Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Emil Bakkum The film The special relationship is a sequel of the film The deal, which I also reviewed on IMDb. The Deal describes how Tony Blair attains the leadership of the English Labour Party. His competitor was Gordon Brown ("When Brown leaves the room, the lights go on"). In the sequel the first years of Blair in power as prime minister of England are depicted. The ideology of the old Labour Party had become totally obsolete, and thus Blair tried to modernize her. He was impressed by the ideas of the New Democrats, after their political break-through under Bill Clinton. The Special relationship tells how Clinton and Blair desire to introduce the doctrine of the New Democrats on a global scale. In England she is called the Third Way (compromise between old liberalism and conservatism). Note however the complaint of the English opposition: "Blair has done more U-turns than a dodgy plumber". Of course Clinton is even more ludicrous, due to his affair with Lewinsky. For instance, why does Clinton wear boxer shirts? To keep his ankles warm. Or, a majority of the American women replies to the question "Would you sleep with Clinton?" with "Never again". Nevertheless the producers manage to sketch a vivid and captivating picture of the association between the two leaders and their wives. Indeed the affair and the possible impeachment form a part of the story. Of course the conversations are fictitious, so that realism is not guaranteed. Undoubtedly the importance of Blair is exaggerated, for instance when one of his ministers says: "In the public approval you (Blair) are the number one leader of the world". This mild form of nationalism may be repugnant for American viewers. But the producers are realistic enough to admit that Clinton possesses more power. Blair remains the junior partner. For me as a European is was strange to see the contempt of Blair with respect to the French president Chirac. Still this may be true. Certainly the support of Blair for the American invasion in Irak made him very unpopular on the Continent. In conclusion, The special relationship may stick to the English point of view, but it is made with skill and therefore recommendable. Don't forget to leave comments. I love it.

Danny Blankenship This HBO original movie "The Special Relationship" is a well done drama that follows the inner workings and relationships between the U.S. and the United Kingdom. It mainly focuses on the friendship made between Bill Clinton and Tony Blair and it continues with the election of George W. Bush. Most compelling is seeing how Clinton and Blair try to match political styles. And the film show the struggles of Clinton especially his sex scandal with Monica. Plus Hillary is rightfully portrayed as ego driven and power hungry. The performances were dead on Sheen was brilliant as Blair and Dennis Quaid nailed Bill's southern draw just perfect. And Hope Davis was just fine as Hillary.What can I say it's good to have an international friend and this movie showed how two prime leaders can get along and help make decisions. "The Special Relationship" is one good film to enjoy and feel comfortable with.

freemantle_uk Peter Morgan obviously has two obsessions in his life, Tony Blair and Michael Sheen. He is one of the few big name writers around and after looking at the rise of Tony Blair and how he dealt with the death of Princess Diana, he tackles his first few years a Prime Minister and his friendship with Bill Clinton.The Special Relationship starts in 1992 with Tony Blair's (Sheen) famous visit to America after Bill Clinton (Dennis Quiad) was elected President and in 1996 when as Leader of the Opposition was given almost a state visit by the President. As Prime Minister Blair and Clinton become close friends, believing they could usher in a new centre left progressive age around the world. They work closely together during the Northern Ireland peace process and the Monica Lewinsky scandal, before differing over Kosovo.Morgan is of course a very talented writer, with The Jury, The Deal, The Last King of Scotland and Frost/Nixon all being excellent pieces of work. In a 90 minute package Morgan tries to cover as much ground as possible: anyone interested in government and politics will be hooked to the film. But this is a blurred vision of what happened and this is a fiction because we really don't know what happened behind closed doors. Morgan sets out to show Blair and Clinton were friends more on a political level then a personal level, with Clinton and his staff more willing to ignore Blair. This is a slightly bias account because Morgan ignores that Alistair Campbell (Mark Bazeley) was in reality a vile piece of work when it came to power and the media, always looking for a fight or that Cherie Blair (Helen McCrory) is the type of woman who enjoys all the benefits of power, such as nice shopping trips and getting free gifts. The film also suffers from the benefit of hindsight, with Clinton predicting a new progressive age, considering that he was suffering from a right-wing Republican Congress and America is a right-wing country, coming up with characters that are even worst (Bush Jr. and Sarah Palin), or that Blair seeing it as the West's moral duty to go into Kosovo, leading to some of his arguments with Iraq. The political discussions and philosophy is interesting, but it would have been good to have more of how government and international relations functions.Sheen has made the role of Tony Blair his own and no one else could command that role like he does. He is able to show Blair as either a caring man who thinks he is doing what he thinks is doing the right thing to a selfish man who is only interested in power for himself. But Quiad was a poor choice as Clinton. Quiad was obviously trying his best but he did not have to the look nor able to capture his voice or mannerisms. The other supporting actors were also strong performances.Richard Loncraine does have a form making TV movies, with The Gathering Storm being an award winning film. Considering the material could be dry he was able to tell an fast paced film, balancing the different plots, but it was clear he was working with a limited budget. Many of the scenes were internal and stock footage was used. Loncraine and Morgan should have made The Special Relationship should have been grander, either with electioneering, the planning for the work or the on going struggles the two politicians had to face. It would have been great to see how someone like Aaron Sorkin would have handled the material with his flair and knowledge of politics. Loncraine is not Stephen Freers who handled Morgan's previous Morgan and Sheen originally wanted to make a film about Blair and Bush Jr. but thought that relationship with Clinton was more interesting. That is true because it was more of a partnership between Blair and Clinton because under Bush Blair just gave in to him on everything, Iraq, mission defence and extradition and got nothing in return. Under Bush Blair was a puppet and we all remember during the 2006 Lebanon War Bush just dismissing Blair, with Blair not standing up to Bush. Bush and the neo-cons were so dogmatic that if anyone dogmatic that they set out to destroy or ignore any one who criticised them. It was his way or no way.

edwagreen Dennis Quaid and Mr. Sheen are excellent in the roles of Clinton and Tony Blair respectively.This starts out as Blair being a novice, and quite "nerdy." He looks for Clinton to be a mentor to him. Both are basically liberal and they want to change society from the right that has dominated both countries.It is the Sheen character that really matures as the film goes on. He takes the command regarding Kosovo and comes to Clinton's aid during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.I question the performance of Hope Davis as Hillary Clinton here. While it is true that Hillary has been depicted for her rather cold veneer, Davis seems to miss the mark. It is only when she is senator-elect that she embodies Hillary Clinton.The woman playing Cherie Blair is excellent.There is a good taste of history in this film with the peace efforts in Ireland between Sinn Fein and the IRA.With the style change of a George W. Bush, the film ends, but we have to remember that Blair was an ardent support of Bush's policy is Iraq.