AU H20

Author(s): Chris K. (AZ)
AU H2O

Directed by Peter Berg
Written by Aaron Sorkin
Produced by Miramax

Main Cast

Ed Harris as Barry Goldwater
Chris Cooper as Ronald Reagan
Vincent D’Onofrio as Karl Hess
Joshua Molina as John Grenier
John Goodman as Dean Burch
Laurence Fishburne as Thurgood Marshall
Tommy Lee Jones as President Lyndon B. Johnson

Tagline: “We were a nation divided and his film is just that”

Synopsis:

First Chapter- Convention part 1
Outrageous applause, Overwhelming jeers, Fear, Wonder, Racist, Revolutionist, and the new Republican nominee for President of the United States Barry Goldwater, a senator from Arizona champion of the conservatives. Karl Hess an activist who has been compared to communists, John Grenier a lawyer who is a rising star in the republican party, and Dean Burch Goldwater’s Arizonan on the staff have all joined together to bring a speech that will join together the Conservative base. This task is daunting because so many want Goldwater to win but at the same time a loss would be a victory. As things begin to unfold for them Ronald Reagan comes to them on screen as they begin to finish. His speech is so persuasive that even at the beginning they have to revamp the speech. As sweat pounds upon paper and pens fly across them you can see their growing anxiety. They only have twenty minutes to finish up a speech that will outshine Reagan’s and create a perception of their candidate that will appeal to all voters if a victory is going to be considered in November

Second Chapter- November 3
Election Day has arrived and in Arizona Barry Goldwater is waiting in line with voters ready to vote. As he speaks to the voters they get to witness first hand the reason he got this far. Early polling has him winning the deeply conservative south and this is welcomed with raucous applause but then the rest of the nation seems to be trending towards President Johnson instead of Senator Goldwater. As the he along with his staff console each other it is announced that Arizona voted for Barry and this lightens up the mood that has taken over all of them. With the major loss that he has been dealt as all candidates do he concedes and congratulates Johnson on his victory. Goldwater gives his thanks to all his supporters than leaves the national stage. When he gets off stage the last thing he says is to Ronald Reagan which he says to him “Go get ‘em”

Third Chapter- Intimidation and Mud Slinging
Many wonder the reasons why Barry Goldwater lost in that election it could go to many reasons. The First could have been when Thurgood Marshall met with Barry Goldwater after the vote for the Civil Rights Act which Goldwater voted against. As they talked about their opinions the anger Marshall had when he went in lessened as Goldwater’s argument for his vote made sense. He approved the overall effect of this piece of legislation it restricted personal freedoms on citizens. After he held a press conference where he portrayed the message that Goldwater wasn’t a racist the NAACP could not support him. The Second problem was the infamous video’s Johnson issued which were controversial and created Mud Slinging but never used this effectively as he did. The last was the “treatment” used by President Johnson used on people to pressure them into supporting his plans. In this case its Johnson versus Goldwater and it begins and ends with Johnson constantly attacking but never letting Goldwater have a thing to say. It showed how Goldwater was courteous and listened and Johnson as an attack dog usually assumed for the vice-presidency.

Fourth Chapter- Convention part 2
The speech is almost finished as lines are thrown in and they get to Mr. Goldwater who is optimistic after reading it. As they walk out Reagan walks by and you can see the praise Goldwater receives while they were shaking hands. As he starts his speech people in the audience are reacting with boo’s and applause. By the end it’s seemingly the roof will blow of its top. As he is shaking hands with the audience Dean Burch, Karl Hess, and John Grenier all approve that they have a shot come November if everything goes the way it should.

What the Press would say:

AU H2O is a film that relives the year of 1964 with the presidential election. It ended sadly for Barry Goldwater but created a new world and changed our political races forever. This film uses a cast of classic actors and lesser known character actors. IT starts and ends with two performances throughout the film. Ed Harris uses his acting credits (Pollock) to the fullest extent and made this biopic a great piece of work and has that believability some films have with portrayals of real people. He never lets up as it goes along and critics are in love with this performance and an Academy Award is not out of his eyes. The second performance is by Tommy Lee Jones (In the Valley of Elah) which emulates President Lyndon B. Johnson perfectly and does it with style. Making a role that is only in thirty minutes he comes out and shows us why we remember him so clearly. The next two parts were instrumental to the films success. The writing of Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men) uses less humor and more style than he has ever done. An Oscar has never been so deserving of him with his adaptation of Goldwater’s biography and keeps the realism films seem to lose in that transition. The final aspect is the direction by Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) who creates that realism that biopic’s sometimes miss and he does it with style. He creates a set that allows these great actors flexibility but controls them from over doing it. This film shows the realism of this campaign through it’s hopeful beginnings to it’s destructive end and allows the reader a visual spectacle that will keep Goldwater’s image alive within people who are distant with that period of time that so defined us all in different ways.

He championed a brand of rugged individualism, and he never hesitated to speak his mind. He could be both colorful and profane, and he often said things he later wished he hadn't. "Barry, you speak too quick and too loud," former president Dwight D. Eisenhower once told him, and Mr. Goldwater acknowledged that Eisenhower was right, but it made a colorful personality that lives with us today reunited with this film so come Oscar time it should receive recognition in the following categories.

FYC

Best Picture
Best Director- Peter Berg
Best Actor- Ed Harris
Best Supporting Actor- Tommy Lee Jones
Best Adapted Screenplay- Aaron Sorkin