More Serious And Violent Than Funny, The Interview Is Erratic, But (Surprisingly!) Not Bad!

The Good: Character, Much of the acting, Moments of concept
The Bad: Overbearing soundtrack, Repetitive
The Basics: The Interview oscillates between smartly critiquing U.S. the media and intelligence communities and body-type/sex jokes and a violent series of confrontations that are unpleasant to watch.


After all of the controversy and threats from hackers and SONY pulling the wide-release of The Interview (check out the commentary on SONY’s actions here!), SONY has released The Interview in limited release and on-line. Here in Michigan, the local theater Michael Moore subsidizes is one of the theaters that got it in. The controversy means that instead of art theaters showing films like Inherent Vice this Christmas, they are screening what would have been a mainstream comedy instead. And, for all the hype and leaked internal criticism, The Interview is a very mainstream, shock humor comedy film.

And The Interview can only benefit from the hype that surrounded it. It is a Seth Rogen and James Franco film that suffers from a number of issues familiar to fans of the duo’s work; it is short, James Franco is essentially playing a mild permutation of himself (Franco has “serious” and “complete stoner” characters and this is “serious, but with lines that seem familiar from his drug-addled characters), and the humor gets mixed with violence. And, like Observe And Report (reviewed here!) and Pineapple Express (reviewed here!), the violence becomes troubling and is so over-the-top that is sucks the humor that preceded it right out of the film. The thing is, despite the violence and the jokes that don't land, The Interview is surprisingly watchable and is nowhere near as bad as it seemed like it would have been!  Unlike Observe And Report, for example, The Interview does not leave the viewer with a gut-wrenching sense of being horrified and grossed out, despite some pretty over-the-top blood spurts in the film's latter half.

With North Korea getting nuclear missile capabilities, the world is abuzz with journalists pounding the fearmongering . . . except Dave Skylark’s entertainment news show. On the night of their 1000th episode, Dave Skylark and his best friend, executive producer, Aaron Rapaport, break news that Eminem is gay. On the night that North Korea gets full nuclear capability, after Rapaport has had a run in with a former classmate who does not respect his style of entertainment journalism, Skylark’s show breaks a Rob Lowe baldness story. When Dave Skylark learns that Skylark Tonight is Kim Jong-un’s favorite Western-produced show, Skylark and Rapaport decide to try to get an interview with Kim Jong-un. Rapaport is sent to a meeting in the middle of nowhere, China, where the North Korean liaison, Sook, gives the executive producer the terms of the interview. While the terms are not journalistically ethical, Skylark convinces Rapaport to agree to the terms to get the interview at all.

When the duo agrees to the interview terms, Agent Lacey of the CIA approaches Skylark and Rapaport about the opportunity their trip represents: they are wooed to kill Kim Jong-un. While Skylark wants to take the North Korean dictator out in a blaze of glory, Lacey and the CIA train Skylark to deliver a ricin poison handshake, which will kill the Supreme Leader after twenty-four hours. Unfortunately, the poison looks like gum and the North Korean inspectors consume it, leaving the CIA struggling to come up with a back-up plan. They send a drone with a back-up supply of poison . . . which Rapaport has to smuggle back into the room in his butt. When Skylark is greeted by Kim Jong-un, he discovers how Jong-un is basically just a fanboy and when they spend the day together, Skylark bonds with the dictator and has second thoughts about killing him. After Skylark witnesses Kim Jong-un’s temper, he has a change of heart and embraces the mission . . . though the poison is no longer available to the guys.

The reason The Interview is likely to benefit from the hype is that there is a whole audience of people who are likely to see the film based on the controversy alone. Fans of James Franco and Seth Rogen films have never had so much free publicity. For two of America’s biggest comedic box office draws, the publicity the hackers gave the film is more than enough to make up for the drop in revenue for the film appearing on so many fewer theater screens. Unfortunately, the internal criticisms of The Interview that were leaked as part of the hack are mostly accurate. More than the premise problems, The Interview suffers because it is billed as a comedy and it falls a bit short on that front.

At the outset of The Interview, the film is not very funny because it is establishing the premise and characters. In establishing the characters, The Interview works to make Rapaport serious and smart and the movie makes most of its social commentary there. Despite a pretty overtly hilarious interview with Eminem, much of The Interview is concerned with making social commentary before it degenerates into a bloodbath. As a result, the scenes with Seth Rogen’s Rapaport are a smart dose of realism in an otherwise absurd film premise.

The discontinuity gets worse and goes in a different direction at the hour mark. Despite ridiculous dialog about “pulling out,” The Interview turns disturbing when the poisoned military officer starts to die. Putting himself out of his misery as the ricin kills him, the officer blows off his own head and the shot is one that rivals the on-screen carnage of The Walking Dead. After Skylark commits to the film’s premise, having realized he has been played as a tool of Kim Jong-un, the film turns heavyhanded and, frequently, violent.

The issue here is that The Interview starts surprisingly smart, making a subversive and intelligent commentary on the problems with the American media. The culture is groomed to be stupid and ignorant, focusing on media infotainment instead of substantive journalism. The Interview sets out with that in mind and in its latter half it actually proposes the smartest way to combat Kim Jong-un; destroy his propaganda machine. But then The Interview becomes unhinged. The long sequence focusing on Rapaport sticking the drone’s package up his butt and the protracted bit wherein Rapaport and Sook hook up try desperately to recapture a sense of humor for the movie.

All that is undermined by the film’s final half hour. As the actual interview occurs, violence breaks out. This follows on Skylark realizing he has been lied to, which is an insulting and obvious sequence that overstates what is on screen. As Rapaport tries to hold the control room and the interviewers attempt to escape, The Interview degenerates into violence. Despite that, The Interview does what it sets out to do, which is entertain and while it might not be incredible, it is not the complete lemon it might have been made out to be.

The Interview is a triumph of performances for Randall Park and Lizzy Caplan. While the film is a Rogen/Franco vehicle, it is Park and Caplan who get the film’s most substantive moments as actors. Lizzy Caplan has been in a ton of movies and television works, but she has not had such a substantive role near the top of a cast list like in The Interview. Caplan is serious and completely credible as Agent Lacey, even if her part in The Interview starts out as a display of her cleavage (which is addressed in the film). Randall Park plays Kim Jong-un and he gives a performance that is anything but monolithic. Park presents Jong-un as a master of propaganda and, surprisingly, never really goofy.

Perhaps the funniest lingering aspect of The Interview is that Katy Perry is utilized as a weapon. Beyond that, The Interview is a half-boring, quarter-violent comedy that fails to land more often than it hits, but has an ambitious premise and concept that takes a one-line idea and makes it work better than expected.

For other films currently in theaters, please check out my reviews of:
To Write Love On Her Arms
The Voices
Love, Rosie
The Seventh Son
Song One
Match
Vice
American Sniper
Paddington
Inherent Vice
Selma
Still Alice
Predestination
The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies
Expelled
Annie
The Imitation Game
Birdman

5.5/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my Film Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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As Disappointing As I Anticipated, Tommy Boy Is Largely Laughless

The Good: Decent direction and editing
The Bad: Most of the jokes garner (at best) a smile, not an actual laugh, Nothing superlative on the acting front, Very obvious plot/character progression.
The Basics: Tommy Boy is unfortunately repetitive and lowbrow, making for an unsatisfying (though fairly well-directed) film.


Nothing pounds home the differences between my wife and I than when she recommends a film to me that I have pointedly avoided my entire life. When I was in high school and watching cerebral films, many of my peers were raving about Tommy Boy and I just rolled my eyes. So, when my wife tonight said she was in the mood for it, I somewhat begrudgingly sat down to Tommy Boy. I’ll admit, I was thrilled when Rob Lowe showed up on screen. I should have remembered he would be in the movie, though it was a while ago that I read Stories I Only Tell My Friends (reviewed here!).

Tommy Boy might be the only full-length film with Chris Farley that I have actually seen and more than selling me on the supposed comic genius of Farley, the film actually made me respect Andy Richter just a little less. Much of Farley’s on-screen persona – when he is not presenting over-the-top physical comedy – is the exact timbre and beat pattern that Richter uses frequently in his comedy.

After getting the D+ he needs to graduate from college after seven years, Tom (Tommy) Callahan returns to his father’s company. Callahan Brake Pads is one of the last surviving businesses in Sandusky, Ohio, and Tom Callahan (Tommy’s father) is launching a new product line when Tommy returns. Tom is seduced by Beverly and Tommy is thrilled to meet his new soon-to-be step-brother, Paul. But, at the wedding of Tom and Beverly, Tom dies abruptly, throwing the family and the business into chaos. With the business and the town’s economy hanging in the balance, Tommy puts his inheritance on the line and he and Richard, Tom’s right hand man, try to save the company by going on the road to meet with any potential buyers for Callahan Brakes.

Back in Sandusky, Michelle – Tommy’s romantic interest – witnesses Paul and Beverly acting overly close and she begins to realize that they are not mother and son. As she begins to put together the scam the to are running to get cash out of Callahan Brakes, Tommy and Richard try to sell the half million units they need to in order to save the company.

On the plot front, Tommy Boy is a very typical road trip comedy. Richard and Tommy are an odd couple type pairing and they predictably grow over the course of the movie to tolerate and then even like one another. Richard’s car does not fare nearly as well, neither does the film’s ability to even get smiles from the viewer. Tommy Boy starts manic and steadily degrades into a listless attempt at a joke to another flatlining punchline. In fact, the script is so weak that the film frequently reuses the same jokes – a deer in the car and a dog in another car are essentially the same joke, regardless of how long it is allowed to play out and the protagonists singing to slow songs barely worked once. When the humor isn’t thinly-written, repetitive sarcasm, the movie has quite a bit of slapstick humor that didn’t grab me.

It is Julie Warner who has the superlative acting moment in Tommy Boy. While almost all of the performers fall well within their well-established niches, Julie Warner, who usually plays meek, smart characters, has a moment as Michelle where she explodes while yelling at some children and the scene is hilarious and carried solely by her acting ability. While her character emerges as the film’s hero, Warner is given far too little screentime, but she uses the time she has well.

David Spade is his usual sarcastic and smarmy persona as Richard. Richard is smart and the brains behind Callahan. Chris Farley is not playing a character significantly different to any number of frat boy type characters he played on Saturday Night Live. Rob Lowe makes for a decent villain as Paul in the movie, but none of the performances make the movie worth watching.

For other works with David Spade, please visit my reviews of:
Hotel Transylvania
Jack And Jill
I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry
The Benchwarmers

2/10

For other film reviews, please check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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A Witty Satire Of P.C. And Nicotine, Thank You For Smoking!

The Good: Funny, Good characters, Decent acting, Entertaining
The Bad: Plot gets fairly stale quickly, Pacing
The Basics: While Nick Naylor gallivants around the U.S. justifying the continued existence of cigarettes, he finds himself targeted by reporters, Congress and a hitman.


I feel like I have been watching a lot of documentaries lately, but with my latest viewing, Thank You For Smoking, I rationally know I did not. It's certainly a mocumentary, but it is written so real and with such clever attention to detail that it is almost impossible not to believe that it represents an expose into the world of Big Tobacco.

While Nick Naylor works through the morally ambiguous place life has left him as the voice of the tobacco industry, he finds himself kept from his son and fairly alone in the world. Naylor continues to view representing Big Tobacco as a job that is essentially about debating and he classifies himself as a king of debate. When the U.S. Senate starts a cry for even stronger warning labels on cigarettes, Naylor finds himself targeted by a reporter, a senator and an assassin. As his life spins out of control, his relationship with his son begins to become a priority and he begins to seek a new direction.

Sort of.

More than the tobacco industry, what Thank You For Smoking is truly about is the lengths our society goes to to cater to big business at the expense of human health. What the movie is truly about is freedom and choice vs. political correctness. It's an interesting argument and the movie is very funny.

Unfortunately, it's something the viewer tires from quickly. The pacing of the movie is seriously off. There are tracks of the movie that are slow and ponderous and seem to go nowhere, not even to building mood. Instead, the movie drifts between frenetic scenes as Nick Naylor goes from talking fast to driving slow. His relationships fade in and out throughout the movie at rather plot convenient times. So, for about five minutes his relationship with Heather - the reporter - is incredibly important. Then, she disappears from the movie for a significant chunk of time, pops up for two minutes, disappears until the end.

I can live with movies that have moments where nothing happens; in fact, on The West Wing (reviewed here!), one of the things that impresses me most is the amount of time devoted to reaction shots. The camera stays on characters at times long after the character they are speaking to has left the room. In Thank You For Smoking, there are long interstitial passages where we aren't learning more about the character or anything, the camera is just sitting waiting for action to happen.

Outside that, Thank You For Smoking works. It's funny and it's very intelligently written. Jason Reitman, who wrote and directed the film Thank You For Smoking has a great sense of comic timing. When Nick Naylor is talking spin, Reitman wisely keeps him smiling and moving. Some of the most dynamic moments occur when the only thing moving is Naylor's mouth and that takes some serious talent.

The talent that is evident from the first moments of the movie is in the casting. This is an accomplished and exceptional cast and it's clear that Reitman knows how to use them. Cameron Bright plays Naylor's son and here he does an excellent job of supporting the lead through subtlety and a strange dignity beyond his age. Kim Dickens and Maria Bello give wonderful roles that are too brief in the film a good shake with implications of depth that feel very realistic. Both make us believe their characters have significant backstory that they are bringing to the table. And William H. Macy, one of my personal favorites, does a great job acting as the virulently anti-cigarette Senator Finistirre. He is funny and gets out some of the most overly humorous lines with a straight face that is impressive.

It is Aaron Eckhart who the movie lives or dies on and he plays Nick Naylor impressively. I had never seen Eckhart perform before but he glues the viewer from his first moment appearing on screen. He is charming and disarming, perfectly timing a twinkle of his eyes or the barest hint of a smirk. His genius in Thank You For Smoking comes from his ability to deliver complex lines of dialogue that are almost entirely morally objectionable or ambiguous in a way that is absolutely convincing. We never once feel like we are watching a actor in Eckhart's performance (sadly, the same cannot be said for Robert Duvall in this). Eckhart convinces us of the reality of Nick Naylor and by the end, the audience is rooting for freedom almost solely based on his performance.

Thank You For Smoking is an ambitious project and it's easy to see why it took so long to bring it to the screen (and now DVD), but it's worth the viewing. It's very hard to say if this one is worth adding to one's permanent collection; I think it's definitely one to see before making that choice.

For other works with Aaron Eckhart, check out my reviews of:
Battle Los Angeles
Love Happens
The Dark Knight
Towelhead
The Wicker Man
Frasier Season Eleven

7/10

For other film reviews, please be sure to visit my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2006 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Invention Of Lying Is A Surprisingly Smart, Somewhat Erratic, Comedy.

The Good: Starts very funny, Decent acting, Moments of character, Good DVD bonus features
The Bad: Very predictable plot arc, Dramatic change in tone midway through the film.
The Basics: The Invention Of Lying starts as a clever concept comedy, but quickly becomes a very serious, substantive film that leaves little to surprise the audience.


A few months ago, my wife and I had a free hotel stay we were enjoying when we caught the middle and end of The Invention Of Lying. My wife loves comedies and it was nice to see her laugh so much, so we kept watching it. As the movie went on, though, she began to frown and by the end, she was saying what has become a mantra around our house, “I hate it when a movie starts out funny and then gets so serious!” It is probably for that reason that it took until last night for us to get back to The Invention Of Lying. Even so, we started it eagerly, recalling that when we began the movie, it was quite funny.

And that is how The Invention Of Lying goes. It starts out exceptionally funny, has a deliriously satirical twist in the middle and then fails to sustain itself. Instead, the movie collapses into a very serious statement on the nature of reality and the larger consequences that come from living a dishonest existence. The premise of the movie is simple and is deeply related to the setting. The setting is Earth in contemporary times, but on this Earth, everyone always tells the truth. It is a world where absolute honesty exists and the idea of deceit is unfathomable to the people there.

Mark is a writer for the leading movie studio of the day. He is terribly unsuccessful and living in the shadows of Brad Kessler. Mark goes on a date with Anna, who is very much out of his league and who seems amused with him despite not being attracted to him. The next day begins with his arrival at work where his boss, Anthony, finally gets up the will to fire Mark and, dejected, Mark returns to his apartment to a landlord who wants to evict him. He goes to the bank, needing eight hundred dollars, but knowing he only has three hundred in his account. When the teller asks him how much he wants to withdraw, he commits the world’s first lie by saying “eight hundred.” The computers come back up and the teller gives him the eight hundred, despite the computer saying he has three hundred because she assumes there has been a computer error, whatwith the world’s lack of deceit.

From there, Mark realizes the power he has and he begins to lie to make changes to the lives of people around him, from a suicidal tenant living in his apartment to a random man on the street to the police. But after making himself rich and writing the first fiction screenplay, he visits his mother, who is dying in the nursing home and, in comforting her, he inadvertently creates god. This gives Mark an extraordinary amount of power, though he cannot win Anna’s heart. As Anna moves to marry Brad, Mark tries to repair the damage his lies have made to the entire world.

The Invention Of Lying is erratic, but starts very funny. The jokes may all be very similar – people saying simple, complete truths that are outrageously funny – but they work and they establish a world that is funny and occasionally brutal to watch. But with the invention of the man who watches over all things, Mark becomes a huge public figure and his lie changes the tenor of the movie. For sure, the idea that god is just a lie is a brilliant bit of satire and Ricky Gervais as Mark delivers that expertly, but the fallout from that lie makes the movie into a very serious thing.

Beyond that, The Invention Of Lying becomes painfully formulaic in its last half. While the beginning had so much potential, the latter half becomes the predictable romantic comedy in terms of plot structure as Mark realizes how important Anna is to him. The process of watching Anna fall for Mark is far less organic. The attraction there becomes he exact formula that has existed since Jane Eyre (reviewed here!) was first written.

Because so much of The Invention Of Lying hinges on the concept as opposed to the characters, the character development in the film is remarkably low. That is not to say that the characters are not interesting to watch (they are), but they lack a lot in the way of distinction as they service the “must be honest” concept more than create viable individuals on screen.

By contrast, The Invention Of Lying features amazing acting and a cast that is to die for. Jennifer Garner may have been brought in for the sex appeal and star power, but in The Invention Of Lying, she proves just how funny she can be. Jonah Hill, Jeffrey Tambor, Fionnula Flanagan, Tina Fey and Martin Star all have memorable supporting performances. In fact, part of the real surprise in The Invention Of Lying is that Rob Lowe’s role is one of his less memorable ones.

It is Ricky Gervais, however who rules The Invention Of Lying and he is amazing as Mark. His comic timing has never been better and his deliveries are spot on. He makes even the dreadful second half at least seem like it is the same movie.

On DVD, The Invention Of Lying comes loaded with bonus features, most of which take the form of deleted scenes and featurettes. The featurettes are very funny and focus a lot on the actors playing with their innate sense of comic timing, which is very entertaining.

In the end, though, The Invention Of Lying is a much harder sell than those who love comedy are likely to want. It is worth watching, but very hard to want to add to one’s permanent collection.

For other works with Jonah Hill please visit my reviews of:
Moneyball
Megamind
How To Train Your Dragon
Cyrus
Forgetting Sarah Marshall

6.5/10

For other movie reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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An Enjoyable Memoir From An Actor I Barely Know: Stories I Only Tell My Friend Works.

The Good: Very funny, Insightful stories, Generally well-written, Voice.
The Bad: No thematic unity, I realized quickly much of my enjoyment was based on outside appreciation of Lowe.
The Basics: Rob Lowe’s autobiography, Stories I Only Tell My Friends is an enjoyable romp that makes it seem like working with Martin Sheen on The West Wing was an inevitability.


A few weeks ago, I was at my local public library and I overheard a patron talking with two of the reactionary evangelical librarians (they exist! I was so shocked!) who work there. The patron was asking about Rob Lowe’s book and neither of the librarians had heard of it. The patron sneeringly told them that the book, Stories I Only Tell My Friends was all about how Rob Lowe was telling secrets of Hollywood. I knew of the book’s existence, but had pretty much vowed not to read it when I caught my wife checking out Rob Lowe shirtless on the cover of Vanity Fair. I knew enough about the book to correct the librarians when, two patrons later, they were still saying how horrible a man Rob Lowe must be for telling secrets. I pointed out that that book would be “Stories My Friends Told Me” and I left. I was shocked when last week, Stories I Only Tell My Friends was on the shelf, which makes me think someone liberal still works at the library.

Eager to show whatever closet liberal might still be working at the library that their efforts are appreciated, I immediately took out Stories I Only Tell My Friends. I was actually surprised at how fast the 306 page memoir read. Lowe has a decent narrative voice and the book is often funny and frequently poignant. But, it is worth getting right out of the way what I didn’t like about the book.

Lowe begins his memoirs stunningly, with the story of the photo shoot for George magazine that JFK Jr. fought to have . . . right before Kennedy died. Right off the bat, Rob Lowe is mentioning The West Wing (reviewed here!) and frankly, that’s why I had any interest at all in the book. For sure, it should not be a detraction that Lowe actually met consumer demand and wrote about his experiences on The West Wing! But the fundamental problem was that all I truly found myself caring about in Stories I Only Tell My Friends were the stories tangential to The West Wing. Ironically, in a book I recently read, I did not enjoy the namedropping; in Stories I Only Tell My Friends, I found I did like the references because I knew who Lowe was writing about, frequently before he made the references explicit.

So, for example, it was very easy to thrill upon reading that when Lowe moved to Malibu, he began hanging out with a child director, Chris Penn – with a reference to the subjects of his film, his brother Sean, friend Charlie and Charlie’s big brother Emilio (40)! As Lowe moves up in the acting world in Malibu, there are frequent near-misses or allusions to Martin Sheen. This makes, for people like me who were fans of The West Wing, thrilled because the inevitable meeting between the young Lowe and Martin Sheen a real treat to read.

Unfortunately, between those scenes and until the book moves into the sections on The West Wing Rob Lowe writes about his family, random Malibu surfer kids who died horribly and the struggle of becoming a young actor when you have an agent almost immediately and live right near Los Angeles. The book isn’t so much a “rags to riches” story as it is the story of a boy becoming a man on an inevitable ascent into superstardom. Rob Lowe writes about his young acting life with a matter-of-fact sense that reads with the very clear truth that professionally, acting was his sole passion in life.

The story also picks apart the personal foibles of Lowe, who was tabloid fodder in the late 1980s and early 1990s at a time when I didn’t care one wit about celebrity gossip. It tells of his early blooming and the seduction of women and booze in Hollywood before he got his act straight and fell in love with Sheryl. This section, much of the book, was in no way an atypical story or memoir and it became much more interesting to read about what parts Lowe passed on than the narratives about family or the like.

That’s not to say the book is bad in any way, but I can say that if I had no interest in Rob Lowe from The West Wing, this memoir would not have made me a fan. The reason is simple; all of the best parts put Lowe on the track to get that role of the lifetime and are in one way or another connected to it. Regardless, throughout Stories I Only Tell My Friends, Lowe has a distinctive narrative voice. He writes just like he speaks and that is fairly erudite, though the diction in the book is unchallenging to anyone who is fifteen years old or older.

It is hard not to appreciate his lines, though and he has some real beautiful prose. But more often than not, one can see him as Sam Seaborn smirking through some of the best moments. In that way, Lowe makes the mundane interesting again, like with his lines “As always, I want to keep my head down and assume all is well. If there is an eight-hundred-pound gorilla in the room, I won’t be the one to point it out, lest I be eaten by it” (57). There are very few contemporary actors or writers who can truly get away with using the word “lest,” but he does it.

Ultimately, anyone who likes The West Wing, actor gossip, or Rob Lowe will find something to like about Stories I Only Tell My Friends. It’s an interesting memoir, even if it reads more like an archetype of the Hollywood story than any memorable exception to it.

For other memoirs, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
Role Models – John Waters
Keeping Faith – Jimmy Carter
A Moveable Feast – Ernest Hemingway

7/10

For other book reviews, please visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Return To Form (And Perfection) For The Bartlet Administration With The West Wing - The Complete Fourth Season!

The Good: Exceptional acting, plots and characters
The Bad: None, it's back in fine form! (Some more DVD extras would have been nice)
The Basics: Coming out of the slight rut of season three, season four returns the Bartlet Administration to an uncluttered story of great politics and characters.


It seems lately the show I keep crowing about to all of my friends and family is The West Wing. Not since I was blown away by Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Sports Night have I spent so much time recommending a television show to others. The West Wing is completely worth it and if by the time the fourth season came around, you weren't watching it, the DVD presentation of The West Wing - The Complete Fourth Season offers possibly the final time in the series where it is easy to leap into the story and not be lost or feel like one is picking the story up too late.

President Jed Bartlet continues his campaign for re-election while his staff works toward the same goal. Bartlet, under stress for the assassination he commissioned at the end of the prior season, is given a huge boost in his confidence as Josh and Toby encourage a return to idealism about making college more affordable. The president storms to an easy and decisive victory over Ritchie, which almost immediately forms a conundrum for Sam, who finds himself leaving the Administration on a mission of political suicide. As the season progresses, the second term becomes about a quest to end a genocide in the African nation of Equatorial Kundu and the agenda of the Administration that comes to a crashing halt with the events of the season finale.

The fourth season of The West Wing is cleverly engaging, balancing well the political and the personal lives and events of the main characters with the political topics being explored by the series. On the plot front, the story brilliantly exposes the consequences of prior actions without ever being so insular as to prevent new viewers from understanding what is going on. But like all great television - especially the serialized type - this season focuses on characters. Here is how the fourth season finds the principle characters:

Donna Moss - After being stranded in Indiana, Donna discovers she voted for the wrong person for President and ends up swapping votes with a potential new beau,

Sam Seaborn - After masterminding much of the President's re-election victory, Sam finds himself in an awkward position when a promise to the widow of a dead candidate comes back to haunt him when the dead candidate unexpectedly wins the California 47th Congressional seat. Sam leaves to run in what is ultimately a fool's errand,

Leo McGarry - Holding together the staff becomes difficult as Leo works to conceal the hand he played in having the Qumar Defense Minister killed,

Abbey Bartlet - Supports Jed, even as she realizes his health is continuing to fail,

Will Bailey - Having successfully engineered a victory for a dead candidate, Sam puts Will up for his old job and he and Toby begin a partnership,

Charlie Young - Continues to assist the President but finds his attention wandering quite a bit toward Zoey,

Josh Lyman - Surviving being stranded in Indiana, Josh continues to engineer the President's re-election strategy, finds himself aiding Donna in getting her a relationship, and learns one of his old heroes is anything but,

Toby - Engineers a strategy for the President to support working families and their desire to send children to college. He then finds himself pursuing his ex-wife, who is now pregnant with twins . . . of his,

C.J. Cregg - Still reeling from the death threats on her life at the climax of the prior season, C.J. finds herself surprised when Danny Concannon returns with theories about the death of the Qumari Defense Minister and her father dying from Alzheimer's,

and President Josiah Bartlet - Wins re-election while combating his M.S. and soon finds himself policing the world when genocide in Kundu trumps his domestic agenda. All of that comes to a powerful head when Zoey graduates from college and a domestic incident occurs that changes everything.

What's great about The West Wing - especially in the fourth season - is how principled the characters are. Following the uncharacteristic desperate measures Bartlet takes in the climax of the third season, the episodes take on a renewed tone of moralism with the fights the Administration takes on truly being the good fights needed to benefit the majority of Americans. The strength of watching this season is compromised by the reality we live in. Indeed, nothing is likely to disappoint viewers of this boxed set more than turning their television sets off; being wrenched back from a reality where the United States combats genocide and deals thoughtfully with its citizenry to . . . well, what we have now, can be devastating to one's health.

In truth, though, that is the power of the best forms of entertainment and The West Wing certainly qualifies as both entertaining and enlightening. Episodes like "Swiss Diplomacy" remind the viewer of the potentials of the world while creating an entertaining environment to debate the merits of humanitarian aid to nations hostile to the United States. Even the struggles that come up between Abbey Bartlet and her aides (most notably, Josh's ex-girlfriend from season three Amy) remind the viewer of the differences between having an activist First Lady and the prior individual to occupy the post.

As with the previous seasons, the acting in this set is phenomenal. Alison Janney stands out this season for her work in such episodes as "The Long Goodbye." She continually sells C.J. as a vital, resourceful character who dominates almost every scene she is in over the hours of this season.

But that's the joy of entertainment; it whisks us away from the world we have into one we might like to have and The West Wing - The Complete Fourth Season does that quite wonderfully. The DVD boxed set is a little light on extras, but the commentary tracks are decent as are the few featurettes. Unlike a lot of effects-intense series' there is little bonus material to feature and the producers of the boxed set give a good attempt to make the set a value.

Anyone who likes great drama will find something love in this set, especially as the series progressed toward the season finale. It's clever, the dialogue is fast-paced and smart and the transfers look good on DVD. This is truly a must-own series, with this season being a great investment for anyone who wants to watch stories that will inform, entertain and effect the viewer.

For other seasons works by Aaron Sorkin, please check out my reviews of:
Sports Night
The West Wing - The Complete Series
Charlie Wilson's War
The Social Network

10/10

For other television program reviews please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2010, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Sliding Off The Pedestal Of Perfection, The West Wing: The Complete Third Season Still Rocks!

The Good: Acting, Storylines, Most of the character development, Commentary tracks
The Bad: Not a ton of DVD extras, One big, forced relationship
The Basics: While the quality of the show slips slightly and the mediocre DVD extras remain consistent, the third season of The West Wing remains a solid and worthwhile investment.

The third season of The West Wing, on DVD in a convenient boxed set, takes a lot of heat from the critics as it diverged from much of what made the prior seasons so great. It's unfair in a lot of ways to expect a show that starts out as a perfect series to maintain perfection throughout its entire run; indeed only NYPD Blue managed to start so high and maintain what made it work through the first three full seasons. Show creator and writer, Aaron Sorkin, even went so far as to admit that the third season was not his best work. Altered to present more episodes that explored terrorism in the world, Sorkin felt lost and the series suffered some for it. On The West Wing - The Complete Third Season the show illustrates some cracks, but it is still far above most television and still a very worthy addition to anyone's collection.

[The first episode of the season, "Isaac and Ishmael" does not fall within the strict timeline of The West Wing and it basically was a quickly-written, assembled and shot episode that puts the staff of the West Wing in lockdown when there is an unknown terrorist threat. This traps a school group in the cafeteria, where they are lectured by various staff members, and gives the chance for Leo to be patronizing to an Islamic staffer. Sigh. Fortunately, it is clearly labeled as separate from the show and it's easy to come back to if one is so inclined (it's more of a civics lesson than an episode of The West Wing).]

Picking up where the second season (click here for that review) ended, with Bartlet being given the question about whether he will run for re-election or not, Bartlet declares his intention to run for re-election and the staff snaps into that mode. This causes major tension between President Bartlet and his wife, Abbey. She does not have much time to hound him, though, as the President works up to re-election with additional campaign staff and Abbey finds herself under investigation for trying to keep the President's multiple sclerosis a secret.

Around the West Wing, the staff deals with the first presidential veto, a lost submarine, the Vice President (who has begun to become a liability), testifying to Congress over the cover-up involving the President's illness, a threat from China, and a death threat against one of the staff. Bartlet, pressed by Toby, begins to suffer insomnia while dealing with his childhood. Throughout, the staff works to position Bartlet for an electoral win.

The story focuses in the first half on the Congressional investigation (complicated by Donna dating one of the Congressional aides on the opposition) and the attempt to appear electable, while the middle of the season wanders and then closes on a death threat on C.J. and an international incident that could cause real trouble for Bartlet.

As the series is largely character-driven, it's important to understand who the primary characters are this season and what they are up to:

Sam Seaborn - Shows up this season and gets played by the Republican candidates campaign. Otherwise, he pops up to be interviewed by his former fiancee and play chess with the president,

Josh Lyman - Gets right into campaign mode, which puts him at odds with Bruno and the new campaign staff. He spends the season wrangling votes on issues, bailing Donna out of a situation she gets herself into, getting into a relationship with Amy Gardner (a women's right's lobbyist), and finds that complicates his attempt to get key legislation passed,

Donna Moss - Assisting Josh is left behind for a while as she romances a Republican, works to get a teacher of hers a presidential proclamation, has to recover a gift given to the White House that she gave away, and she accidentally tells the truth to the First Lady while drunk (and Canadian),

Toby - Becomes estranged from the President when he psychoanalyzes Bartlet, becomes enamored with the new Poet Laureate, and dukes it out with Congress over the estate tax and the subsequent veto,

C.J. Cregg - Continues to ascend in her prominence when she verbally slips while talking about Haiti, dukes it out with the new campaign staff and deals with the appearance of Indians in the lobby at Thanksgiving. As well, she takes a stand for oppressed women in Qumar (a fictional country in the West Wing Universe), tries to aid in getting reporter who is a hostage freed, and becomes the subject of death threats when she speaks out against Saudi Arabia,

Leo McGarry - Has his past put on trial yet again, this time in relation to the President's failure to disclose his health status. As well, Leo marshals the staff and advises the President on the risky road with the Qumari Defense Minister,

Charlie Young - He shows up, aids the President, and is offered immunity which he refuses to take,

Abby Bartlet - Finds herself as a huge liability to the President when her role in concealing his m.s. is revealed. This, along with Bartlet deciding unilaterally to run for re-election, causes tension between her and the President,

and President Jed Bartlet - Decides to run for re-election, accepts censure, and begins to run for re-election in earnest. This involves him taking principled stands on hate crimes, the estate tax, women's rights, and decides to make curing cancer a national priority. Unfortunately, he becomes sidetracked when Toby digs into his past and he becomes unsettled, which leads him to make a decision about a foreign politician who is plotting terrorism.

Most of all of this works out quite well. What I found did not grab me about the third season on DVD was the relationship that Josh Lyman gets into. Josh begins dating Amy Gardner, a hired gun from a women's rights lobbying firm. Gardner starts as a strong, interesting woman and the moment she and Josh hook up, the show begins to go into very canned territory. Gardner is played by Mary-Louise Parker, who went on to do Weeds and her performance continually underwhelmed me. She seemed out of place as a cute-as-a-button love interest on a show that tried to be more substantive.

Outside that, the performances are up to the same high caliber as in prior seasons. This is the first season Stockard Channing was a full member of the cast and she is a welcome addition, holding her own beautifully in scenes opposite Martin Sheen (President Bartlet) and Oliver Platt (White House Counsel Oliver Babish). She embodies the strong, assertive woman that I suspect Amy Gardner was supposed to be.

DVD extras include commentary and featurettes on the series and this season in particular. Some of the commentaries, like the one for "Bartlet For America," are especially insightful and John Spencer's participation gives them added value now that he is dead. With twenty-two episode spread over three discs (front and back, disc four is bonus features), the boxed set is affordable and liable to yield value as one watches it over and over again!

This DVD set is pretty essential to any fan of The West Wing and it's great drama, it's just not the perfect series that had entertained with the previous two boxed sets. But even for them, there is a vastly better – complete series – set available. For that review, please click here!

For other television reviews, please check out my reviews of:
30 Rock Season 3
True Blood Season 1
Sports Night

8.5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2010, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Bartlet Administration Survives An Attempt, The Midterms, And The Impending Disclosures: The West Wing Season 2!

The Good: Excellent writing, acting, and characters, Funny!, Decent DVD bonuses
The Bad: None
The Basics: Following a shooting that critically wounds Josh, the staff of the White House continues an ambitious platform to reform the U.S.


Coming off the perfect first season of The West Wing (click here for that review!), writer-executive producer Aaron Sorkin must have felt some serious pressure to perform as the series entered its second season. If he was feeling any anxiety about the sophomore season, it does not show on The West Wing - The Complete Second Season. Please note that in order to discuss this season, the climactic moments of the first season have to be acknowledged, so if you've not started the series and want the surprises to shock you, stop reading now, pick up The West Wing - The Complete First Season first and check this out afterward. I'm snickering as I write that because if you watch the first season finale, you'll be aching to pick up this boxed set; I doubt you would stop to find this review again.

That said, buying this boxed set would not disappoint you. With four discs, covering all twenty-two second season episodes, The West Wing - The Complete Second Season is a cinematic triumph that reminds the viewer just how great television can be.

Beginning moments after gunshots ring out in the night, the Bartlet Administration is rocked when Bartlet and Josh are shot. While the president is barely wounded, Josh lies near death in the hospital while the staff waits. Josh survives, as does the Bartlet Administration, which receives a bump in the polls as a result of the attempted assassination. The midterm elections arrive and the make-up of the House and Senate do not change significantly, leading the White House to soon find itself often fighting the good fight against a Republican Congress that is working contrary to its direction. As the big question of whether or not Bartlet will run for a second term slowly rises, so too does the necessity of the staff of the West Wing to find out about his medical condition.

The season basically deals with the shooting as a real, deadly and dramatic attack, with elements resonating throughout the whole first half of the second season. As that plot seems to be milked, the focus turns toward Bartlet's multiple sclerosis and his slowly expanding the circle of people who know about his condition. The season climaxes on this issue and the big question of whether or not Bartlet will run again.

Of course, like the first season, the serialized plots are peppered with episodic issues that deal with real, vibrant and controversial political and legal matters. The second season introduces a new recurring character, Republican Ainsley Hayes, an articulate and beautiful republican who mops the floor with Sam on a television program, earning her a position on the White House's legal staff. Ainsley makes it easy for the show to easily debate such issues as background checks for small businesses, civil rights legislation and sexual harassment. The season has episodes that focus on the battles between pharmaceutical companies and poor African nations, the nuclear test-ban treaty, the missile defense shield, victims of religious persecution, the end of cold war mentalities (when Russia refuses to ask the U.S. for help in putting out a missile silo fire), and disintegrating relations as a result of the drug war in South America. Much of this hits close to home for the staffers as the staff finds themselves out maneuvered by Republicans ("The Leadership Breakfast"), Columbian drug lords ("The War At Home") and their own staff, like the Surgeon General ("Ellie").

What makes the series so watchable episode after episode is the strength of the characters. Beginning with the two-part season premiere ("In The Shadow Of Two Gunmen" Parts 1 and 2), The West Wing may present issues, but it remains tightly focused on the characters. For those who have not seen the first season, the second season is remarkably accessible as it focuses in its first two episodes on extensive flashbacks revealing how the various characters came to work for the Bartlet campaign and later the administration. As Josh lays in critical condition, the team silently reminisces about how they came to be there. It fills in a whole lot of backstory that fans were not privy to in the first season, making it a wonderful place to start.

The characters drive much of the story here as they take principled and often difficult stands working for President Bartlet and dealing with being victims of the shootings. The characters in the second season include:

Sam Seaborn - Deputy Communications Director. After saving C.J.'s life at the shooting and working to help Josh get back on his feet, he finds himself enthralled with Republican Ainsley Hayes and on the outs with Leo's daughter. Sam deals with his father's getting a divorce and with the legislative problems the team encounters,

C.J. Cregg - Press Secretary, finds herself deeply shaken by the shooting and she pushes Danny Concannon away. She finds herself working to save a turkey's life at Thanksgiving, outmaneuvered by the press when the staff meets with the new Congress, and placed in the difficult position of realizing that she has lied repeatedly about the President's health to reporters,

Toby Ziegler - Communications Director, the voice of change following the shootings. Toby becomes obsessed with using the opportunity the shooting affords to attack hate groups using the authority of the White House. Toby becomes the first member of the staff to realize something is wrong with the President when he begins to work with Vice President Hoynes on policy issues,

Leo McGarry - Chief of Staff, no longer beleaguered by his past, he soon finds his hands full managing the staff of the West Wing. After hiring Ainsley, he saves Josh from firing as his deputy deals with post-traumatic stress disorder and he becomes the liaison between the staff and the President as they learn about his medical condition,

Josh Lyman - Deputy Chief of Staff, nearly killed in the opening moments of the season, he survives with huge medical bills and a sense of vulnerability that haunts him. Having been shot and nearly killed, Josh is far less aggressive this season, though he does work to bail out Mexico when its economy collapses,

Donna Moss - Assistant to Josh, she is shocked by Josh being shot. Soon, however, she is flirting with ambassadors and acting as Josh's moral sounding board. After he gets help around Christmas, Donna works hard to simply support the Deputy Chief of Staff,

Charlie Young - Personal Aide to the President, he is left shocked by the shooting, especially when he learns who the intended target was. Charlie continues to date the President's daughter, though their relationship simmers and Charlie reasons out one of the President's potential problems while he fills out college forms,

Abigail Bartlet - First Lady (a recurring guest star in this season), she finds herself upset with Jed after he all but declares his intent to run for re-election during his State of the Union Address. Abbey is plagued by the knowledge that the President's condition could begin to deteriorate and the man she loves may not survive long after the second term,

And President Jed Bartlet, a liberal who has now has the chance to make a difference and finds the world spinning out of his control. As he deals with the staff learning about his multiple sclerosis and the implications of that, Bartlet fights the good fight, though finds things tense between himself and Abbey and his own staff when they begin to lose the initiative.

The characters of The West Wing are well-defined and very principled, making them a joy to watch episode after episode. The character of Mandy disappears without a trace or a line of explanation this season (it's no big loss as she was largely redundant, though I think they should have actually killed her in the premiere as that would have at least written her out) and Donna becomes a fully-credited character as Janel Moloney joins the cast full time.

Part of what makes the characters so well-defined is the quality of the actors and acting behind each and every one of them. Dule Hill (Charlie) gives an excellent performance early on in the season as the realities of his character's situation resonate with him. Hill plays shock, horror and disappointment astonishingly well. Recurring guest star Stockard Channing (Abbey) and John Spencer add maturity and discipline to a mostly younger cast. Janel Moloney does wonderful work emoting as Donna, easily becoming the heart of the office environment on the show. Rob Lowe continues his ability to portray Sam Seaborn as articulate, principled and remarkably disciplined with wonderful delivery of complex lines and strong body language. Similarly, Allison Janney continues to give a strong showing as C.J. Cregg.

My favorite from season one, Richard Schiff as Tobey Ziegler, continues with a strong ability to perform. While his usual mumbling demeanor continues, Schiff is given the chance to expand the emotional range of Tobey. As he plays detective in "17 People," he delivers a wonderful performance that takes his character from carefully analytical to angry to compassionate and he embodies a wonderful character journey. Schiff does more than simply slouch through the role, adding genuine angst to the role with brilliantly deliberate pauses, an amazing control of his vocal tone and timbre and an astonishing ability to emote using only his facial expressions.

Acting legend Martin Sheen continues his masterful performance as the complex President Bartlet. Sheen adds a sympathy and humanity to the character that leaps well off the page. A perfect moment comes in "Noel" when Sheen perfectly emotes without speaking a word after Josh explodes at the President.

But this season's winner is easily Bradley Whitford as Josh Lyman. Whitford emotes incredibly well, creating Josh as alternatively wounded, inspired and traumatized over the early part of the season. Whitford plays frustrated with an ease that is impressive. Whitford evokes empathy for the damage that he suffers from the shooting and as the season ramps up, it's nice to see Whitford slowly reassert confidence into Josh's character. Whitford makes the role.

For a non-special effects show, The West Wing - The Complete Second Season has decent enough bonus features. There are insightful commentaries on various key episodes of the season as well as deleted scenes and featurettes exploring the rising popularity of the series. There's even an easter egg on the bonus disc. As well, the series keeps itself relatively discreet by providing the episodes on dual-sided discs.

All in all, this is an impressive outing and enjoyable to anyone who likes great drama. It ranks right up there with the first and second seasons of NYPD Blue. This is a must-own for any fan of great drama and essential for fans of the work of Aaron Sorkin. For those who love The West Wing, The Complete Collection (click here for that review!) might be a better investment.

For other sophomore seasons, please check out my reviews at:
Lost Season 2
30 Rock Season 2
The Big Bang Theory Season 2

10/10

For other television reviews, please check out my index page!

© 2010, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Wishing You Were President, The First Perfect Season of The West Wing.

The Good: Exceptional acting, Character and character development, Stories, FUNNY!, DVD extras, Everything!
The Bad: Um, it's not real, Mandy
The Basics: In a perfect first season, The West Wing The Complete First Season sets an ambitious agenda and pace for the series about the staff of the White House.


The West Wing - The Complete First Season on DVD is a perfect season that, try as I might, I cannot find genuine weaknesses with. There are very few first seasons that come out of the gate at or near their peak, NYPD Blue is the only other one that comes right to mind. I suppose I should not be surprised, though, as one of the creators of The West Wing is Aaron Sorkin, who wrote the perfect, short-lived series Sports Night (click here for that review!). While I will continue to refer to the first season of The West Wing as perfect, it is worth noting that after rewatching it yet again, I have knocked it off the pedestal of absolute perfection because . . . well, frankly, I can’t stand Mandy. Mandy has to be one of the most annoying characters ever to grace television and there was no real reason for her.

The West Wing is an hour-long drama that follows the personal and political foibles of a mythical presidency of U.S. President Josiah Bartlet. With twenty-two episodes on three discs (front and back, with a fourth disc solely of bonus features), this boxed set follows the second year of the Bartlet Administration. The episodes generally focus more on the behind the scenes workings of the President's staff, as opposed to the actions of President Bartlet.

Following the staff rallying to save the job of Josh Lyman when he speaks out against religious extremists on a Sunday morning talkshow, the Bartlet Administration finds itself politically. Forced to compromise their ideals on issues like gay rights and gun control, the staff works for victories that might be obtainable, like figuring out a more reasonable method for taking the census, reforming elections through the F.E.C. and fundraising.

Soon, though, their problems are multiplied from within and without. India and Pakistan clash which raises the possibility of nuclear war. The White House Chief of Staff comes under fire when a Republican Congressman accuses the White House Staff of using drugs, which seems to indicate he knows about Leo McGarry's history of drug and alcohol dependence. Bartlet, tired of being denounced by the liberals who put him in power, begins to fight by nominating a liberal justice to the Supreme Court, even as the poll numbers drop.

Over the twenty-two episodes in this set, there's almost not a single moment that is fun and brilliant to watch. In fact, the only thing that comes right to mind from the first season that just didn't fit was C.J. Cregg lip synching a song for the entertainment of the staff. Outside that, which just was weird, the season is flawless top to bottom.

What characterizes The West Wing is Aaron Sorkin's fast-paced writing style where dialogue is delivered quickly and articulately by people who sound like they are in a hurry almost all the time. The show, which could easily have suffered from a feeling of being stagnant or trapped inside, keeps a rigorous pace and sense of movement by having characters talking while moving almost all the time. They walk and talk (and I'm sure could chew bubblegum, too!) and the flow of the episodes is so constant that the viewer never feels like they aren't truly engaged by the show.

Which leads me to something that is almost never talked about when discussing The West Wing. The first season of The West Wing is very funny. There is an extensive amount of humor written into the dialogue, as characters quip back and forth. There is humor in the transitions of scenes as well. After a particularly quick exchange of dialogue, for example, Sam Seaborn finds himself standing outside a closed door in a hallway far away from his office, so there is an awkward pause as he waits, then lurches into motion to head back from where he came. And there is a lot of situational humor. In "Celestial Navigation," Sam and Toby head to Connecticut to get their Supreme Court nominee out of jail and they navigate using the stars. Don't ask why.

But what I was unprepared for from all of the praise heaped on this dramatic series was the amount of humor in the series. Almost every episode has some moments that are, at least, wry, though some have moments that are actually laugh-out-loud funny. The moments balance well against the dour, heavy moments that dominate many of the political machinations the staff has to deal with.

As a strong character-driven serialized show, it behooves the viewer to know who the main characters are. In the first season, the primary characters are:

Sam Seaborn - Deputy Communications Director, he is essentially the President's speechwriter. A former lawyer and generally decent guy, Sam finds himself accidentally dating a call girl who is studying to be a lawyer. Sam works hard to fight for Josh's job and later works behind the scenes to protect Leo McGarry,

C.J. Cregg - Press Secretary, she deals with members of the press. One of the White House correspondents, Danny Concannon, begins to pursue C.J. romantically, which throws her for a bit of a loop. Efficient and articulate, Cregg becomes the voice of the Administration and speaks her mind whenever possible,

Toby Ziegler - Communications Director, he is responsible for crafting the message of the Administration. A disaffected liberal who is tired of compromising, Toby spends much of the season disappointed by a president who will not stand up for the core values of the constituents,

Leo McGarry - Chief of Staff, essentially the day to day boss of the White House staffers and liaison between them and the president whenever possible. Leo is a recovering alcoholic whose marriage falls apart because of his devotion to his job. Finding himself alone, his staff becomes his family when they move to protect him,

Josh Lyman - Deputy Chief of Staff who nearly is fired right off the bat. Surviving that, he Josh works to keep Leo in power when machinations look like they might unseat him. Josh is friends with Sam and wants to progress a more radical agenda and when he has the opportunity, he springs enthusiastically into action,

Donna Moss - Assistant to Josh (and only a guest star in all 22 episodes the first season), she is efficient and caring, though she finds herself often neglected or snapped at by Josh when tensions flare,

Charlie Young - Personal Aide to the President, he is hired when he his mother is killed as a victim in a gun-related crime. Charlie comes aboard and begins dating the President's daughter, while confronting the racism of Middle America for doing that,

Mandy Hampton - Media Consultant and redundant character. She works to provide Toby with a message and prepare the President for eventual reelection. She has a history with Josh, but is generally a flat character the show doesn't know what to do with,

And President Jed Bartlet, a liberal who has been kept on a short leash by a Republican Congress, Leo and his own party. Bartlet is crippled by the desire to retain power, thus wasting the effectiveness of the office. As well, Bartlet is hiding a secret known only to him, his wife and a very few others . . .

What makes the characters click so well are the actors who portray them. The West Wing features the perfectly cast ensemble of Dule Hill (Charlie), Rob Lowe (Sam), Janel Moloney (Donna), John Spencer (Leo), and Bradley Whitford (Josh). The choices cast for each role are perfect and the actors bring their a-game to every single episode, every single frame of the show.

Notable among the cast is Allison Janney, who plays C.J. Cregg. She has a quality to her that allows her to portray exhausted and articulate within a heartbeat. Seeing the way she moves and speaks completely in character on these 22 episodes, it's easy to see how she was nominated all seven years for the Academy Award (winning 4, including for her work in this season). Janney embodies a character who is an esoteric mix of professional and scatterbrained and she pulls it off expertly.

Martin Sheen plays President Bartlet and the best possible way to describe his performance is "presidential." He embodies a president. Without flaw, with all of the complications and dignity, Sheen plays Bartlet. Sheen's performance is so solid and direct that 100% of liberals in my family would rather have Sheen portraying the fictional Jed Bartlet running the nation than the current occupant of the White House.

The surprise acting genius in The West Wing comes in the form of Richard Schiff as Toby Ziegler. This was the sole season Schiff won the Academy Award for his work, though he was nominated for other seasons, as well. Schiff plays Ziegler with a brilliant detachment and mumble of a man who has simply gotten used to giving up. He throws his whole body into the performance, slouching from episode to episode speaking up but rarely looking his coworkers in the eyes. It did not surprise me to learn, via one of the DVD commentary tracks that Schiff's acting technique was so serious he would appear on set for his scenes, then retreat to study his lines, rarely engaging in conversations or such with other castmates the first season.

For those who have not experienced The West Wing, this season begins it all and the featurettes and commentaries on the DVDs are entertaining and insightful. The only real drawback of the set is when you watch the episodes, you'll want to go get season two right away! For those who are familiar with The West Wing, the supreme boxed set The West Wing - The Complete Series (click here for that review!) would be a better investment.

For other worthwhile television series’, please check out my reviews of:
Lost
V
The Big Bang Theory – Season 2

9.5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2010, 2008, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Bartlet Administration - The Lost History Of A Perfect Series On DVD: The West Wing Complete Series!

The Good: Surprisingly funny, Poignant, Great dialogue, Incredible characters, Amazing acting, Clever, DVD Bonuses, Respect for fans
The Bad: Bulky packaging (That's a stretch, too!)
The Basics: The deluxe package includes all of The West Wing and some nice bonuses, chronicling the entirety of the mythical Bartlet Administration. A must have for anyone who loves great drama!


It takes a lot to be considered a perfect series in my estimation. I know it might not seem that way given how I am constantly touting the perfection of the series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and the way I have rated both Lost The Complete Series (click here for that review!) and Aaron Sorkin's short-lived dramedy Sports Night (click here for that review!) as "perfect series'." Indeed, when I think of perfect shows, I frequently forget about the short-lived Sports Night and think more about The West Wing. So, today I proudly add The West Wing to that esteemed collection of perfect television shows.

The West Wing - The Complete Series on DVD is a 45 disc masterpiece that illustrates how consistently great television may be when it is written, produced, directed and acted by genuine talents who are consistently working at the top of their game. It is no accident that Aaron Sorkin is behind two of the perfect series' in my limited pantheon. Despite his personal problem, Sorkin is a genius and no one on television writes dialogue like him and no one has the ability to translate Sorkin's writing into a masterful presentation on screen than director (and executive producer) Thomas Schlamme. Together, Sorkin and Schlamme, and John Wells preside over a body of work that is astounding for its complexity, character and overall greatness.

Opening at the beginning of the second year of the administration of President Josiah Bartlet, leader of the United States of America, the staffers who work to make his Administration work find the agenda stalled. In the second year of their tenure, they are feeling like a lame duck presidency bullied by a Republican Congress. Then, Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman publicly denounces the Religious Right and the staff of the West Wing of the White House are awakened to the political realities of running the nation and fighting for what they believe in.

Against all odds, the Bartlet Administration begins to pursue an ambitious domestic agenda based on equal rights, honesty and accountability and fiscal responsibility. Their foreign policy is based on responding to terrorism and warfare with diplomacy. Problems arise with their press to progress the United States and its laws in a positive, progressive direction when Bartlet is forced to admit that he has lied to the American people and his staff and that he suffers from multiple sclerosis.

The West Wing follows that essential plot, with numerous political issues and debates peppered into every episode and several longer arcs per season that involve issues of lasting importance. This is a show that believes that not everything may be nailed up neatly in 45 minutes. It is a heavily serialized television show, so episodes have consequences and often what happens in one episode will come back to haunt characters later on. Indeed, the story begins with characters with such extensive backstories that consequences from Chief of Staff Leo McGarry's past involving drinking and drug abuse plague him throughout the series (especially the first season).

The West Wing is largely a positive body of work that presents an alternative to the reactionary policies the United States of America pursued in the early part of the new millennium. In stark contrast to the current regime, President Bartlet encourages debate and while he has very strong views, he illustrates respect for his subordinates and is known to be swayed when one of them is convincing and passionate about an issue.

It is a very progressive view of American politics and it involves characters who are educated, articulate and who fight for the principles they believe in. They stand their ground and, even better, they own their mistakes. So, when they fail they go down fighting and when they are wrong, they suffer the consequences - personal and professional - of those mistakes. For example, characters debate on the presence of homosexuals in the military, they discuss legalizing marijuana and bed pardon for cold war spies. It's an intriguing and comprehensive array of domestic and foreign issues that are presented and it is done in such a way that it is entertaining.

The primary method of keeping the show entertaining is the dialogue. The West Wing has exceptional dialogue that moves rather quickly. Characters deliver monologues and rapid fire back-and-forths with one another that set an exhilarating and entertaining pace. As well, this show rarely gets credit for being as funny as it is, but it is often very funny with jokes that are shot out a mile a minute, usually as rapid fire banter in the dialogue.

But any great drama is about character. Here's who the principle characters are in The West Wing:

Sam Seaborn - Deputy Communications Director and formerly a lawyer at a prestigious firm engaged in insulating oil companies from accountability. Sam is articulate, liberal and fights to maintain the message that the Bartlet Administration is functional and positive. He is responsible for writing most of the President's speeches. He struggles with his personal life (he unwittingly dates a call girl for a time), is closest with Josh, and becomes rather defined by his professional life until one day a new opportunity opens itself to him,

Toby Ziegler - Communications Director who is responsible for crafting the message of the Bartlet Administration. Toby is quiet and introverted but exceptionally passionate about populist politics. He spends a lot of time dismayed by the compromises Bartlet is forced to make and his integrity often puts him in tricky situations, including one that forces him to make a significant sacrifice,

C.J. Cregg - Press Secretary (later something more!) for the Bartlet Administration, she deals with the press. Half cool and controlled under pressure, half complicating the lives of the staffers and the President by speaking the truth, she is idealistic and professional. C.J. is also a hard worker whose tenure in the West Wing is exhausting and leaves her little time for a social life,

Leo McGarry - Chief of Staff and the seniormost member of the West Wing's staff, he is the man who convinced Bartlet to run for president. McGarry is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict and he is a stern paternal figure whose job it is to keep everyone on the President's staff in-line and focused,

Josh Lyman - Deputy Chief of Staff working directly under Leo and with Toby and Sam, he fights the battles for the President and represents the Administration in meetings with key politicians. He is friends with Sam, has an attraction (mostly latent) to his assistant, Donna, and is vocally liberal and almost as tired as Toby is of the compromises the Administration is forced to make. When a tragedy befalls Josh, he ends up deeply scarred and scared and it takes him some time to get any sense of a fighting spirit back,

Donna Moss - Senior Assistant to Josh Lyman, she is an attractive and efficient aide who provides Josh with materials he needs to fight his battles. She is sometimes flighty, but always kind, she is sometimes the most human aspect of the staff of the West Wing,

Will Bailey - Mid-series he enters as a campaign guru and speechwriter whose talents rival Sam's. Bailey becomes integrated into the staff and adapts to their close-knit mannerisms to become vital in the waning years of the Bartlet Administration,

Charlie Young - Personal Aide to the President, he is a young black man who lost his mother to gun violence. Charlie is an attache who often serves as a voice of interethnic issues on the show, though his presence complicates some moments of the Administration, including when he dates the President's daughter,

Abigail Bartlet - Doctor and First Lady, she is the most powerful woman in the United States and a vocal First Lady, pressing agendas of her own, occasionally in conflict with the President's agenda. Deeply hurt by Bartlet's political decisions, Abby begins to question the strength of their marriage when Jed starts prioritizing the political battles he is fighting over their marriage,

and President Jed Bartlet - He's president! Bartlet is a progressive economist who has a strong sense of faith and a lot of tolerance. His multiple sclerosis begins to affect him and he is unable to deny its effects, which begins to complicate and cripple his presidency. As he is forced to deal with lying to the nation, other nations - and independent terrorists - make moves that force Bartlet to intervene.

What makes the characters work so well are the actors who portray them. This is one of \the most solid ensemble casts ever assembled on television and all of the actors are gold. From great supporting performances by Dule Hill (Charlie Young), Janel Moloney (Donna), Stockard Channing (Abbey Bartlet), Joshua Malina (Will Bailey), and the stern brilliance of John Spencer (Leo) to the front and center roles of Rob Lowe (Sam) and Allison Janney (C.J.) this is a strong cast that is unparalleled in the consistency of the greatness of their performances.

Allison Janney is brilliant as C.J. Craig. She creates a character who has the ability to look exhausted constantly, but present a message with realistic articulation and detachment that makes her character completely compelling. Janney brings an inner strength to C.J. that makes it believable when she stands up for herself that a lesser actress could not do.

Bradley Whitford was genius casting for the role of Josh Lyman. Whitford has a youthful exuberance to him that makes the level he debates and fights at interesting, realistic and he adds an energy to the show that keeps it fresh. No one makes the fast-paced dialogue seem more natural that Whitford does.

Martin Sheen, originally intended to be a recurring guest star as President Bartlet is perfectly presidential. He is articulate and his steely gaze has a resonance to it that makes it believable that he could order people. More importantly, his delivery of passionate lines makes it perfectly realistic that he could lead and inspire people. Sheen's performance can be summed up, consistently, with the word "wow!"

The hidden gem of The West Wing, though, is actor Richard Schiff as Toby Ziegler. Schiff mumbles through his lines for the early seasons as a man who has been beaten down by politics, but who still wants to make a difference. Schiff is able to articulate when it counts and he is so thoroughly in his role the entire time he is on screen that when his character smiles, it becomes an event. That level of self-control and devotion to his character is amazing and the results are extraordinary as he creates a character who is a memorable fighter.

This DVD presentation includes the 45 discs that were previously released in the Seasons 1 - 7 boxed sets. The especially nice thing about this set is that it rewards fans of the series, without penalizing fans who supported the show while it was still on the air. Thus, there are no additional DVDs in this set, no extra video features on these discs. Instead, The West Wing - The Complete Collection includes a copy of the pilot episode script along with an episode guide in one giant, bulky collector's display case. It's a nice reward for buying the whole kit and caboodle all together, but it's nothing that even die hard fans can't live without. I like that.

The result is that this is an great way to buy one of the most acclaimed, intense and truly great series' of all time. It is worth your time, it is worth your attention and it is worth rewatching. Often.

For individual seasons of The West Wing, please check out my reviews of:
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
Season 6
Season 7

10/10

For other television series reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2010, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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