The Special Relationship

The movie starts with Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) coming over to America to learn from their experiences and try to reinvigorate the Labour Party. He develops a close relationship with Bill Clinton (Dennis Quaid). Then the relationships get more complex, and the movie ends with a press briefing from the real George W and Blair.

The movie is looking at this mostly from the point of view of Tony Blair. He starts off as an almost giddy schoolboy in awe of the great Bill Clinton. Michael Sheen is the best thing in this movie. He is probably the best person for the role. His superior acting skills is on full display. Dennis Quaid is not as good. He comes off as mimicking the president. Hope Davis is quite effective as Hillary. It's a pretty good recitation of the Clinton-Blair years concentrating on Northern Ireland, Lewinsky, and Kosovo from a 90 minutes HBO TV movie.

British actor Michael Sheen portrays real-life figures with an eerie degree of precision. In 2008 he took on the tricky part of down-and-out journo David Frost in Frost/Nixon and absolutely nailed it. Then last year he delivered a remarkable performance as hubristic English soccer coach Brian Clough in the lesser seen drama The Damned United. Now in his the third time depicting the former U.K. PM (first in telemovie The Deal, then in the Helen Mirren-starring The Queen) he mimics Blair's mannerisms, vocal tones and overall personality so perfectly that Blair himself couldn't play the role as well.

As the title would suggest though, this drama follows a relationship, which requires a second party. Step in Dennis Quaid as Bill Clinton. He doesn't convince on the same level as Sheen – Clinton's highly distinguishable accent evades Quaid to begin with – but it's not long before the seasoned actor gets in a groove and solidly embodies the beguiling American. Helen McCrory and Hope Davis don't have any difficulty managing their supporting characters, the former as Cherie Blair and the latter as Hillary Clinton. Davis especially is pitch perfect as the intriguing and somewhat imperious U.S. first lady.

Although, predictably, the movie lives and dies by its performances, the screenplay is clever enough to display these people in events that will allow us to connect with them. In the opening act we see how these two world leaders – Clinton the suavely aggressive big brother, Blair the amenable and awestruck little brother – became friends, then we move on to how they dealt with this 'special relationship' during good times and bad. It's a tremendous friendship to witness, how they and their wives react to certain situations, the Lewinsky humiliation of particular note, indicates what we have probably suspected all along: they are, despite their global status and positions of power, human after all.

An insightful drama that invites you into the lives of some very fascinating people.

4 out of 5 (1 - Rubbish, 2 - Ordinary, 3 - Good, 4 - Excellent, 5 - Classic)

The main point of interest in "The Special Relationship" is in my opinion the changing status throughout the film of the strong friendship between Bill Clinton and Tony Blair. Ahead of his election Blair is portrayed as a fan of the US President, appreciating Clinton's advice and the fact that Bill has taken a great interest in his career. At the beginning they both appear to share a genuine mutual friendship whereas, as both their careers progress, the relationship does deeply change. The Special Relationship is a good dramatization of the America/Great Britain relationships during those very important years. However I had the impression that the film, though well acted and directed, would be more suitable for the TV rather than for the big screen. Overall it's about an insightful representation of UK/US relations, depicted through the exploration of a bromance and, more than everything, a glimpse of the real Tony Blair. Not unforgettable but a quality story for sure.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie on DVD and draw the obvious comparison with Michael Sheens performance of tony Blair in the 'Queen' and of how Blair was portrayed in 'The Ghost Writer'. 'W' also springs to mind about George Bush and of course Peter Morgans other recent work about a political leader, 'Frost Nixon'.

At first I was watching a political comedy where Tony Blair was destined to become an Americanized Mr Bean. Dennis Quaid, as professional an actor as he is, was way too overpowering in the role of Bill Clinton who I am sure is a lot more gentler as a guy than the film portrayed.

The film ends up with us feeling a degree of sympathy for both Blair and particularly Clinton, though I doubt the reality of this. How special this relationship was compared with Thatcher and Regan or Blair and Bush, its difficult to say but it was absorbing to see the facts put through the 'mill' and an almost objective appraisal given of the problems raised by both leaders. Was the French President Chirac really that pompous? Were the leaders that close on a personal level? Actually, I think Tony Blair must be thinking himself - gosh that guy Sheen acts me than I do myself. He is certainly a very likable 'duplicate' of the real thing and perhaps a more acceptable version. a lot of recent history is dealt with in this 90 minute movie, as others have commented, nothing at all with that, the film is useful if only for English education in hearing English and American language side by side and a terrific dose of history as I have mentioned.

Might get Michael Sheen a much deserved Oscar nomination. As for Dennis Quaid, as AL gore might have once said - you are NO Bill Clinton! Got to say the two ladies playing the wives of Cheree and Hilary are almost comedy like and the script to some extent is more appropriate to a TV sit com than a movie suitable for DVD or cinema release.

Not knocking the movie. Its very watchable, not in any way tedious, quite funny at times and keep the kids out of the room at certain times when sexual innuendos are mentioned with reference to Bill Clinton's 'you know what'! Enjoy!

This film is about Tony Blair and his working relationship with Bill Clinton during Blair's years as the British Prime Minister.

Michael Sheen portrays Tony Blair in a confident manner, the differences in his character's radiance between the beginning and the end of the film is easily observable. Hope Davis deserves a special mention. I have always thought she looks like Hillary Clinton, and Hope Davis brilliantly portrays a strong, determined, and able lady that remarkably resembles Hillary Clinton.

A political film may fall into the trap of becoming propaganda, but "The Special Relationship" does not feel anything like that. It portrays the mutual support between the two countries' leaders. It is a engaging story that is remarkably told and acted.