Best damn miniseries I have seen in my life!!!!
Does anyone here agree :)
shareI've gone through the series a few times, and I have increasingly mixed, though mostly positive, feelings.
I think there's a lot of great things about the series: general historical accuracy and attention to detail (with an acceptable degree of dramatic license), excellent acting from almost everyone, brilliant music and art direction. The best episodes, especially the Independence installment, are some of the finest TV ever filmed, and Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney make a wonderful onscreen couple throughout. More than anything, it's commendable for making a period of history that's generally sentimentalized and sterilized seem vivid and real.
There are some things which bother me though, especially on the rewatches. I find the episodes where Adams is in Europe rather dry and hard to sit through - obviously they couldn't add too much without distorting the historical record, but watching Adams fart around Paris feeling useless doesn't make for great TV. I also think the portrayal of certain events and characters is a bit off, especially Alexander Hamilton, though these are in the minority.
Most of all though, I find myself irritated by Tom Hooper's obnoxious, faux-artistic direction. The endless parade of Dutch angles and awkward editing make the show hard to watch at times, and there's a point where it becomes actively annoying. Hooper pulled some similar tricks in The King's Speech, where it didn't work any better.
Still, I mostly enjoy the show in spite of its flaws. With films about the Revolutionary War and colonial America comparatively scarce, it's a must-watch.
"I may not punish you for treason, but I could slap you for stupidity."