Game Change (2012/HBO Blu-ray w/DVD)
Picture: B/C+ Sound: B/C+ Extras: C Cable Telefilm: B
The 2008
U.S. Election was one for the books and despite the myth than Vice Presidents
do not matter, it did more than ever when the Republican John McCain campaign
failed to really check on Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s credentials to be a
Vice President and landed her out of desperation; a move that would prove
politically fatal. Mark Halperin and
John Heilemann wrote a book all about it, but the recent 2012 cable TV movie Game Change (directed by Jay Roach) especially
focuses on the section about how Palin was ineptly picked to be the VP
candidate and how out of control the behind-the-scenes shenanigans really
became.
McCain (a
fine performance by Ed Harris) lands up being the head of the Republican ticket
despite so many more extreme choices that seem to be more popular with voters
in that party. Scott Schmidt (a really
fine performance from Woody Harrelson) is running the campaign and in what might
be the biggest case of buyer’s remorse in political history, picks Palin (a
dead-on Julianne Moore, having to compete with the real thing and Tina Fey’s
immortal send-ups; we even have Moore watching clips of Fey as the same
character. Talk about post-modern!)
thinking Barack Obama left votes behind by passing over Hillary Clinton, a
fresh out-of-nowhere choice would help and out of desperation.
I knew
the situation was bad and things had become idiotic when Palin in real life
kept making basic Political Science 101 error after error with the media, her
comments, her lack of comments, her smarty remarks and so much more, knowing
she was operating without consulting anyone.
She started as a surprised person and landed up becoming a dictator who
got in everybody’s face about her sudden greatness, save McCain, where she was
careful to cross the line into her own personal empty madness.
That she
was even run is one of the sadden, shakiest moments in U.S. political history,
but many like her (ultra Right Wing people saying the most idiotic things to
court support, as if to celebrate total ignorance, she really was this
ignorant, as we suspected all along) have been elected and voted out since,
saying something sad about this country no film has yet to address.
After
watching for only a few minutes, this becomes very engaging and has a
compelling sense of pure honesty that only someone very, very deep in denial
could deny. Moore plays Palin with as much dignity (maybe
too much?) as she deserves and enough to make the character real in some of her
best work in years. Those who lived it
might find this too painful and/or repetitive at times to watch, but I felt
like I was watching a new side of things and for that reason, Game Change was worth seeing all the way
through.
The 1080p
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer is smooth and clean throughout
for the most part with very little trouble, decent color and detail and depth
that are better than more than a few theatrical releases we have seen on Blu-ray
of late. There is money on the screen
and this is nicely shot, while the anamorphically enhanced DVD version is passable,
but softer and not as engaging visually.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is not towards the front speakers as
I expected with a good soundfield throughout and warm, rich reproduction and
good mixing throughout. The lossy Dolby
Digital 5.1 on the DVD is much weaker and thinner by comparison.
Extras
include Digital Copy for PC, PC portable and iTunes-based machines, while the
discs add two featurettes: Creating A
Candidate and Game Change: The
Phenomenon.
- Nicholas Sheffo
