LBJ - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

LBJ

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
Biopics are a bit of a strange phenomenon. It’s extremely difficult to rush over someone’s entire life, or someone’s political career and try to make a cohesive movie about that slice without turning it into a 9 hour miniseries. There’s usually SOOOOOOO much content that we end up with a cliff’s notes summary of that section of their life if you’re not careful. Many of them can be quite compelling, such as JFK, Capote, or Amadeus, but others can be overblown, turgid affairs. I hate to be that guy who hates on someone for their portrayal of a famous character, but LBJ is one of those movies that embodies the idea of a missed opportunity. It hits all of the infamous pitfalls of a biopic on it’s way down to the ground, and to top it off, has one of the worst examples of prosthetics used in a major Hollywood film that I can think of in recent times.

Lyndon B. Johnson is a bit of a controversial figure. He was the author of the Vietnam War, and was probably one of the most caustic and crude presidents we have ever had. My personal feeling is that he was one of the worst presidents we have had in that time period, along with Jimmy Carter, but that still can’t taint the logical portion of my brain enough to overcome the slap dashed results of Rob Reiner’s baby. Reiner himself is a bit of a hit or miss director. He gave us incredible hits like The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally and This is Spinal Tap. But he also gave us bloated bombs like Bucket List, Alex and Emma, and Rumor Has It. Unfortunately, LBJ turns out to be one of his worst films yet, as Reiner just skims through entire portions of Lyndon Johnson’s life at a break neck speed. Even just one or two of these portions could be relegated to its own movies, but instead we get the briefest of Cliff’s Notes rundowns of YEARS of his life, with barely a second to recover before we’re on to the next scene.

The film starts out with the infamous motorcade ride where LBJ (Woody Harrelson) and his wife, Lady Bird (Jennifer Jason Leigh) are following along behind JFK (Jeffrey Donovan) before he was assassinated. It then skips back in time to LBJ figuring out whether he wants to run for president, or whether he should accept the role of Vice President at JFK’s request. Jerking back and forth through time, we get to see as Lyndon Johnson comes into office, and then slows down the civil rights act as best he can so that the constant conflict gives him a sort of job security in the White House. As time goes on JFK is assassinated, and Lyndon is now forced to take over as commander and chief, and now has the battle of his life, as he strives to finish what JFK started midst a whole slew of southern democrats who have backed him his whole political career and have no interest in seeing JFK’s dream come to fruition.

The big problems with LBJ are multiple and copious. First of all, Woody Harrelson has to be one of the worst casting choices for the famous man that I have ever scene. Then there’s the hilarious bad prosthetic and makeup utilized to make him look like the man. The the rubber face additions looks so bad that you can actually see the lines and different shades of makeup that they use to try and age him as well as Woody’s own natural face. Those gigantic fake ears flap and wiggle in the wind as Woody yells and shakes his head, taking you straight out of the movie and wondering just how much this budget could have been not to afford a decent makeup artist. Harrelson tries his best, but he’s playing Woody Harrelson more than he’s playing Lyndon Johnson. A fact that is ever so clear from the moment he comes on screen.

I will admit that Reiner doesn’t try to lionize the man too much. Instead focusing on several aspects his highly flawed character and problematic policies. You see his blatant desire to play off the civil rights act as a political pawn, but you also see the very weary man who just wants to further his successor’s belief in equality as well.However, while Lyndom isn’t lionized completely, there is massive fawning over JFK and you can almost see the hero worship in Reiner’s eyes as he puts every word that the president said onto a shining pedestal of awe. Johnson himself is kind of given way too much credit for the Civil Rights act, ending the film on a shining note, although the ending credits of the movie do start to add some more criticism for his involvement in the Vietnam war (and sort of glossing over the fact that he added more government handouts and problematic social programs since FDR started us on that road decades prior to this).




Rating:

Rated R for language




Video:

Shot entirely on Arri Alexa cameras, LBJ is a heavily stylized affair, with hazy looking highlights and golden hues used to create the 1960s atmosphere of the film. Details can usually look very good, with strong facial details showing (which is actually kind of problematic as that allows us to see the horrendous makeup job used on Woody), but overall clarity is rather soft for the period piece movie. Blacks can be kind of murky, and shadow detail suffers as a result. Outside in the daylight things get a bit better, and the scene where LBJ visits the airplane hanger with shiny silver planes inhabiting it is quite amazing detail wise, but much of the time the movie is spent indoors in dim lighting while LBJ makes backroom deals and decisions. It’s a fine transfer, but not as pretty as it could have been due to heavy stylization.





Audio:

As with most of these biopics, LBJ is a very dialog heavy film, almost to the extreme in this case. The ambiance is very limited, with 99% of the time spent having closed quarters conversations in dusky looking rooms. There’s a bit of expansion in the sound stage as they move to the infamous motorcade, or when LBJ gives his ending speech before congress, but this is a VERY dialog centric track that lives in the center channel for the duration of the film. Dialog is well placed and very effective, and the minimal bass does its job when called upon (usually for the short bust of action from the gunfire on the knoll, or the roaring applause of the Senate floor). A simple track, but rather effective for what it is.






Extras:

• None

Final Score: ​

LBJ is a frustrating film, as it shows potential to shine some light on one of history’s most oddball president’s, but fails miserably with a herky jerky time line and way too much time span covered by a very short 97 minute film. Harrelson tries to make the role his own, but instead comes out rather comical, and almost completely unlike the man he’s playing in ways I didn’t dream possible. Sony’s Blu-ray is solid enough, with decent audio and good video, but there are no extras at all for such a biopic, and the decent technical specs can’t overcome the very weak film itself. Personally, I would say this is one to skip except for the most rabid of political biopic fans.






Technical Specifications:

Starring: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Richard Jenkins, Woody Harrelson
Directed by: Rob Reinger
Written by: Joey Hartstone
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Sony
Rated: R
Runtime: 97 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: February 6th, 2018

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Skip It

 

[Todd Anderson]

Thank you Mike... you just gave me the gift of 1 hr and 37 min!

 

[Michael Scott]

Lol. That's one way to put it

 

[Todd Anderson]

I guess the other is subtracting 1.37 plus writing and editing.

 

[Michael Scott]

Lol .yeah .Comes down to about 4 hours for this one. Consider yourself saved

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. It is too bad it isn't worth getting. I thought it might be at least a rental. lol.