LBJ

Everyone is the hero of his own story. Hence, it should come as no surprise that Lyndon Johnson comes out looking good--metaphorically speaking--in a movie titled LBJ. Was the workhorse Texas politician exactly as he is portrayed in this biopic? It's hard to say. The scenes depicted seem to jibe with the historical record, so far as it's known. (Anyone with even the slightest interest in and/or knowledge of the period represented by the movie has encountered these scenes in a different context.) The titular character is aided immensely by Woody Harrelson's spot-on portrayal. Perhaps the strongest takeaway from this flick is the sense that, when an awful and chaotic moment came for the nation, the USA was lucky that a thoroughly accomplished political animal like Johnson was in place to pull things together and, as he says to Congress in the story's climax, keep things moving forward. Overall, the film is boilerplate presidential biography, but that one big takeaway maybe makes it all worthwhile.