a delicate theme. and inspired art to give to it the right image. brilliant performances. and a rare portrait of Lyndon B. Johnson out of clichés and sketches and the South stereotypes.its significant gift - to present a realistic portrait of states behind the scenes of war. behind decisions. behind the verdicts from all the parts. a real surprise - Alec Baldwin as Robert McNamara. a surprise not for the talent to define a complex character but for the art to define his fragile equilibrium in the middle of high pressure. Alecc Baldwin imposes his character as pillar of many scenes and easily becomes the lead character. and that is one of the fundamental motifs to admire this special film. special for its status of trip in the deep reality of a period. for the force to remind the roots of a history page. for the image of sacrifices, frustrations and ideals, doubts and expressions of force. for be something different, more than a docudrama or artistic movie. a great support for reflection. and for understand. the rhythm, the direction, the bitter taste of making history.

Many today are not aware of the LBJ Whitehouse and the political side of the Vietnam war told from this perspective. This should be a must see in all schools today to better understand this part of our history. Good look at Johnson's feelings towards the Kennedy's which I don't think is widely known. If after seeing this you are still not sure why the military should run wars and not the Whitehouse watch the PBS series Battlefield Vietnam. I think this is a must see... 9/10

Of course, it's a long film as is, but the main defect is not giving more detail in regard to military and political strategies and the "politicking" and real motivations that underlay them. These are touched on, but one supposes within time restrictions they could not have been explored more interestingly. Johnson's character is well presented by the story and by Michael Gambon. The rest of the cast are quite up to his level. Direction is tight, but editing seems chaotic. This may have been intended as hinting at the "chaos" that was "The Vietnam War".

A superb HBO Production directed by John Frankenheimer. Provocative and insightful. I don't vouch that the story is even-handed, but none the less informative, interesting and believable. President Johnson(Michael Gambon)painfully watches his plans for a "Great Society" crumble as the war in Viet Nam escalates. Most impressive is Alec Baldwin as Robert McNamara. Equally strong is Donald Southerland playing Clark Clifford. Also of note are:Bruce McGill, Tom Skerritt and Philip Baker Hall. This is well packed fodder for those still debating the Viet Nam Conflict. Highly recommended.