A More Perfect Union: America Becomes a Nation

I'm a hopeless history nerd but this one somehow managed to fly under my radar. I wish I had seen this film as a kid but better late than never. I stumbled across it on YouTube and was at first slightly perplexed by its origin. Apparently in 1989 the Mormon college Brigham Young University produced a two hour movie about the drafting and ratification of the Constitution. And it stars the guy from Brian De Palma's Body Double (of all movies) as James Madison. Huh...well okay then. But to my surprise "A More Perfect Union" not only works as a great educational tool - it's also a well made dramatization. It's an admirable example of the quality that can be found in films of high concept despite low budget. I watched the whole film in one sitting and I was glued to it. The United States truly had some stone cold geniuses as its architects. I was genuinely touched by how well "A More Perfect Union" tells the story of our nation in its becoming.

In high school I would have rather watched paint dry then study some of the "boring" details of the formation of our government. This film is long in places but I have to admit it helped me understand the background and differences of the founding fathers and how they created the Constitution. It does a great job of showing what a difficult task it was to have all the states work together despite their differences and special interests. It also highlights the different philosophies and and beliefs of the founding fathers who were anything but cooperative and agreeable during this process. It was very insightful and I actually enjoyed it. I think it should be required viewing for American history classes.

I read the first four reviews of this production. The first three seemed to be fair and measured. I don't really understand the fourth. It appears the reviewer had some other issues with the maker of the film rather than the film itself. In any event I thought it was a good representation of the events at the Constitutional Convention. I've read a number of books written on the subject and this film seems to be true to the events that took place. This was a docudrama and as good as any that I have seen on the History Channel or PBS. I recommend it to anyone interested in the founding of this nation and if you're interested in reading more on the topic one of the better books but by no means the only one on the subject is The Summer of 1787:The Men who Invented the Constitution. I especially recommend this book for pre- teens and teenagers. Bribe them if need be but they won't find this information in Jr. high or high school.

This film does an absolutely terrific job of explaining in detail the complex, intellectually demanding task of writing the US Constitution in one long summer. No buggy crashes or romantic affairs like many treatments would do-just a moving, meticulous representation of the difficult work of compromise and negotiating and endless redrafting between differing men with competing interests. Gives impeccable sense of what the real process was actually like without deification of or bowing to myths of the famous signers. I can't imagine a better-written drama about this pivotal event in national history.

A Congress of the United States was never so well portrayed, was it? I wish there were more hours of this.

I am a fan of "The West Wing" and "1776" and in some senses, this film is even better. The acting is excellent. Documentary logic (the writing) and production values are too. Artistic sensibility -- same. Nuances: same, I think! The film was produced by a university film department while its actors are talented career actors.

The topic was so large that I think we must forgive the shortage of scenes with women because they were not delegates to the Constitutional Convention. It is a movie that can seem too long only if one does not take breaks to move around.

Among the high points of this film are portrayals of the delegates. The actor's so-so resemblance to George Washington is bridged by a successful portrayal how grave and lovable he was remembered to be. Benjamin Franklin and others are brought to life, it seems.