Review of The Special Relationship (2010) by Ceph J — 02 Dec 2010

1992 was a good year for liberals because we had Bill Clinton in the White House and across the Atlantic, Tony Blair at 10 Downing St. Clinton was impeached and is now retired from politics. Blair was dumped by this Labor Party after 10 years in office. Personally, the movie is a nostalgic reflection of that era--sound economies in both countries, they were able to govern from left-center and lead their parties after decades of conservative rule. In the 1980s, we had Ronald Regan and the iron lady, Margaret Thatcher in England.

The movie is sentimental about how similar these men were and the special bond between them. It's heartwarming to see how Blair supported Clinton during his impeachment and coaxed him to be more aggressive in responding to world conflict. Michael Sheen, who played Blair in "The Queen" is perfect as Blair. He's such a good actor and fully inhabits the character. Unfortunately, Dennis Qaid plays Clinton as a caricature and Quaid is not quite a good actor, so pales in his scenes with Sheen. When he tells Blair that the American public would like to see him as President, his words ring true because Quaid doesn't quite capture the charm or intelligence of Clinton.

Hope Davis as Hillary and Helen McCrory are supporting and are quite good in the supporting wife roles. Davis has the meatier role and McCrory is written as a sidekick. You have to give credit to screenwriter Peter Morgan who also wrote "The Queen." A very good movie for political observers that, surprisingly, moves along quickly.