SmugKitZine Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Davis P Game Change is the 2012 HBO film about the John McCain-Sarah Palin campaign against Barack Obama and Joe Biden in 2008. First of all, this movie is very well acted by all in it, including the stars: Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson, Ed Harris, and Sarah Pulson. I absolutely loved Julianne Moore's representation of Sarah Palin, if you would've seen her coming, you would've thought it was Sarah herself, the hair and makeup crew did a fantastic job with that. In many scenes tensions run high and there is a lot of fighting, and the actors really come out and shine in those scenes, which was very cool to see. The chemistry between all the characters really clicked as well. The dialogue in the film is also very good and well put together. A lot of people claimed this film was just a bunch of liberals painting conservatives in a bad light, although that's not what they did at all. They simply took the facts that were in the book Game Change and visualized them through film. This movie was very well acted and written, Game Change will also make you very thankful for the outcome of the 2008 presidential election haha. 7/10 for Game Change.

petarmatic I love watching films about American politics. Especially when liberal Hollywood makes film about the Republicans. Hell it is a clash of civilizations! In this particular film I love acting, these characters really look like real politicians. I especially loved Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin and Woody Harelson as Shmidt. This is a moment to pay a tribute to Woody for all the great roles he did in his past. Woody we remember you drinking beer in Sarajevo. Many more great roles, especially acting defeated Republican political advisers.All in all if you like politics, and most of you do, and if you like good acting, and most of you do, this is a film for you.

jjnxn-1 Julianne Moore scores a personal triumph in this making a woman who is basically an unqualified not terribly bright egoist at least seem human and somewhat used. Quite a feat. Amazingly up until this she had been slighted as far as major award recognition of her talent went, happily this superior work has corrected that. The rest of the production is high caliber with exemplary work from Ed Harris, Sarah Paulson and particularly Woody Harrelson. The rest of the supporting cast, Peter MacNicol, Larry Sullivan et. al, is just as strong. The mingling of actual footage from the campaign and the actors is done seamlessly and adds to the immediacy of the film. It's disquieting though to realize how close an uninformed puppet came to a seat of supreme power.

Robert W. Make no mistake, Game Change is about Sarah Palin period. Most of the things you read about it will say it chronicles John McCain's 2008 Presidential bid from choosing Palin as his running mate to their eventual defeat. This is true to a certain degree but the focus of the film, the entire purpose is to chronicle Sarah Palin, and they do so absolutely brilliantly thanks to an incredible starring performance and a very well written intelligent script. The film is often riveting and very well put together. The pacing is perfect and perhaps one of the smartest things about the film is that it is mainstreamed so that absolutely anyone can understand it, follow it, appreciate it, and be entertained but still find a deeper understanding of both Palin and McCain. I'm a democrat to the core (which is not up for debate and doesn't matter at all), but watching Game Change gave me a whole new opinion, and vision of both of the lead characters. The film does not trash Palin or McCain, and in fact gives, what I believe, is an unbiased, fair and solid vision of the race and the people involved.I've never been really impressed with Julianne Moore though she's had some good roles. So in my opinion this was literally and hands down the best role of Moore's career. She doesn't just become Palin, she shows this woman's chemistry, charisma, brilliance, downfalls, shortcomings, quirks, personality...she brings her to life. Obviously Palin fans won't necessarily like the negative sides of her personality but Moore plays her with such empathy and power. I never understood Palin's draw that she had until I watched this movie. She was an every woman, she was America's mom and you see all this in the film. One of the only downsides to this movie was I could have watched Ed Harris play John McCain in an entire film on his own. He is brilliant. I don't like the constant barrage of cursing the he does (was this really a John McCain quirk?) but that's not Harris' performance but rather the script. He gives a powerhouse performance and commands the screen every time he is on it which isn't enough. Woody Harrelson gives a subtle and yet powerful performance as campaign manager Steve Schmidt. I actually his performance is slightly toned down to not overpower that of Harris and Moore. He still is one to watch with his emotions and facial intensity. The supporting cast is a virtual whose who of Television and movie actors. A few of the more stand out performances are given by Peter MacNicol, Sarah Paulson, and Ron Livingston.Part of the brilliance of the film is how to incorporates live footage in with the actors. The scenes where Moore as Palin debates with Joe Biden, splicing together actual footage of him was brilliantly done. Clearly director Jay Roach knows his way around the political game having previously done Recount and even using his knowledge as a comedic film maker and a political know how to make The Campaign (a surprisingly hilarious and completely unbiased look at the election process.) I understand John McCain has personally spoke out against Game Change calling it false and essentially garbage but I don't think the film is negative in any way. I think it is showing the ins and outs, the mistakes and the successes of their campaign. I am certain that a similar film could be made about Obama's campaign only with a different outcome. The film is really well made despite the grievous error (in my opinion) of having so much bad language jammed in there for no reason. The musical montage with Palin getting dressed is almost a step into too mainstream waters but these tiny little missteps aside, this is one great political film thanks to a smart script and two powerful lead performances well deserving of their Golden Globe Nominations. 8.5/10