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.

What can the average Briton say about Tony Blair ? Lots of things and none of them complimentary . A few months ago former Labour party leader Michael Foot died so we got the retrospective memoriam and one can't help feeling nostalgic for the very democratic society we had in Britain circa 1983 . You might not have agreed with Foot or Prime Minister Magaret Thatcher but you couldn't deny that both were driven by principles . Indeed included amongst the reportage of Michael Foot we saw him leading a march for the unemployed . Now hands up anyone who has ever seen any Senior figure from the Labour Party in the last twenty years even make the token gesture of being on the side of the proles ? Yeah I thought not . Blair was Prime Minister through default . Never one to miss the opportunity for a photo call or a sound bite he was very lucky to become party leader due to the death of John Smith , though he wasn't so lucky to become Prime Minister . Politics in Britain is very cyclical in that a government spends many years in power with the opposition getting voted in simply because they're not government party From the outset THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP paints Tony Blair in a subtle way . He comes across as some type of outsider who wants to be the most popular person in the room but doesn't know how to go about . Realists will state with more than a little cynicism that if that's the case Blair is in he wrong game , but to give Blair is due he had a damned good try . The film starts in 1992 where on a trip to Washington Blair is introduced to the American Democratic spin machine and is told in detail what voter demographic to target , Tellingly he's also told that crime weighs heavily in elections . No one honestly thought that during his tenure as shadow home secretary Blair thought up his sound bite catchphrase of " tough on crime - tough on the causes of crime " on his own and it's here it's revealed as being the invention of American spin doctors . Shows you how bad a politician he is if he has to travel over 3,000 miles to steal a sound bite off someone else Whilst never hitting upon out and out satire the subtle , somewhat cynical nature of THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP entirely rings true . Not only is Tony Blair wanting to be best friends with the USA he also wants to be best friends with everyone in Europe in general and the French in particular . He assures French President Jacques Chirac that " I've always been a European and will always remain a European " . Jump forward to May 1997 and Blair is taking congratulations from Chirac over the phone only for the call to be cancelled when President Clinton calls . What makes the scene so amusing is that Blair is crestfallen when he realises Clinton has him on hold . I'll say one thing about Blair and that is he's very forgiving . Most people would have held a grudge at this display of bad manners . That said however very few people spend their entire lives trying to be best friends with the most powerful man on the planet . What the film is very good at it is comparing the contrast between Blair and Clinton . Blair comes across as a rather weak personality but a brilliant politician where as Clinton comes across as a weak politician but having a forceful personality compensating for his character and political flaws What the film does rather badly - and it's a pretty big fault - is the motivation of the two leaders over Kosovo . Blair and Clinton had a difference of opinion over the conflict with the American President wanting to limit the war to air strikes while the British Prime Minister wanted to send a NATO ground force in to the province from the outset . But is this actually true ? If so why'd Blair suddenly turn in to a real life Russell Crowe character ? Were his motives genuine or was he just wanting to impress his best friend President Clinton . We've all seen the real life Tony Blair give Churchillian speeches about upholding international law and human rights but was he really being so principled ? One hopes when we get THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP 2 - BUSH AND BLAIR we get to see much more behind closed door scenes honestly explaining why Blair seemed to hang on to Bush's coat tails so tightly The cast as can be expected are very good . One can't help thinking what Michael Sheen would be like playing a fictional character . Imagine if Steven Moffat cast him as The Doctor in DOCTOR WHO . Would he be so good at playing someone from scratch ? He is certainly nothing less than brilliant playing diverse real life characters such as Kenneth Williams , David Frost and Brian Clough and it'd be very very uncharitable to state he seems to have played Tony Blair more often than Tony Blair did . Denis Quaid is an revelation as Bill Clinton and who can understand why Clinton got away with so much during his tenure of President by sheer force of personality alone . It's a very good on form cast who rise above the sometimes underwritten motives of their characters

Following the "secret" story of his election (The Deal) and his first major crisis (The Queen), writer Peter Morgan ends his unofficial Tony Blair trilogy with one of the most famous aspects of the man's political career: his friendship with US President Bill Clinton, and the hopes and problems that came with it.The film, made as a co-production between BBC and HBO (where it premiered in May 2010, though it has been picked up for theatrical release in other countries), starts in slightly familiar territory, showing us Blair (played, once again, by Michael Sheen) before he was elected, and the same goes for Clinton (Dennis Quaid), who immediately befriends the British politician on the grounds that they have a lot in common: young (politically speaking), ambitious and eager to make a difference in their respective governments. Once both men are in office, the cooperation goes very smoothly, prompting the media - and the two friends themselves - to talk about a "special relationship" between America and Great Britain. However, like most relationships, it has to face some hard times, most notably the conflict in the former Jugoslavia and, on a more private front, the Lewinsky scandal, which drives a wedge between Bill and Hillary (Leslie Hope) and Tony and Cherie (Helen McCrory, reprising her role from The Queen).Like most of Morgan's work, The Special Relationship puts a lot of emphasis on character and performance, especially Sheen who, by now, wears Blair's clothes and mannerisms like they were a second skin, a fact that becomes more evident when archive footage is used to show the man's first encounter with a very different Commander in Chief (one George W. Bush), and he's ably assisted by the excellent Quaid who, having already played a President in American Dreamz, gets past the not-so-perfect physical resemblance between himself and the real Clinton to deliver a fully formed portrayal of a flawed, but very charismatic individual. On the female side, Hope is the usual guarantee of quality, while McCrory is a bit of a revelation, taking advantage of the increase in screen-time she has been granted compared to The Queen.That said, the film is probably the least dramatically poignant of the trilogy. Maybe it has to do with the change in the director's chair (goodbye Stephen Frears, hello Richard Loncraine), but the real reason is the excessive familiarity of the material: whereas The Deal and The Queen dealt with the unseen (and largely fictionalized) side of their respective stories, The Special Relationship centers around a piece of Anglo-American history that has been widely covered multiple times, meaning there's very little on screen, no matter how entertaining, that people haven't heard of before.Overall, a slightly underwhelming but consistently amusing look at the workings of English and US politics, propelled by a flawless double act and some Aaron Sorkin-like writing. If this is the last we'll see of Michael Sheen as Tony Blair, one thing is clear: it's been a very pleasant experience.7,5/10

This is set during the 90s with hopeful Labour candidate Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) looking to help his party claim victory in a general election for the first time in over twenty years. He intends to boost his popularity by meeting with the US President Bill Clinton (Dennis Quaid). The plan works for the polls and it also sparks a friendship between the two leaders. One aspect they share in common is that they are both watched over by their dominant wives Hilary Clinton (Hope Davis) and Cherie Blair (Helen McCrory). Their friendship continues over the years and is tested most fiercely during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Despite being mocked by the other world leaders, Blair stands up for Clinton without knowing the whole truth. Having shown his loyalty, Blair sees this as an opportunity to pressure the experienced US President when it counts most, specifically during the Bosnian War. He calls upon the reluctant US government to commit ground troops to combat the invasion, further testing his friendship with Clinton.Despite having the credentials of Peter Morgan as a screenwriter, who previously wrote The Queen and Frost/Nixon, this compelling film is not being as widely distributed as it should be. It is being released in only three countries, including the US as a telemovie by HBO. It is disappointing that it will not reach a wider audience because director Richard Loncraine has taken a new side of the Clinton/Lewinsky drama, showing the development of a power game that would haunt Blair throughout the rest of his political career. As with Frost/Nixon the main players here are shown in a human light but with slightly more humour this time. Both Blair and Clinton are shown at home, interacting with their families to make them seem more relatable before their fatal mistakes. It pays off in the final third, the most intensely told portion of the story, with Blair's self-righteousness and overtly Christian values becoming more apparent as he tries to justify the British and US involvement with the Bosnian crisis. The film is structured like a Greek tragedy, given that Blair's hubris takes over, believing that his involvement with the Republicans will be a similar relationship to the one he shared with Clinton. It is because of the disaster of the war in Iraq that the audience realises that this will not be the case, giving the film powerful dramatic irony. It is with these final moments of The Special Relationship, particularly when Clinton warns him about what is to come, that the film accentuates its point and truly soars.The essence of this film is a character study and the performances are uniformly excellent. Although Dennis Quaid might have once seemed like a rather unlikely choice to play Clinton he embodies this role so well that it becomes more than just an impersonation. He balances the key aspects of Clinton's leadership, as a hugely charismatic and inviting person but there is also something far more sinister that arises in him when he confronts Blair about the crisis. The film asserts that Clinton never stopped being a politician, even in the face of Hilary when he lies straight to her about his involvement with Lewinsky. The only hint of vulnerability he shares is when he looks out a car window at the US Capitol, perhaps realising the dwindling nature of his legacy and reputation. Michael Sheen has played Blair before and here he characterises him as a bumbling Englishman who is initially in awe of his situation. The way that he becomes more and more self-assured does not feel rushed or contrived but entirely believable because of our knowledge about the sort of person he would grow into. The roles of both women have not been underwritten either. They're both characterised and performed sharply as powerful and unflinching. Though there are light comic touches applied to Cherie, such as when Blair asks if she would leave him under the same circumstances and she says: "no...but I would make your life hell".This is an intense and grossing political drama that not only speaks about transnational negotiations but it also broadens one's perspective of particular political events and how they would influence the future. The events are told precisely with both humour and intensity, begging the question as to why the film itself has such minimal distribution. Those that do see the film will be engaged by the quality of the top performances, particularly Dennis Quaid who brings power and humanity to a distinct historical figure. It's an important political film because it reflects on how these events would continue to influence some of the most significant choices made by politicians in the 21st century.