I'm very much enjoying HBO's John Adams miniseries, which is unfolding every Sunday evening with many repeats during the week. What's really gotten my attention, and I have a feeling my interest is as much historical as hysterical, is that I'm plum crazy about Thomas Jefferson, played by British actor Stephen Dillane.
Wow! He's incredible, and incredibly appealing. The character of Jefferson is suave, quietly indomitable, fond of women, kind of flirty, super-intelligent and having just a great time in naughty Paris, methinks. In episode four, which premiered last week, both he and Mr. and Mrs. Adams were stationed in France as representatives of the new United States, living opulently and indulging in the culture and frivolities made available to them in their positions. Mrs. Adams (Laura Linney) was obviously innocently charmed and slightly intrigued by the urbane Jefferson, giving Mr. Adams (Paul Giamatti) a bit of consternation, it appeared.
At the end of the episode the Adams family was back in the U.S., and in the segment premiering tonight, evidently there is growing political friction between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, beginning a serious rupture in their long-standing friendship. Can't wait to watch it!
If you haven't been watching John Adams, it's not too late to start. I'm sort of finding the peripheral characters a little more interesting than Mr. Adams, and like I said, especially the dandy Mr. Jefferson. I highly recommend catching the episode where they are hammering out the Declaration of Independence, last week's, and the one coming up if you are TJ-watching, as I am now.
Whatever reasons you find for watching this well-done miniseries are good, so long as you catch it! (If you want to check out Stephen Dillane's impressive acting career, check out this tribute website, and this one -- though they're both sort of out of date, and of course his listing on IMDB.)
Wow! He's incredible, and incredibly appealing. The character of Jefferson is suave, quietly indomitable, fond of women, kind of flirty, super-intelligent and having just a great time in naughty Paris, methinks. In episode four, which premiered last week, both he and Mr. and Mrs. Adams were stationed in France as representatives of the new United States, living opulently and indulging in the culture and frivolities made available to them in their positions. Mrs. Adams (Laura Linney) was obviously innocently charmed and slightly intrigued by the urbane Jefferson, giving Mr. Adams (Paul Giamatti) a bit of consternation, it appeared.
At the end of the episode the Adams family was back in the U.S., and in the segment premiering tonight, evidently there is growing political friction between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, beginning a serious rupture in their long-standing friendship. Can't wait to watch it!
If you haven't been watching John Adams, it's not too late to start. I'm sort of finding the peripheral characters a little more interesting than Mr. Adams, and like I said, especially the dandy Mr. Jefferson. I highly recommend catching the episode where they are hammering out the Declaration of Independence, last week's, and the one coming up if you are TJ-watching, as I am now.
Whatever reasons you find for watching this well-done miniseries are good, so long as you catch it! (If you want to check out Stephen Dillane's impressive acting career, check out this tribute website, and this one -- though they're both sort of out of date, and of course his listing on IMDB.)
Jefferson is thrilling to watch, as is the growing an contentious relationship between Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton (who we all know will soon be facing Aaron Burr in a duel!). As always, Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti as the two main stars; Abigail and John Adams, are utterly superb. This is without question, the best miniseries on US history that I have ever seen. I predict buckets full of Emmys for HBO and this series. I hope they include just a little bit about Jefferson and Sally Hennings, which is always an amazing and fascinating topic. And much more sexy to contemplate that Mr. and Mrs. Adams, who (while adorable) are not quite the type we want to contemplate having a roll in the hay. BRAVO for the John Adams miniseries!!!
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait to see this! I have been saying for years that, if we want great material for movies and TV, we can always delve back into the riches of history. Now, with John Adams and the upcoming Lincoln, I feel like the industry is beginnng to get the idea. Where is the Benjamin Franklin movie (this character must make an appearance in John Adams, right?). Where is the Edgar Allen Poe movie? The Picasso movie? The Bill Hicks movie? Or how about W. Eugene Smith, the Life photographer? Where's his movie?
ReplyDeleteOh, and is the Robert Ripley movie coming out soon? Isn't that Tim Burton? Anyway, enough of that. I knew this John Adams show was gonna be good. Glad to hear Lisa and Jane approve...
I wanted to add that I'm not the only gal to be smitten with Stephen Dillane as Jefferson; he's got a whole passel of groupies over on the HBO and IMDB message boards. Sigh...
ReplyDeleteAnyway, a kind lady has posted some nice screencaps of Dillane in "John Adams" and various other roles -- be sure to take a look:
http://home.earthlink.net/~stephendillane/index.html
This is an old post, but I'm just now seeing "John Adams" and Dillane has sparked an infatuation for Jefferson with me. What woman could watch this movie and not be completely smitten with Dillane afterwards??? And by proxy, Jefferson?
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm eternally grateful for Dillane for turning me on to Jefferson because since watching the series I have read everything I could get my eyes on about Jefferson and he is even more amazing than I had ever thought! By far my favorite president now...even surpassing Reagan. And for me, that's saying a lot!
Thank you Dillane for being so yummy and turning me on to Jefferson!
BTW, I found this post because I googled "I love Thomas Jefferson"...or maybe it was "crazy about Thomas Jefferson". Yeah, I think that was it.