Wonderful character development!

hyped garbage

Best movie ever!

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

While Lyndon Johnson's presidency was marred by his disastrous Vietnam policy, he was one of our most significant and important presidents in terms of social justice, passing laws that fought racism and pushed against poverty.In All the Way's eagerness to show the good of Johnson, it sometimes pushes a little too far. Johnson is portrayed here as a sort of crude angel. Sure, he holds meetings from the toilet, but he single-handedly pushes through a civil rights bill!I don't know much about the history of the civil rights bill, but I do know that politics is a vast, messy business that involves a lot of people and that even the noblest of politicians are still consumed with deal making and positioning and power. For me, this makes the LBJ portrayed in the movie a too simplistic. I am more interested with flawed humans whose angels sometimes beat down their demons to earthly saints.In spite of my objections, though, this is a very entertaining, involving movie. Its main selling point is Bryan Cranston's amazing portrayal of LBJ. Cranston's LBJ is shrewd, calculating, noble, and briefly angsty. Cranston creates as much complexity as is possible within a role written with a lack of nuance.The other performances are also quite solid, particularly Melissa Leo as the sweet but steel-spined Ladybird and Frank Langella as LBJ's mentor and occasional foe. Anthony Mackie plays a thoughtful MLK, but there is a slightness, both physical and oratorical, that is disappointing. While I would have liked more complexity, this is a very entertaining movie that is well worth watching.

Far removed from his roles on "Malcolm in the Middle" and "Breaking Bad", Bryan Cranston plays Lyndon Johnson during his first year in office. Having taken the reins after the Kennedy assassination, Johnson made a strong effort to get the Civil Rights Act passed. "All the Way" - based on Robert Schenkkan's play - depicts the 36th president as a folksy type who sees that the time has come to do the right thing (ironically, it was around this time that he escalated the Vietnam War).Cranston does a fine job in the role, as does Melissa Leo as Lady Bird, and the rest of the cast as other political figures of the era. One important things that the movie makes clear is that LBJ faced a lot of opposition from the southern Democrats, who felt that he as a southern Democrat was betraying the party. Nevertheless, he pushed through the bill, knowing full well that it would cost his party the south. Also noted in the movie is the FBI's wiretapping of Martin Luther King Jr.The recent political-themed movies that Jay Roach has directed mark a sharp turn from the Austin Powers and "Meet the Parents" trilogies. And he's done a great job with this one. Everyone should see it.

There's no doubt that there are lots of strong performances in this movie: Cranston as LBJ, Leo as Lady Bird, Whitford as HHH, and Langella as "Uncle Dick" Russell. But you can tell this movie was based on a play, because, try as they might to infuse this movie with any action and excitement, the film is mostly a bore, and I found myself nearly dozing off multiple times. And maybe their portrayal of the sleaze of politics also bothered me, most notably with Humphrey coming up to MLK at the Democratic convention and bubbling over with enthusiasm about a "great deal" they reached with him when HHH knew it was a terrible deal. Finally, while Anthony Mackie is fine as MLK, he physically looks nothing like him, and since they made an effort to have so many other characters look like their real-life counterparts, Mackie's appearance stood out like a sore thumb.

Dear movie lovers This was an extraordinary movie. I am an enthusiast of American culture and All the way granted me another great opportunity to take a glimpse into what makes the USA great, its politics! Bryan Cranston all the way! Cranston's accent in the voice over (verbal stream of consciousness/internal monologue) was very realistic, and to my knowledge accurate. There was never a moment that I didn't take my eyes off the screen. How greatness is portrayed in this film inspires action. The cinematography was done brilliantly, to the extent where I thought that the original material was incorporated. However, Mackie did a great job I enjoyed David Oyelowo's performance in Selma more. Warm regards