Americans aren’t big on accolades for the second person to do anything. We don’t remember the second Pope (it was St. Linus); the second man to invent the telephone (Elisha Gray), and never mind the silver medal winners in the Olympics. Gold medal winners get their faces on a Wheaties box. Silver medal winners, not so much.

Much to my chagrin, I would be forced to admit I felt much the same way about our second president: John Adams. Of the first three presidents, he always seemed to be the least interesting when I was a kid. As I got older and studied history more and more, I would find interest in the events during which he lived, but not the man himself.

Well, that’s at an end. Over the last six weeks, HBO has been airing a seven part mini series on the life of John Adams, drawn from historian David McCullough’s book by the same name. The conclusion aired last night, with Adams and Jefferson both dying on the same day, July 4, 1826, the last survivors of those who, fifty years before, signed the Declaration of Independence. So it seems appropriate to write a bit about it.

Paul Giamatti (American Splendor, Sideways) gives a powerful performance as Adams, in turns brilliant and passionate, vain and arrogant, tired and bitter. Laura Linney (Love Actually, Mystic River) gives an equally wonderful performance as his wife, Abagail who also served as his most valuable counselor and friend throughout fifty-one years of marriage.

Both the book and the mini-series draw heavily from the extraordinary correspondence maintained between John and Abagail over the course of their relationship. As fortune would have it, the letters have been preserved and are even available in collected form. It is a singular window into one of the collected minds of our founding fathers. It’s also a prime reason why, although it has its own inaccuracies, John Adams is one of the most accurate depictions of the early history of our country. I have always been fond of quoting a history professor of mine when he said, “Never get your history from a movie.” While the rule still holds, Hollywood could certainly do a lot worse than to use this mini-series as the new watermark of achievement.

John Adams won’t be for everyone. There’s very little in the way of battles or action. It is a biopic, and this particular subject wasn’t a general in an army. He actually spent most of the war in Europe. However, for anyone with a modicum of interest in early American history, it is highly recommended. If your view of Adams is changed as much as mine, that should be counted as a success.

-K

Reviews, TV