The Special Relationship (2010)

Posted by moviegeek916 on September 17, 2011 · Leave a Comment 

The Special Relationship (2010) — So this is the third of writer Peter Morgan’s “Tony Blair Trilogy” (after The Deal and The Queen) starring Michael Sheen as Blair.  I didn’t see those other two movies though so I went in free of expectation.  I thought Sheen was great and can see why they keep asking him to play the role.  This film focuses on the relationship between Blair and United States President Bill Clinton (Dennis Quaid).  Quaid gets the mannerisms right and does a good job acting-wide but he doesn’t quite nail the voice.  He sounds like something between Clinton and Forrest Gump.  This film made me look at the political landscape of the late 1990s in a way I did not at the time (probably because I was 12-15) and really did a good job depicting the sort of deals that shape international policy.  The movie, while focusing on Blair and Clinton, gives some foreshadowing of Blair’s somewhat more troublesome relationship with George W. Bush (represented by archived footage, not an actor).  As an appropriate indicator of things to come, the movie even begins with an Oscar Wilde quote “True friends stab you in the front.”

Filed under Film, Old Facebook Minireviews, TV · Tagged with 2010, Bill Clinton, Dennis Quaid, Forrest Gump, George W. Bush, HBO, Michael Sheen, Oscar Wilde, Peter Morgan, Richard Loncraine, The Deal, The Queen, The Special Relationship, Tony Blair, true story