Game Change Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Game Change Blu-ray Movie Review

"You get so caught up in winning you start to lose yourself..."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown January 7, 2013

Forget Sarah Palin the polarizing populist. The maverick, the rogue, the firebrand, the troublemaker, the loose cannon, the inept politico, the jester of the 2008 presidential campaign or the fallen angel of the now nearly defunct Right Wing. Whatever she might be considered in various circles. Forget the self-appointed mama grizzly of the Tea Party movement. Fox News' lady in waiting. The subject of Katie Couric's favorite dinner party stories. The thorn in John McCain's side. The foremost symptom of a greater partisan epidemic. Forget all the names and labels, all the late night talk show host jabs. The cheap shots, attack ads, legitimate scrutiny and much-needed criticism fired at one of the most controversial vice presidential candidates in recent American history and consider, even for a moment, Sarah Palin, an ill-equipped governor fed to the campaign machine, prematurely thrust onto the national stage and irrevocably changed into something far more frightening. Because that's exactly what Game Change does, and with the utmost precision. Contrary to much of the criticism leveled at director Jay Roach's adaptation of journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann's book of the same name, Game Change isn't a smear piece or a shrewdly implemented liberal speakerbox, nor does it leave room for bias or allow a quote-unquote left wing agenda to direct its course. Instead, it's a fascinating dissection of modern presidential campaigns, 24-hour news cycle politics and the rigors of running for office in a media culture eager to reduce any public figure, republican or democrat, to a soundbyte or cartoon.

Rather than adapt "Game Change" in its 464-page entirety, Roach and screenwriter Danny Strong focus on the book's last six chapters, which in turn focus on the contentious 2008 presidential campaign between then-junior senator from Illinois Barrack Obama and senior senator from Arizona John McCain (Ed Harris). After Senator Joe Lieberman is deemed a dull and problematic vice presidential candidate, McCain, senior campaign strategist Steve Schmidt (Woody Harrelson) and campaign manager Rick Davis (Peter MacNicol) begin searching for the perfect VP; someone who will energize young republicans and the party base, win over women and their conservative husbands, and swing the election in the aging McCain's favor. The mantle of perfect VP is soon awarded to Sarah Palin (Julianne Moore), devoted wife, mother of five and tough-talking, unbudging governor of Alaska. But vetting oversights and time limitations leave McCain and his staff unprepared for the Sarah Palin they get, a largely ill-equipped smalltown politician who struggles to digest all the information she's expected to know, grows steadily overwhelmed and erratic, and retreats within her own bruised ego before emerging as a true renegade; albeit one determined to fight Schmidt and his staffers rather than follow orders and play by the rules of the campaign game.

Much has been written about Moore's complete transformation, and rightfully so. She never resorts to superficial mimicry, yet the resemblance is uncanny, the voice dead on and the performance extraordinary. (More so than that of Ed Harris, who never quite looks, sounds or feels like McCain.) She humanizes Palin within an inch of sympathy before stopping short, allowing the VP candidate's more unflattering flaws to prevent her from being perceived as a damsel in distress or a victim of anything but her own making. That said, Moore has difficulty stealing the show at times, not because her craft is lacking in any way but because her co-stars turn in such fantastic performances of their own. Harrelson, reserved and humble as his Steve Schmidt is, swipes more than his share of scenes (if not the entire movie), conveying a very real sense of due diligence and subsequent frustration in a situation quickly spiraling out of control. MacNicol pairs with Harrelson perfectly, presenting Davis as a man who knows the game and sees the road ahead all too well. Ron Livingston and Jamey Sheridan fill out the campaign staff nicely, as does Sarah Paulson, ultimately marginalized as her senior advisor may be. The Palins are more than serviceable too, David Barry Gray playing the role of Sarah's dutiful if a bit dim-witted husband and Melissa Farman as the potential VP's pregnant daughter Bristol. The rest of the cast clicks into place without incident, no matter how small the part, and only the occasional brush with theatric conjecture threatens to undermine the balance Roach strikes on screen.

The thrill of Game Change isn't just in the behind-the-curtain gamemanship and razor-sharp performances, though, it's in the details of Halperin and Heilemann's narrative and the manner in which their composite story -- assembled from hundreds of mostly anonymous interviews with campaign insiders -- addresses a number of once baffling questions. Why did Palin's Katie Couric interview go so terribly wrong? How was she able to make such a miraculous recovery in time for her debate with Joe Biden? Where did the fractures in the McCain campaign originate? And that's only a sampling. Both Palin and McCain have dismissed the film's account, of course, but Schmidt and senior advisor Nicolle Wallace called it "like an out-of-body experience" and "true enough to make me squirm" respectively, although it should be said neither Schmidt nor Wallace had a particularly rosy relationship with Palin. Still, those familiar with the 2008 presidential campaign will find it to be one of the few narratives that actually make sense, and the one that feels the more probable and sincere. As condensed adaptations go, there's very little in the way of screenwriter's prerogative and even less in the way of message manipulation. The ending is a touch anticlimactic, with a hint -- just a hint -- of preachiness and prophetic doomsaying, but no matter. Game Change is a plausible and revealing look into the maw of the campaign beast and a riveting study of one of the most divisive political figures in modern politics.

Game Change Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Game Change features a sharp, savvy, thoroughly vetted 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation that rarely, if ever, missteps. Colors are warm and lifelike, with strong primaries, well-saturated skintones and satisfying black levels. Detail is on point as well, bolstered by crisp, clean edges and precisely resolved fine textures, and delineation is excellent. Archive news clips, interview and mock interview segments and other standard definition footage pepper the film, but the softness, artifacts and other anomalies that appear are inherited, not a product of HBO's encode. In fact, you won't find any macroblocking, banding or aliasing beyond those brief shots, aside from some exceedingly minor crush, which does crop up from time to time. Even so, I can't imagine Game Change looking much better than it does here. HBO once again delivers a first-class presentation.

Game Change Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

HBO's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is more restrained and a bit less notable, but only because the film simply doesn't feature many standout sonic sequences. Game Change is largely set in quiet conference rooms, cramped campaign offices, hallways, hotel rooms, tour buses and other confined spaces, and even when it ventures into bigger arenas, it's still centered around strategy meetings and the occasionally heated conversation. To that end, the rear speakers aren't all that engaging, the soundfield is more convincing than enveloping, and dynamics aren't all that remarkable. Despite the rather subdued nature of the soundscape, though, every scene has been given its just due and proper support. Dialogue is clear and impeccably prioritized, LFE output is composed but assertive, pans are smooth and a number of scenes, particularly late in the third act, reveal just how committed every channel is to the integrity of the film. All things considered, Game Change's lossless track doesn't disappoint.

Game Change Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Creating a Candidate (HD, 7 minutes): "Game Change" co-authors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, Politico co-founder and editor-in-chief John Harris, political strategist Ed Rollins, CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger, Washington Post national political correspondent Karen Tumulty, CNN senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash and a host of other quick-hit experts, analysts, insiders and journalists discuss the life, demands, stagecraft and invasive investigation of a presidential candidate, and the challenges of surviving a 24-hour news cycle while thriving in a fickle media culture. The only downside? At seven-minutes it's much, much too short, especially considering those involved presumably had a lot more to offer and say than the few choice comments that make the cut.
• Game Change: The Phenomenon (HD, 4 minutes): Even more disappointing is this truncated look at adapting "Game Change" with Halperin, Heilemann, the filmmakers and other notable parties. Rather than dig into the entire production, though, the featurette touches on the decision to focus on a portion of the book instead of everything Halperin and Heilemann included.

Game Change Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Game Change engages in some tricky political theatre, but Halperin and Heilemann's engrossing narrative, Roach and Strong's sharp adaptation and Moore and company's terrific performances elevate it above the political drama crowd. HBO's Blu-ray release is impressive too, even though its special features are woefully lacking. Ultimately, if the mere sight of Sarah Palin turns your stomach, or if the possibility that she isn't the second coming of Ronald Reagan sends you into hysterics, Game Change might not be for you. Otherwise, extremists notwithstanding, it's a film everyone, conservatives and liberals alike, can appreciate and enjoy.