''All the Way'' is a 2016 American

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

based on events during the presidency of

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

. Directed by

Jay Roach Mathew Jay Roach (born June 14, 1957) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the ''Austin Powers'' film series, '' Meet the Parents'', '' Dinner for Schmucks'', '' The Campaign'', '' Trumbo'', and '' Bombshell''. Roach also e ...

and adapted by

Robert Schenkkan Robert Frederic Schenkkan Jr. (born March 19, 1953) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1992 for his play '' The Kentucky Cycle'' and his play '' All the Way'' earned the 2014 Tony Awar ...

from his 2012 play ''All the Way'', the film stars

Bryan Cranston Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor and director who is best known for portraying Walter White in the AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and Hal in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–20 ...

, who reprises his role as Johnson from the play's 2014 Broadway production, opposite

Melissa Leo Melissa Chessington Leo (born September 14, 1960) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and two Critics' Choice A ...

as First Lady

Lady Bird Johnson Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Johnson (''née'' Taylor; December 22, 1912 – July 11, 2007) was First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969 as the wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson. She previously served as Second Lady from 1961 to 1963 whe ...

;

Anthony Mackie Anthony Dwane Mackie (born September 23, 1978) is an American actor. Mackie made his acting debut starring in the semi-biographical drama film '' 8 Mile'' (2002). He was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor for his pe ...

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

leader

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

; and

Frank Langella Frank A. Langella Jr. (; born January 1, 1938) is an American stage and film actor. He has won four Tony Awards: two for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance as Richard Nixon in Peter Morgan's '' Frost/Nixon'' and as André in Flor ...

as U.S. Senator Richard Russell Jr. from Georgia. The film was broadcast on HBO on Saturday, May 21, 2016. The film was well received by critics, with Cranston's portrayal of Johnson garnering praise. It has been nominated for a

Television Critics Association Award The TCA Awards are awards presented by the Television Critics Association in recognition of excellence in television. There are eleven categories, which are presented every summer towards the end of the organization's summer press tour. Due to ...

for Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials, with Cranston also nominated for Individual Achievement in Drama for his work on the film. It was nominated for eight Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Television Movie as well as acting nominations for Cranston and Leo.

Plot

Lyndon Baines Johnson becomes

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

after the

John F. Kennedy assassination John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle wi ...

, assisted and advised by his wife Lady Bird. Johnson enters the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

but soon must work on the passage of the Civil Rights Act.

pressures Johnson to pass the bill without

amendment An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. The ...

s that would defang it;

Southern Democrats Southern Democrats, historically sometimes known colloquially as Dixiecrats, are members of the U.S. Democratic Party who reside in the Southern United States. Southern Democrats were generally much more conservative than Northern Democrats wi ...

such as Richard Russell Jr. of Georgia oppose the bill so much that they may abandon the Democratic Party if the bill passes, and Republicans and Democrats on the fence offer amendments opposed by the liberals and the Civil Rights activists. At the same time, Johnson wants to declare a

War on Poverty The war on poverty is the unofficial name for legislation first introduced by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during his State of the Union address on January 8, 1964. This legislation was proposed by Johnson in response to a national ...

. The Gulf of Tonkin incident causes Johnson to ask Congress for a resolution endorsing a reprisal against

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

, wary of being outflanked on the issue by the Republicans. After successful passage of the Civil Rights Act over a filibuster, Johnson contends for election against Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election. This is complicated by the Freedom Summer movement and pulls between the northern liberal wing and Southern Dixiecrat wing of the Democratic Party. Johnson assigns

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation � ...

to investigate the murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner in Mississippi. The state of Mississippi also sends two delegations to the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City: the "normal" delegation from the Dixiecrat wing, which threatened to walk out on Johnson, and the

Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), also referred to as the Freedom Democratic Party, was an American political party created in 1964 as a branch of the populist Freedom Democratic organization in the state of Mississippi during the ...

, a renegade wing supported by the Civil Rights Movement, but vehemently opposed by other Southerners. Johnson, in a bid to save the South, offers the MFDP a compromise that satisfies neither side; the Mississippi delegation walks out, and the MFDP is unhappy with the two at-large delegates offered to them. Johnson hits Goldwater hard in the election, portraying him as a dangerous fanatic who will destroy the world, but is worried. Johnson's aide and friend

Walter Jenkins Walter Wilson Jenkins (March 23, 1918 – November 23, 1985) was an American political figure and longtime top aide to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. Jenkins' career ended after he was arrested and charged with "disorderly conduct" with ano ...

is arrested for "disorderly conduct" after he is found in a tryst with another man in a public restroom; Johnson has an uncomfortable conversation with Hoover on how this fact slipped by security screening. Martin Luther King wins the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...

; Hoover, still distrusting King, sends him an insulting, anonymous letter demanding King commit suicide, which is ignored. Johnson wins the election conclusively, but the Democratic Party loses the states of the Deep South. Hints of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

, the

Great Society The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States launched by Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964–65. The term was first coined during a 1964 commencement address by President Lyndon B. Johnson at the Universit ...

programs against poverty, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the continuing loss of the South to the Republicans are given at the end.

Cast

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

as First Lady

as Senator Richard B. Russell Jr. *

Bradley Whitford Bradley Whitford (born October 10, 1959) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman in the NBC television political drama ''The West Wing'' (1999–2006), for which he ...

as Senator Hubert H. Humphrey Jr. *

Stephen Root Stephen Root (born November 17, 1951) is an American actor. He has starred as Jimmy James on the television sitcom '' NewsRadio'', as Milton Waddams in the film ''Office Space'' (1999), and provided the voices of Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickl ...

FBI Director The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a United States' federal law enforcement agency, and is responsible for its day-to-day operations. The FBI Director is appointed for a single ...

Marque Richardson Marque Richardson Jr. (born October 23, 1985) is an American actor. Early life Richardson was born in San Diego, California in the U.S., in a naval hospital. Both parents served in the United States Navy. His father hails from Detroit, Michi ...

as Bob Moses *

Aisha Hinds Aisha Jamila Hinds is an American television, stage and film actress. She had supporting roles in a number of television series, include ''The Shield'', ''Invasion'', ''True Blood'', ''Detroit 1-8-7'' and '' Under the Dome''. In 2016, she played ...

Fannie Lou Hamer Fannie Lou Hamer (; Townsend; October 6, 1917 – March 14, 1977) was an American voting and women's rights activist, community organizer, and a leader in the civil rights movement. She was the co-founder and vice-chair of the Freedom De ...

* Todd Weeks as

* Regi Davis as Aaron Henry * Mo McRae as

Stokely Carmichael Kwame Ture (; born Stokely Standiford Churchill Carmichael; June 29, 1941November 15, 1998) was a prominent organizer in the civil rights movement in the United States and the global pan-African movement. Born in Trinidad, he grew up in the Unite ...

Spencer Garrett Spencer Garrett (born September 19, 1963) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films '' Air Force One'' (1997), '' 21'' (2008), '' Public Enemies'' (2009), ''All the Way'' (2016), and '' The Front Runner'' (2018). He is th ...

Walter Reuther Walter Philip Reuther (; September 1, 1907 – May 9, 1970) was an American leader of organized labor and civil rights activist who built the United Automobile Workers (UAW) into one of the most progressive labor unions in American history. He ...

Ken Jenkins Ken Jenkins (born August 28, 1940) is an American actor, best known for his role as Dr. Bob Kelso, the chief of medicine on the American comedy series '' Scrubs'' (2001–2009). He has also had notable appearances in many popular TV shows. Ea ...

as Rep. Howard W. "Judge" Smith *

Jeff Doucette Jeffrey Doucette (born November 25, 1947) is an American character actor. Growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he was the second of eight children born to Elizabeth (Betty Andres) and William (Bill) Doucette. Jeffrey attended Marquette Universit ...

as Senator James Eastland *

Randy Oglesby Thomas Randell Oglesby (born 1949) is an American actor, best known for his recurring role as Degra on '' Star Trek: Enterprise''. He is also known for his other ''Star Trek'' roles, including captain Trena'L in the '' Star Trek: Enterprise'' epi ...

as Senator J. Strom Thurmond * Samantha Bogach as Luci Johnson * Tim True as Deke Deloach * Bruce Nozick as Stanley Levison * Ned Van Zandt as Senator

J. William Fulbright James William Fulbright (April 9, 1905 – February 9, 1995) was an American politician, academic, and statesman who represented Arkansas in the United States Senate from 1945 until his resignation in 1974. , Fulbright is the longest serving chair ...

* Joe O'Connor as Senator

Robert Byrd Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American politician and musician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A ...

Hal Landon Jr. Hal Landon Jr. is an actor most notable for portraying Ted's Dad in the ''Bill & Ted'' franchise. In 1986, he appeared in Highway to Heaven. Life He was a member of the South Coast Repertory in Orange County, California, most notably playing th ...

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

John McCormack * Dan Desmond as Rep. Bill McCulloch * Stoney Westmoreland as Rep.

James C. Corman James Charles Corman (October 20, 1920 – December 30, 2000) was an American politician who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council from 1957 to 1961 and as a member of the United States House of Representatives between 1961 and 1981. ...

* Ray Wise as Senator Everett M. Dirksen * Eric Pumphrey as Dave Dennis * Dohn Norwood as

Ralph Abernathy Ralph David Abernathy Sr. (March 11, 1926 – April 17, 1990) was an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was ordained in the Baptist tradition in 1948. As a leader of the civil rights movement, he was a close friend and ...

Joe Morton Joseph Thomas Morton Jr. (born October 18, 1947) is an American stage, television and film actor. He has worked with film director John Sayles in ''The Brother from Another Planet'' (1984), '' City of Hope'' (1991) and '' Lone Star'' (1996). Oth ...

Roy Wilkins Roy Ottoway Wilkins (August 30, 1901 – September 8, 1981) was a prominent activist in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the 1930s to the 1970s. Wilkins' most notable role was his leadership of the National Association for the ...

Toby Huss Tobias Huss (born December 9, 1966) is an American actor, known for portraying Artie in the Nickelodeon series '' The Adventures of Pete & Pete'' (1993–1996). He is also known for his voice-over work on the long-running animated series ''King of ...

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Paul B. Johnson Jr. Paul Burney Johnson Jr. (January 23, 1916October 14, 1985) was an American attorney and Democratic politician from Mississippi, serving as governor from 1964 until January 1968. He was a son of former Mississippi Governor Paul B. Johnson Sr. ...

Matthew Glave Matthew Glave (born August 19, 1963) is an American actor best known for his roles in ''The Wedding Singer'', '' Picket Fences'', '' Baby's Day Out'', '' ER'', '' Stargate SG-1'', ''Army Wives'', '' Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce'', and '' Angie ...

Carl Sanders * Bo Foxworth as Secretary of Defense

Robert McNamara Robert Strange McNamara (; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American business executive and the eighth United States Secretary of Defense, serving from 1961 to 1968 under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He remains the ...

Production

On July 16, 2014, it was announced that

HBO Films HBO Films (formerly called HBO Premiere Films and HBO Pictures) is an American production and distribution company, a division of the cable television network HBO that produces feature films and miniseries. The division produces fiction and non- ...

had acquired the rights to the play ''All the Way'' with Robert Schenkkan writing the adaptation and Bryan Cranston reprising his role as

. Schenkkan and producer Steven Spielberg agreed that the adaptation would differ significantly from the play. Schenkkan says, "When Steven, Bryan Cranston and I brought this to HBO, what I said at the time was, 'Look, I have no interest in just shooting the play. What I want to do is a complete cinematic reimagining of this story.' Everybody was on board for that. It's obviously recognizably the same story with many – but not all – of the same characters. I took a really hard look at how I could best tell this story on screen now that I had all the things that cinema brings that I did not have in my toolkit when I was working on stage." On March 7, 2015, it was announced that

would direct the film. On June 30, 2015,

was cast as

On July 2, 2015,

was cast as

. On July 8, 2015,

and

were cast as

and Bob Moses, respectively. On July 23, 2015,

was cast as

Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Mi ...

. On July 23, 2015,

, Todd Weeks, and Mo McRae were cast as

, and

, respectively. On July 28, 2015,

was cast as Richard Russell Jr. On September 18, 2015, Bruce Nozick was cast as Stanley Levison. On September 29, 2015, Ned Van Zandt was cast as

. Filming began on August 13, 2015, and took place in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

Reception

''All the Way'' received positive reviews from critics. The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

gave the film an approval rating of 87%, based on 46 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Anchored by Bryan Cranston's phenomenal performance as LBJ, ''All the Way'' is an engrossing portrayal of a complicated man during a pivotal moment in US history." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

the film has a score of 78 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". ''All the Way'' drew approximately 1.11 million total viewers and a 0.2 rating among adults 18–49, making it the second most watched (at the time it aired) HBO original movie behind 2015's '' Bessie''.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:All the Way (film) 2016 films 2016 television films 2016 biographical drama films 2010s historical drama films 2010s political drama films American films based on plays American biographical drama films American political drama films Biographical television films Civil rights movement in film Civil rights movement in television Cultural depictions of J. Edgar Hoover Drama films based on actual events American drama television films Films about Lyndon B. Johnson Films about Martin Luther King Jr. Films about presidents of the United States Films directed by Jay Roach Films scored by James Newton Howard Films set in the 1960s Films set in Washington, D.C. Films shot in Los Angeles HBO Films films Political films based on actual events Vietnam War films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films

Plot

Cast

Production

Reception

Awards and nominations

See also

References

External links