The Political Inquirer

Last night I had the pleasure of watching the first episode of HBO’s new miniseries, John Adams. I have learned a lot about John Adams over the past few years and after learning they were making a miniseries based on David McCullough’s biography of Adams, I highly anticipated its release.

I first read the book on John Adams by David McCullough in 2005. It was an excellent biography in my opinion, and quite moving. The book almost becomes a mini-biography on Thomas Jefferson since his life is so intertwined with the Adams’s life after the Declaration of Independence was signed. As a lover of history, I found the Adams-Jefferson relationship and political adventures to be not only entertaining, but thoughtful and intelligent as well as full of drama. After discovering in January that a miniseries on the book was being released, I became quite enthusiastic about it.

(Possible Spoilers Follow)

The miniseries is divided into seven parts and I was able to watch the first episode on HBO last night. The tale begins in Boston in 1770 with the Boston Massacre and Adams’s subsequent defense of the British soldiers. Paul Giamatti’s character is played perfectly, capturing the emotion of Adams that is conveyed through the pages of McCullough’s book. As Boston’s people turns against Adams for defending the “evil soldiers”, Adams is resolute in his belief that if the evidence shows the men are innocent, then they require a jury and proper legal counsel.

Paul Giamatti does such a superb job playing Adams that it sort of shocked me. Not only does he look the part to a large degree, but he puts on a show so convincing while in the courtroom arguing for the soldiers that I almost could not believe it. McCullough’s book is very detailed, but does not go into any amount of specifics about Adams and his arguing at the bar.

Probably the most interesting part of the first episode, though, was how involved Samuel Adams was. He and his “Sons of Liberty” group are opposed to Adams, almost as the antagonist, for most of the movie. Sam Adams was far more radical than John in his desire for independence–at one point all in the courtroom say “God Save the King”, but the camera switches to Sam Adams and you notice he refuses to open his mouth. At several points there is a little bit of conflict between Sam and John, largely on whether rebellion to the King of England should be embraced so openly. By the end of the first episode, thought, John Adams appears largely convinced that separation will be necessary and starts to resolve his conflict with his cousin. Samuel Adams even nominates John to go off to the First Continental Congress, believing he would be the best person for the job.

Overall, the production was magnificent. The musical score was very well done (maybe a tad over the top), and the camera quality and directing were also done well. I was impressed with what HBO did with David McCullough’s book. It was not what I was expecting–they surpassed my expectations.

I will be seeing the second episode this week and I believe the third one on Sunday, I’ll share my thoughts on those as well.

(March 19 – I touched on the second episode here.)