- A- Community Grade John Adams was one of the unlikeliest
founding fathers, more swept up in the events of the American
Revolution than out in front of them. Because of that, he's been
an ideal subject for two ground-level studies of how America
came to be: David McCullough's epic biography John Adams, and
HBO's seven-part, nearly nine-hour adaptation of same. As
portrayed by Paul Giamatti on HBO, Adams is a preening neurotic,
worried about how his peers perceive him. And yet he's hardly
unsympathetic. If anything, Adams' foibles help humanize the
radical changes of the late 18th century. John Adams begins with
Adams' defense of the British soldiers involved in the "Boston
Massacre" and ends with his death on July 4th, 1826—fifty years
after the adoption of the Declaration Of Independence.
Screenwriter Kirk Ellis rolls through history in episodic
fashion, emphasizing the personality clashes behind such
landmark events as the first presidential election and The Alien
& Sedition Acts. Meanwhile, director Tom H