“All The Way” is the new HBO movie based on the Broadway play of the same title. It tells the story of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s life between November of 1963 when John F. Kennedy was assassinated, to the presidential election of 1964 in November of that year. Bryan Cranston, known for playing Walter White in "Breaking Bad," plays LBJ in both the play and the movie. Cranston was just flawless in this film. He completely imitates the persona of LBJ.
Anthony Mackie played Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr, and was surprisingly very good. I thought that the bar was set high after David Oyelowo played King in "Selma" two years ago, but I thought Mackie was just as good. The acting in the film was all around amazing, but the best part is the way they connect the world of politics to the world of activism. The Civil Rights movement was captured so well in the movie, covering lesser-known activists in the movement such as Bob Mosses, Frannie Lou Hamer and Stokely Carmichael and their creation of the Mississippi Freedom Summer in 1964.
During this period of great tension, the Democratic Party was split, with southern democrats (“Dixiecrats”) wanting to hold on to their southern heritage and stop desegregation at all cost, while the more liberal democrats wanted to pass a civil rights bill that made segregation illegal. LBJ, who grew up in Texas, worked with a lot of those "Dixiecrats," and had sympathy for them. He knew if he didn’t please them, he would lose the 1964 election. However, he had taught at a segregated school and understood the horrors of living with the system. LBJ wanted the system to change, but he knew that he had to play politics to do it. This film shows us the chemistry between LBJ and MLK so well and, if you want my opinion, I think every history teacher in the nation should show this film in their classes. It's exciting, simple enough for people to understand, and shows how the nation has progressed so much.
So, many people today don’t like politicians, or politics in general because they feel that it’s a lot of dirty work. That’s why they don’t vote because they think the entire is system is against them. This movie shows us that politics might be dirty, but that the only way we can live in a just society is if people get educated about the facts and are active in the political process. Then, change can happen for the good. This is what MLK did, I feel that we have lost that sense of pushing back against the government in a time when there are problems that need to be solved. Check out this movie and prepared to be inspired to stand up and fight!
