good as a slice of history, good acting, slow, overly reverential plot

Rating: 6/10 (16 January 2015)

This is not a movie to be entertained by, more like eating your vegetables, it's overly long, does provide some insight into this specific moment in the civil rights movement but does a disservice, oft discussed, to LBJ. Further, the screenplay is very uneven and the movie just feels too long. Back to LBJ, by almost all historical accounts, his push for civil rights was historic, heroic and heart felt, at the expense of political considerations. Indeed, his efforts allowed the Republican southern strategy to flourish, something he knew might happen but was still considered worth doing simply because it was right. Indeed, if it wasn't for Vietnam, LBJ would have been considered one of the great presidents of the 20th century. So, the confrontation between King and LBJ were ginned up for the purposes of dramatic effect, which I understand, but is simply historically inaccurate. The director admitted as much. Anyway, this is a worthy movie that is not great art. Kind of like 12 years a slave, dutiful, necessary, but really not much more. (except Tim Roth's performance, he rocks, per the usual)