Game Change
Synopsis
Politics would never be the same.
Based on the book by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, Game Change focuses on the Republican run of the 2008 Presidential election, when candidate John McCain picks a relative unknown, Alaskan governor Sarah Palin, to be his running mate. As the campaign kicks into high gear, her lack of experience, in both political and media savvy, becomes a drain upon McCain and his strategists. Directed by Jay Roach, who previously directed the HBO film Recount and the Austin Powers movies, Game Change premiered on HBO on March 10th, 2012.
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HBO have a good track record of producing political drama. The TV movie, Recount, about the Florida electoral recounts during the 2000 elections was gripping television so I was intrigued to see how they would tackle the McCain-Palin campaign of 2008. Sadly, Game Change can’t match their earlier efforts with some of the problems coming from the film’s execution and some from the audience’s prior knowledge.
It is a handsomely produced film with strong performances across the board and a clever blending of fact and fiction. Julianne Moore’s uncanny portrayal of Pailin is naturally getting the headlines but it is Woody Harrelson as the campaign strategist that really steals the film. My issues with the film are that Palin is…
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American politics is a crazy business. At the moment, you can barely make it through the day without hearing that one of the two leading candidates for the presidency of the free World thinks we should be able to open the windows on aeroplanes or that a candidate for the US Senate thinks that pregnancies that occur as a result of a rape are an “act of God”. In most forward-thinking countries, such people would be laughed out of town before they even had a chance to inflict untold damage and misery on the populace. Yet, in the United States both of these men – and many more like them – look set to take the reins of power…
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“Oh my God, what have we done?”
Luckily, Game change, a story of an Alaskan senator’s meteoric rise and fall, shies away from an easy path of voyeurism or ridicule. Its portrayal of Sarah Palin as someone well-intentioned but over her head (and a half) is humane, at times almost touching – although McCain came across as too saintly for my liking.
It’s interesting to realize this HBO movie was directed by Jay Roach, whose other works – Meet the parents, Austin Powers, and the recent The campaign – exhibit very little of the fairness and warmth on display here. Game change seems much better than Roach’s theatrical releases, even though he can be caught aping Sorkin and the hypercleverness…
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It's probably fair to say I've only had a passing interest in US politics in recent years and am largely uninformed of the intricacies of presidential campaigns. Obviously, the historic dimension of the 2008 appointment of Barack Obama wasn't lost on me and I do recall the furore surrounding Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running partner - Governor Sarah Palin.
However, most of my insight was gleaned from the popular spoof of her various faux pais by comedian Tina Fey on TV show 'Saturday Night Live' which rather pleasingly find their way into this film. This comedic element hints at the more personable and less stuffy approach director Jay Roach and HBO have taken with the material.
Based on a…
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No surprise here that Palin is/was a moron but wow this really gets into it. Julianne Moore completely and perfectly transformed into Palin, and bravo to Woody Harrelson, too, what a performance!
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Brilliant HBO film on a fairly well-known event, the republican campaign of 2008 and the choosing of Sarah Palin as VP candidate.
And what a great cast. It's certainly not just Julianne Moore's film although she is absolutely great, Ed Harris also manages to provide a very sympathetic portrait of John McCain. But I'm pretty sure that it is Woody Harrelson as political adviser Steve Schmidt who gives the stand-out performance.Most of us can remember Palin's screw-ups from four years back, if not, believe me they are all repeated and elaborated on here. It will be made quite clear in the film that she was the wrong choice, it's probably even quite an enigma that she had become Governor…
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I don't follow politics much. If anything depicted in this film is true or even close to the truth it's 1 terrifying world out there. The film was able to keep me entertained and Jay Roach's direction of Game Change was fine. I liked Julianne Moore in this. Also Ed Harris and Woody Harrelson put in solid performances. It's not a film I see myself revisit but it's been interesting to have at least seen it.
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"Regisseur Jay Roach (ja, die van de ‘Austin Powers’ films) zet een goede mix neer van uitstekend acteerwerk, dramatische spanning en originele tv-beelden van allerlei nieuwszenders. De film staat en valt natuurlijk met de vertolking van Sarah Palin, hier fantastisch gespeeld door Julianne Moore. Dat Moore een fenomenale actrice is, moge duidelijk zijn met vier Oscar nominaties (helaas zonder winst) en zes Golden Globe nominaties, waarvan ze er één verzilverde… voor ‘Game Change’. Ze weet de manieren, gebaren én het accent vlekkeloos van Palin over te nemen. Maar ook de mensen die de make-up en kleding hebben verzorgd, verdienen een groot compliment. Weg is de roodharige, bleke en besproette actrice, ze lijkt zo op Palin dat je soms goed moet kijken of het niet stiekem de ‘echte’ is, die hier wordt opgevoerd."
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A straight-forward account of the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that led to John McCain picking Sarah Palin as his running mate in the '08 election. Very little in the movie surprises, as much of what's on screen is either easily remembered or easily assumed. Ed Harris doesn't make much of an impression as McCain, but Julianne Moore brings more to the Palin part than just a dead-on-accent. Woody Harrelson plays Steve Schmidt, the McCain strategist who was largely responsible for picking Palin as the VP candidate, and it's fun to see the subtle changes in his face when he begins to realize he's created a political monster.
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First off, I could not believe how much Julianne Moore looked like Sarah Palin. I guess that’s what you get with a professional makeup artist and stylist. She also had the accent and mannerisms down pat too though. Ed Harris does a great job as McCain but doesn’t look a lot like him, because Moore was so convincing as Palin, Harris as McCain broke the immersion. This is an entertaining and interesting insider perspective which was based off of interviews with over 300 people involved with the presidential campaigns.
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It should be noted that my perspective is skewed as a non-American viewer. I really enjoyed this as a dramatic piece and I feel the performances were excellent. The story seemed to be told impartially and it's always great to see accurate biographic films - which seems to be a dying breed.
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Fascinating but then again, I am a sucker for these types of movies. A bit long but I was never bored. Full of interesting performances and a surprising amount of pathos.
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Great movie, obviously it's fueled by my interest in american politics, it manages to show a human side to the process, while at the same time feeding the 'omg Sarah Palin is a disgrace' feeling that most lefties get. Julianne Moore is great, she does an amazing job of showing the roller coaster of emotions that Palin went through, from being pulled from anonymity to being ridiculed in national tv.
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Game Change is probably not a fantastic flick - but it played straight into my personal politics and I loved it. It really showed us how very smart people can make very dumb decisions.
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This is a movie that is very easy to watch because it feels so light. It doesn't villainize but it does blame the loss of the election on very simple points, all of which are on Palin's head. I wish the movie had a lot more details about all aspects of the campaign not just the relationship between Palin, the staff and the media. Also the movie is missing any sort of voice. There is no satire or judgement about the election process, even in key scenes like when Palin is getting a makeover montage. It's very flat about any sort of state of American politics which makes this a fleeting film even while watching it.