All the Way Movie Review

All the Way (2016)

All the Way - Terrible name, but the movie isn't bad.

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Written by: Robert Schenkkan (teleplay, play)
Directed by: Jay Roach
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Bryan Cranston, Bradley Whitford, Melissa Leo, Frank Langella
Rated: TV-14

Plot:
Lyndon B. Johnson becomes president in the wake of the JFK assassination, and he passes the Civil Rights Act.

Verdict:
Amazing performances from everyone, though Cranston steals the show. It's a great history lesson and portrait of an oft ignored president. Cranston's performance is the reason to watch. He's uncanny, though the plot isn't quite as engrossing.
It depends.

Review:
This is based on the Tony award winning play that Cranston starred in. Does this guy ever stop working? He's in a couple of movies every year AND he has time to act in a play.

The movie opens with the aftermath of the JFK assassination. It doesn't spend long on this moment as it's ingrained in our minds from the actual event and numerous film depictions.
LBJ doesn't want to be remembered as the accidental president, though I don't think that's the catalyst for him to pass the civil rights bill as the movie suggests. I didn't verify the history, but there's nothing that seems blatantly false like The Imitation Game (2014), which claimed Britain was the reason the allies won World War II.

LBJ may be glib and crass, defecating with the door open while talking to an aide, but he wants to pass the civil rights bill despite the party opposition. Senators are trying to gut the bill or oppose it outright. LBJ is selling everyone on the bill while lying to get it passed. He promises King that he'll get the voting rights put into a future bill, but that he needs his support now. LBJ plays both sides, risking party support that could end his bid for the next presidential campaign.

This movie has a lot of poise, aided by an amazing cast. Cranston easily stands out, and even with prosthetics, I saw glimpses of Walter White. Someone scheming to make the plan work, but avoiding the honesty that would cause all of the spinning plates to fall. LBJ does come off a bit like a villain. Maybe in part to Cranston's previous role, but LBJ is fully occupied by his own interests. He's abrasive towards his family and colleagues. He tells his future VP that his support doesn't matter.

LBJ is threatened by his party. They plan to filibuster or remove their support of him over the bill. They criticize him for working with republicans, not believing his response that he has to give them 'something' to quiet them.

LBJ and staff scramble to get enough votes for the bill during the filibuster. They are successful.

For a man that bemoans being president and claims he'd rather live at his ranch, he worked hard to secure the presidential nomination. The movie touches upon the Mississippi riots and J. Edgar Hoover's monitoring of Martin Luther King Jr.