Review: Path to War

The story concerns American President Lyndon B. Johnson (Michael Gambon) and his administration’s role in the poor decisions made in the early stages of the Vietnam War. Alec Baldwin is the hawkish Defence Secretary Robert McNamara who argues in favour of more American involvement in Vietnam, instead of focussing on civil rights and the War on Poverty programs that had been promised. McNamara’s main rival for the President’s ear is Under-Secretary of State George Ball (Bruce McGill), who thinks Vietnam involvement is a mistake and money is better spent on the social programs instead. Donald Sutherland plays LBJ’s loyal friend and advisor Clark Clifford, who is initially against McNamara’s gung-ho attitude towards (increased) military intervention. In smaller roles we have Felicity Huffman and Sarah Paulson as Lady Bird Johnson and daughter Luci Baines Johnson, whilst Frederic Forrest and Tom Skerritt play the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Gen. William Westmoreland, respectively. James Frain turns up as presidential aide and speechwriter Dick Goodwin. Philip Baker Hall is underused as a trusted Senator friend of Johnson, and a supporter of the Vietnam War.

 

A pretty solid cast anchors this 2002 HBO movie from director John Frankenheimer (“The Train”, “The Birdman of Alcatraz”, “The Manchurian Candidate”) and writer Daniel Giat (the dreadful “The Legend of Hercules”) based on an LBJ biography by Robert Caro. To be honest, from time to time I got a little lost in the sea of names, faces, and events, but overall I think veteran filmmaker Frankenheimer does a pretty commendable job with it.

 

Michael Gambon is no great likeness physical (not jowly enough) or vocal (the accent wavers a bit) to LBJ, but is a good enough actor to be persuasive enough in the part that you don’t really think about it after a short while. He certainly looks to be having fun in the part, and it’s probably some of his best work. I was also quite impressed with an unrecognisable Felicity Huffman as Lady Bird Johnson despite having a lot less to work with than most here, and especially an ice-cold Alec Baldwin as Robert McNamara. It’s one of Baldwin’s best-ever performances in my view, and goes to show what I’ve always felt: Baldwin is a much better character/support actor than lead, and really nails the ice-cold, single-minded ruthlessness of Giat’s interpretation of the man. I think it’s that icy stare he has. Also terrific is Donald Sutherland as wise counsel Clark Clifford, the veteran actor stealing his every scene, as does James Frain saying a lot with just his anxious, uneasy-looking face. A well-chosen Frederic Forrest and slightly cast-against-type Bruce McGill also give very solid turns in support. Gary Sinise has a mere cameo playing George Wallace, whom he had previously played in a TV movie of the same name, and is damn good too.

 

It took me a little while to get my bearings here, and the film overall is simply too much movie, however it’s a mostly effective and quite interesting film. It’s just that if you’re not utterly fascinated by and knowledgeable on the subject, your interest might wane a touch from time to time. The filmmakers do a really good job at showing the absolute madness of the situation here, with LBJ listening to the wrong people to the point where even when LBJ realises the situation is fucked, one of the advisors who was against the bombing now disagrees with ceasing it because it’s too late. Madness. War is utter madness. The main thing the film sets out to do and achieves it, is humanising LBJ. Whatever one makes of him and his flaws, he’s human and his job was incredibly difficult. It’s not always easy to do the right thing. LBJ’s legacy includes some big missteps, and his sincere commitment to Civil Rights is questionable in my non-American view. However, with the pressure this guy was under – who in their right mind would want to be the American president at all?

 

Those with a good grasp of/interest in American history and politics should be well-served here in this solid, but overlong film. Several performers stand out, with Alec Baldwin and Donald Sutherland taking top honours.

 

Rating: B-