About the film
While one war was being fought in Vietnam, another was being fought in the White House. Path To War tells the inside story of how “the best and the brightest” advisors in the Johnson Administration, including Defense Secretary Robert MacNamara (Alec Baldwin) and Special Advisor Clark Clifford (Donald Sutherland) counsel the President (Michael Gambon) in the decisions that will lead to America’s deeper and deeper engagement in Vietnam.
Between those who recommend increased bombing to win, and those who advise a path to be found to peace, Johnson watches as his presidency and his nation are also torn apart by the deaths of young Americans overseas and the protests of those who remain.
Reviews
“This is a Greek tragedy really,’’ said Mr. Frankenheimer, whose films include ‘’The Manchurian Candidate,’’ ‘’Birdman of Alcatraz’’ and ‘’Seven Days in May.’’ ‘’This is the bigger-than-life hero who was taken down by his own weakness. He believed what the generals told him, he believed what his advisers told him. He was insecure on foreign issues; he was not going to be the first president to lose a war. In the end, the war killed him too.’’ –Bernard Weinraub in The New York Times
“…”One reason Path to War is so powerful is that screenwriter Daniel Giat and executive producer Howard Dratch spent more than a decade researching the film’s script, interviewing many figures from the Johnson administration and historians and scholars who also knew him. In addition, presidential historian Michael Beschloss, author of several books on LBJ, was a consultant on the film. It all adds up to a revealing, poignant look at a presidency that’s relevant to today’s troubled times.” –Jonathan Curiel in San Francisco Chronicle
“This nearly three-hour epic plays like the greatest political drama that Oliver Stone never made…. This is easily the greatest of Frankenheimer’s late-period TV work, which equals his finest work from the 1960s”. –from Television critics Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall’s TV (The Book) in which they name Path to War as the 6th greatest American TV-movie of all time.
“…From whatever angle you approach it, though, Path to War is a tremendous achievement-—not as a history lesson but as a profoundly emotional experience.” –Tom Shales in The Washington Post
