all interested in the birth of our nation.

Even though the miniseries focuses a lot of time on dialogue heavy scenes that dive into the motivations of the characters (there is hardly any war scenes and most of the big events of this time are just discussed not actually scene), there is still constant tension and excitement.  Some may claim this is boring but they are dead wrong. 

Engaging your intellectual side is much more rewarding than watching some ridiculous CGI action-fest and John Adams is constantly challenging and demanding (in much the same way as my favorite TV show The Wire).  Admittedly, there are a few slow spots (especially when he is overseas during the Revolution) but not many, which is something considering the 501 minute runtime. 

The miniseries is based of David McCullough’s brilliant biography and this series does it justice.  The focus is on Adams motivations and personal relationships so it would seem like a difficult adaptation but the script by Kirk Ellis is outstanding.  The script is focused on the details, as much detail as possible in every scene which is always the mark of great film and television work.  And with this glorious cast, the perfect production values, and the competent direction, everything comes alive so vividly.

You truly feel like you are experiencing life as it was at the time and that you are really getting to know the men behind these legends.  Tom Hooper does a commendable job in directing this epic, never letting the camera rest and be complacent.  He does some interesting things throughout to keep the series on edge and the tension high. 

And the actors behind these men and women are what make this series such a masterpiece.  Paul Giamatti may seem like an odd choice to play a founding father but now I can think of no other that could have played this character.  Much like his Sideways character, Adams is not an easy character to like and Giamatti does not shy from this.

He displays his stubbornness and egotism with vigor and determination not afraid of letting his character be petty and ugly.  Giamatti’s natural scowl and opinionated stare work beautifully here, making Adams a memorable, funny, ridiculous, harsh, warm, and (most of all) human character.  He is guaranteed an Emmy and Golden Globe nomination.

As is the wonderful Laura Linney who inhabits Abagail with wit, wisdom and strength.  Abagail is a true partner for Adams, she is the one he constantly bounced his thoughts and ideas off and she was never afraid to tell him where to stick it.  She was a modern woman in almost every sense except for the times she lived in and Linney is just perfect in the role.  She is not only guaranteed the nominations but I’ll say here and now she will win.  It is that fine and memorable a performance.

And the supporting players, especially those playing the founding fathers, are so exceptionally great you will come to think of these men from history only as these actors who portrayed them.  The best of them all is Stephen Dillane as Thomas Jefferson.  Jefferson and Adams had a tumultuous relationship that begun and ended in friendship but had some seriously rocky times throughout.

Dillane has the biggest part besides Giamatti and Linney in the miniseries and he is astonishing.  He brings such intelligence, depth and warmth to the character that I was hoping they would do another miniseries after this one about Jefferson with Dillane in the role.  His back-and-forth with Giamatti is breathtakingly engaging.  It is a subtle, subdued performance which is almost always overlooked for the flashier role but it is by far the strongest.

At the other end of the spectrum (the flashy role) is Tom Wilkinson as Benjamin Franklin who plays Franklin as a wild, crazy old man controlled by his own passions and interests above anything else.  It is a very funny and engaging performance and is easily seen as the award-worthy supporting role (but Dillane is better).

The surprise performance though is from David Morse as George Washington.  I haven’t liked Morse in much since way back in The Indian Runner and The Crossing Guard but he is exceptional here.  He is so convincing as Washington you almost gasp.

Truly, there are so many award-worthy performances here it is staggering.  Along with these three incredible supporting performances, there is very strong work from Sarah Polley as Adams’ daughter, Danny Huston as Samuel Adams, Rufus Sewell as Alexander Hamilton, and Justin Theroux as John Hancock.  There is not a weak link in the entire cast.  

THE VIDEO

The transfer (16:9) looks marvelous.  Every gritty frame is captured in perfect detail.  I didn’t notice any clarity issues nor any unintended grain (as this is a very rough and dark miniseries).  

THE AUDIO

John Adams is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and the presentation is exceptional.  The dialogue comes across crystal clear and the surround is perfectly detailed and active in the right spots.  Not a whole lot of action to kick the subwoofer into action but the audio is fantastic.

THE EXTRAS

There are two featurettes included in the set.  The first is an outstanding documentary on author David McCullough whose best selling biography is what this series is adapted from. It is called David McCullough: Painting with Words and runs about an hour.  It is an incredibly informative and engaging in-depth look at the author and his works.  It is a definite must-see.

The second featurette is the Making of John Adams which is a fairly standard making-of with interviews with cast and crew on their experiences in bringing these famous characters to life and some behind-the-scenes action.  It’s an average piece only for diehards.

There is also an extra called Facts are Stubborn Things which are facts that pop up throughout each episode if you turn it on giving extra information on the history involved.  I found it just takes away from the experience of the miniseries and is best left off.

FINAL THOUGHTS

John Adams is a brilliant masterpiece to be treasured.  Filled with incredible, award-worthy performances, a great script, impeccable production values and masterful direction, the series is intelligent, though-provoking and exciting.  The transfer and audio are outstanding and the extras are adequate.  This is a must own.