George Wallace

In many ways Wallace was a reprehensible man so a three hour film of his rather infamous life should be a struggle to get through, that its not is almost wholly because it has such a high quality cast.

Clarence Williams III offers quiet support in the difficult role of Wallace's long time servant and the many familiar faces that are in support all are fine in their various roles. The real spotlight is on the three main characters and its here that the film really delivers.

Mare Winningham is both strong and soft as Lurleen Wallace standing by her man who is devoted to her. Their relationship does much to humanize Wallace. Angelina Jolie, during the very brief period of her career spent in TV, is equally strong as Cornelia Wallace showing that she was more than the trophy wife she was sometimes painted. Even with all this excellent work the film would be nothing without a knockout lead actor and Gary Sinise is that. He is totally committed to the character whether showing his bigotry or his humanity, a splendid piece of work. Frankenheimer's direction is sure handed keeping the interest level high as he moves through a most complicated man's life.

They don't always give Oscars to the right person. But in this case, they definitely got it right. Gary Sinese's portrayal of the extremely controversial man. He showed us the human side of this man who went through one of the most amazing transitions ever seen in public. We don't often get to see someone change to this degree. I followed this man's life as he lived it in the news. But unless you looked deeper you would have never gotten to see his transformation. He was much more than a one-dimensional racist. This is an excellent film that draws you in with tight writing. And amazing performances by everyone. But Sinese stood out. It's a shame this film didn't greater theatrical success. There're several lessons in this film. But one of the big ones was near the end when he went into the Dexter Ave. church. The people in that church. LISTENED. They didn't shout him down or interrupt in any way. We've gotten away from that in the 21st century. Even if we just "think" we don't agree with a speaker. We don't show basic decency like the people in that church did. I found it enlightening. See what you think. Give it a chance.

Gary Sinise delivers a superb performance in the biographical television film George Wallace. I well remember Wallace from back in the sixties and Sinise is so good in the part you think you're seeing home movies of Wallace, albeit a slightly skinnier version.

No southern politician since Huey Long had the impact of Wallace on the national scene. He was a product of the white backlash to the Brown vs. Board of Education School integration decision of the Supreme Court. Wallace, previously a moderate who lost a gubernatorial primary in 1958, courted the die-hard segregationist vote in 1962 and won the first of several terms as Governor of Alabama. It was a platform that he used to rattle both the Democratic and Republican parties for several years.

He unleashed a lot of dark and evil forces beyond even what he knew and maybe he never realized the full extent of them even after the attempted assassination of him at a presidential campaign rally in Laurel, Maryland in 1972. But he had to come to grips with pain and suffering as he never did before and maybe he caught a bit of empathy for those of the disenfranchised he'd demagogued against previously.

It is a fact that the former poster boy for race segregation got a large amount of black support in his final race for Governor in 1986.

Sinise is aided and abetted by good performances by Clarence Williams, III who serves as a kind of Greek Chorus, a fictional black servant at the Governor's mansion who is Wallace's sounding board as neither his two wives became.

Mare Winningham who is the small town girl Lurleen who he married and who just wanted a normal home life. She became part of his ambitions when she was elected Governor herself in a ploy to get around Alabama's term limit law. Winningham is as I remember Lurleen Wallace and conceive of what she was like in her private life.

Angelina Jolie in a break out role for her plays Wallace's second wife Cornelia who was the niece of former Governor Jim Folsom played her ably by Joe Don Baker. After Wallace was shot and paralyzed and lost the control of a number of lower body functions, she tries as best she can to adjust. A whole lot is against it though in both her's and his personalities.

George Wallace is a much better than average made for TV product, it probably should have gotten a theatrical release. It's a portrait of some dark corners of America and shouldn't be missed.

More than simply showing a part of history, "George Wallace" shows how a person - in this case a white supremacist - can change. In the title role, Gary Sinise does as intense a job as ever. Seeing what Wallace does early in his career, you're horrified, but you don't really grow to hate the guy (granted, you don't admire him either). Another interesting performance in the movie is a very young Angelina Jolie as Wallace's second wife Cornelia.

In conclusion, I don't know how good most of John Frankenheimer's movies have been, but this one is definitely worth seeing. Also starring Mare Winningham, Clarence Williams III and Joe Don Baker.

Sinise's portrayal of Wallace is astonishing, but I was most impressed by Mare Winningham's perfect performance as Lurleen. Like any Southerner, I'm more than accustomed to actors' ham-handed, mangled versions of Southern intonation and dialect, but Winningham was amazing. She BECAME Lurleen Wallace. At times you can be fooled into thinking that Winningham is lip-synching over an archival recording of Lurleen's speeches. Everything about her performance is superb.