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The story of U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson from his young days in West Texas to the White House.
What happened to Rob Reiner? The once-great director, responsible for a streak of instant classics – “This Is Spinal Tap,” “Stand by Me,” “The Princess Bride,” “When Harry Met Sally,” “Misery,” “A Few Good Men” – suddenly popped some sort of pill that twisted his vision and resulted in 1994’s “North,” the abysmal musical flop infamous for Bruce Willis sporting a pink bunny suit. As the pill’s effect took hold, Reiner mustered one more decent feature – the Aaron Sorkin-scripted ode to democracy, “The American President” – before delving deep into bland romcom murk.
The titles speak for themselves: “The Story of Us,” “Alex & Emma,” “Rumor Has It,” “The Bucket List,” and so it goes… As in, “And So It Goes,” Reiner’s 2014 stab at Nancy Meyers fare – but even the presence of such stalwarts as Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton couldn’t alleviate the sour odor of a once-great mind grown stale. Aside from the intermittent amusing acting turn (see: Max Belfort in “The Wolf of Wall Street”), Reiner’s career seems to have dwindled into oblivion.
All these romcoms tried hard to recapture the spontaneity and charm of “When Harry Met Sally,” while 2010’s “Flipped” and 2015’s “Being Charlie” saw the director struggling to revisit the grit and nostalgia of “Stand by Me.” Now here comes “LBJ,” Rob Reiner’s spiritual successor to “The American President,” and another presidential biopic in a cascade of cinematic depictions of historical political figures (“J. Edgar,” “Lincoln,” “Hyde Park on Hudson,” “Jackie,” “Churchill” among others). Reiner seems to have rediscovered the pill container that made him trip out in 1994 – and shared them with his cast, who ham up a storm.
The story begins with Lyndon B. Johnson (Woody Harrelson, in heavy prosthetics), accompanied by his right hand Walter Jenkins (C. Thomas Howell) and wife Lady Bird (Jennifer Jason Leigh), greeting the Kennedys – John, Bobby and Jackie (Jeffrey Donovan, Michael Stahl-David and Kim Allen, respectively) – during their famous arrival at Dallas Love Field (that pink dress!). Johnson, desperate to win the election but “afraid people won’t love him,” compares the beautiful Kennedys to show horses, while seeing himself as a Texas work stallion; a man of great ideas vs. a man “who can deliver.”
After a slew of proceedings, consisting mostly of men scheming/speechifying in darkly lit rooms, LBJ loses the election to Kennedy. In his role as VP, he becomes the liaison between the “progressive” Kennedys and the South, led by sleazy, racist senator Richard Russell (Richard Jenkins). The passing of the Civil Rights bill becomes the running thread through the dragging narrative. Things do pick up a little at about the halfway point, with yet another all-too-quick depiction of that horrible day at Dealey Plaza. With a sudden shift in character, Johnson becomes a focused hero, fighting for what’s right – until, that is, a lengthy afterword reminds us about, you know, his whole stance on the Vietnam War (he was an avid supporter). Guess there are two sides to every coin.
Problem is, neither side is well examined. The film seems to struggle to make itself relevant in light of the current presidency, spending a significant amount of its running time emphasizing Johnson’s Southern arrogance and contrasting him against the righteous Kennedys – yet it backs out at the last minute, making him a hero. Reiner also seems to forget to develop three-dimensional supporting characters and, most importantly, a compelling plot.
The director relies so heavily on schmaltz to mask the lack of actual emotion, the feature becomes increasingly difficult to digest. The same sentimental trappings befell “The American President,” but that film was at least saved by Sorkin’s script and its restrained performances – particularly Annette Benning’s, a strong female character who led us through the chauvinist world of the White House. Here, poor Jennifer Jason Leigh is delegated to the loving/supporting wife role. Way to regress, Reiner!
Harrelson is unleashed here, a disrespectful, conniving egomaniac who defecates with the door open. While he’s imminently watchable, despite the atrocious make-up, the actor is at the mercy of his confused leader here, trying his best to make his loathable character turn compelling and likable. Everyone else struggles to catch up with him, Ralph Yarborough/Bill Pullman’s reaction shots during the final rousing speech particularly priceless. Unsurprisingly, Richard Jenkins comes off best in a thankless role – he and Harrelson get one memorable – and highly uncomfortable – exchange featuring a black servant.
Despite all the overacting, the film is as dull as a congressional hearing, ticking off all the biopic clichés in the book: archive footage, glamorized lighting, and patriotic lectures. That said, the film is handsomely shot by Barry Markowitz. It’s not utterly horrible or offensive. It’s just… unnecessary. “Power is where power goes,” LBJ says in one scene. Rob Reiner’s power as a filmmaker seems to have shut down entirely.
In theaters Friday, November 3rd
