It's wonderful to see such an intimate portrait of historical figures who appeared to me, thus far, as figures in paintings, like greek statues or paintings of aristocrats. I love hearing the theoretical accents of people of Revolutionary America and their changing fashions and cadences. I trust that the series has been thoroughly researched and I can thus draw conclusions about the lives of early Americans. Like that they didn't have much stuff at all. What cluttered lives we live. Even the rich people in Europe had vacant homes, in order to impress one with the enormity of their spaces, I assume.
Laura Linney is great. But I must say that Abigail Adams appears to be the most perfect, wise, and sensitive person ever created. Aside from feeling unstable due to the prolonged absence of her husband, she never seems to falter from being an intellectual and poetic ideal. It's a bit much. Paul Giamatti somehow erases his Italian ancestry and appears an uptight, New England stoic. I really enjoy the increasing cantankerous crankiness present in the character.
Thus far, the supporting characters have been fascinating, especially Thomas Jefferson (Stephen Dillane), Sam Adams (Danny Huston), King George (Tom Hollander) and Tom Wilkinson as Benjamin Franklin. I like the inclusion of Adams' children's lives, although they seem to be narrow depictions of dutiful, eldest son, rebellious middle child and attentive mother-modeled daughter. But they complement the depiction of the founding father's character and life-narrative.
There are way too many canted angles and the regular, highly-mixed sound of insects buzzing becomes repetitive. It's useful to illustrate the different standards of cleanliness and the rugged nature of lives of the time, as well as to illustrate the increasing madness of Adams' fevered state while in the Netherlands, but it is too loud. It gets repetitive and annoyingly noticeable as the series progresses.
I've only seen the first five episodes, so there will surely be more to follow on this series.
So HBO executives and Tom Hanks, super producer, make more of these. Thank you Tom Hanks for providing better entertainment as a producer than as an actor. It's true... Band of Brothers, John Adams, From the Earth to the Moon etc... I therefore forgive him for Polar Express, a beloved childrens book ruined by creepy CGI and a mediocre, boring plot.
Back when people took their nation's politics seriously.
