The Special Relationship is between two men, United States President Bill Clinton played by Dennis Quaid and British Prime Minister Tony Blair played again by Michael Sheen OBE. In this film, it examines their friendship and relationship over the course of the Bosnian conflict in the later nineties. It also includes their wives. Hillary Rodham Clinton is played perfectly by Hope Davis. Cherie Blair is played well by Helen McCrory. This film would be wonderful to show school children but because of Clinton's misconduct with Monica Lewinsky and the lewd language. It should not shown at least passed over. I love Michael Sheen's Tony Blair and Dennis Quaid does a fabulous Bill Clinton. It's like a platonic love affair between two men both who admire each other but have differences. The writing could be better but there are great moments in the film between the couples as well.

"All political friendship is strategic and conditional." --Tony Blair adviser.A touching bromance between two heads of state.The Special Relationship refers to that unspoken sexual tension between America and any other country that needs to suckle at her black milk teat so she won't crush them like Hulk crushes puny humans.THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP here alludes to the maternal suckling that President Bill Clinton offered Prime Minister Tony Blair when he took office, acting as adviser, mentor, and dirty uncle who exposed himself.Dennis Quaid is uncanny as Clinton, getting the voice, attitude and hair exactly right; Hope Davis is superb as Hillary, down to the witch's cackle. And Michael Sheen is Tony Blair once again on film. (I was unaware that SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP is in fact the third in writer Peter Morgan's own "special relationship" with Tony Blair as his subject, the first being THE DEAL (2003) then THE QUEEN (2006), all starring Sheen as Blair. Who woulda thought Tony Blair warranted a trilogy?!) RELATIONSHIP is a whirlwind fly-on-the-wall drama, a behind-the-scenes snapshot of a few moments in political history; as Clinton came into his second term as president, Blair was being elected Prime Minister. Movie follows two main events in their interaction - Bubba's Lewinsky indiscretion and how Blair stood by him, and Bubba's Kosovo decisions and how Blair stood over him.All these historical figures are still alive so it is with some speculation we listen to their bedroom chatter, prying into two couples talking about each other the way couples do. While Clinton relaxes on a bed popping chocolates into his mouth, he remarks to Hillary about how handsome Blair is; while Blair's wife Cherie (Helen McCrory) is amused at the U.S. press calling Bill and Hillary "Billary." (Would Blair and Bubba then be "Blubba"?) And what exactly did Bill tell Hillary about Monica? We see him confess like your average contrite philanderer to his frowning, icy wife - yet I very much doubt a president would prostrate himself so emotionally without also an eye towards the indomitable power he wields on the world stage and his wife's conduit to that power were she to keep her mouth shut.On Lewinsky, Blair remarks, "What he does is a private matter and it doesn't affect his ability to govern," publicly standing shoulder to shoulder with Clinton. Supporting a president in return for that president's friendship offers an insight into what might have made Blair W's lapdog. We now see that if one were unaware of Bush's flagrant stupidity, one would adopt the same supportive stance of the American presidency. However, in hindsight, Blair obviously bet on the wrong horse with Bush Jr, and irrevocably sullied his own legacy.SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP keeps the kid gloves on - a little apologist, a little leftist rewriting of history, a little extra sheen on The Sheen; it is, after all, a towering tribute to Tony. (And we thought only superheroes and hobbits warranted trilogies!) Clinton looks like a man who PROBABLY had an affair, and Blair looks dignified and astute in standing up to Clinton against pussyfooting in Kosovo.In 1999, Blair wanted ground troops in Kosovo to augment NATO air strikes against the ethnic cleansing being prosecuted by Yugoslav president Milosevic. Clinton disagreed. Much pouting ensues. Until Blair gives a fiery speech worthy of a King or a Kennedy, "...Let no one doubt again the moral justification for invading another country for humanitarian ends!" making 70% of Americans at the time poll that they wouldn't mind Blair as president. And we clearly see the signposts leading to why Blair supported Idiot Bush's Iraq.Newspaper article: "Listening to the press conference one could not help but note how much Clinton could have learned from his Churchillian comrade." In these men's storied lives, only so much can be crammed into two hours screen time, so before we know it, Blair and Clinton are watching W steal the 2000 election from Al Gore on TV. Blair believed, "I would be the senior partner now, Bush would be the junior." And Clinton offers advice, "These guys play rough. Their administration was born in controversy, national shame and illegality - and it's my bet that's the way they'll go out." It's a great line, but was Bill really that prescient? Blair opined he would much rather be in the big room with the people making the decisions than left out. Well, turns out he WAS allowed into the Bush regime's fold by President Dick Cheney - but was relegated to scapegoat and red-headed child.Movie ends with real footage of new president George W. Bush and Tony Blair publicly affirming the relationship between their two countries. And I think this ending warrants another beginning - now we definitely require a Part IV to Peter Morgan's insightful series: "Blair and Bush - The Bitchboy Years." Where once he showed such courage against the establishment, poor Blair was unwittingly caught in the cogs of unbridled stupidity and became the establishment's whipping boy, but if anyone can do it, Morgan would be the researcher to mitigate Blair's bungled alliance during Bush's acid reign.In relationships - even special ones - everyone deserves a second chance at bromance.

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.

The Special Relationship is a disappointing and shallow film about Tony Blair's relationship with two U.S. presidents. Blair is a conundrum and probably only his wife really knows what makes him tick. Peter Morgan has almost become Blair's official biographer in film, however his take on Blair seems superficial and simple-minded. Morgan's Blair is likable, charismatic, loyal and sincere. He's also a devoted family man and a Christian. In this film he is constantly trying to do the right thing and comes off like a cross between a soap-opera character and a secular saint. Most people in Britain wouldn't buy into this interpretation.The men and women who become the leaders of countries are usually incredibly ambitious, manipulative and complicated. They often like Clinton and Kennedy have potentially self destructive appetites. Blair we are meant to believe is just like a suburban dad. I have always been somewhat cynical about Blair's motives. When I first came across him during an election campaign in 1983 he was a socialist who recommended nationalization and nuclear disarmament. He gradually moved to the right and around 2003 became a fully fledged neocon. This film suggests that Blair was basically a good guy trying to help the oppressed peoples of the world. For most people in Britain he is someone who put the interests of the United States above those of his own country. Not surprisingly he is still popular in the US but at home he hasn't been forgiven for supporting the Iraq War and for claiming that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. Blair left office with approval ratings in the mid-twenties and British newspaper columnists love to write negative articles about him. The big mystery is what motivated his course of action, until his liaison with Bush he was popular. Since his resignation in 2007 Blair has done well financially out of his unwavering support for US foreign policy. In Polanski's the Ghost Writer it is even suggested that Blair was working for the CIA. It's a mystery this film doesn't help solve. MI5 has gone on record to say that Saddam wasn't a threat to Britain in 2003. The Special Relationship is a throw-back to the biopics of the 1940s when "great men" were viewed sympathetically. I am looking forward to someday watching a film about the real Tony Blair. He is a more interesting character than the portrait painted in this simple-minded rationalization.