The late John Frankenheimer was one of our truly great directors. He cut his teeth in the early days of television, directing over 100 tv shows and then he went on the direct Birdman Of Alcatraz, Seven Days In May, The Train and his masterpiece The Manchurian Candidate. He had a long dry spell after that where Hollywood more or less forgot about him, but in the early 90s he was able to make an amazing comeback with a series of tv films like Against The Wall, The Burning Season, Andersonville and this film. This is a man who directed actors like Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan and Edmond O'Brien, and yet he said Gary Sinise was one of the finest actors he ever worked with. Sinise is probably best remembered for his role as Lieutenant Dan in the Forrest Gump movie (one of the most depressing films that I ever saw I HATED IT!!!). He did a wonderful job as Harry Truman and he equally rises to the occasion as George Wallace. George Wallace was one of the truly controversial figures of our time. In 1958, he ran for Alabma's governor as someone who favored cival rights and lost. According to friends he vowed that he would never be "out niggered" again (excuse my language I'm just quoting what he said) and he won. He voweed in his inagural address "segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever!" If ever a man symbolized the horrors of racism in the 1960's it was certainly George Wallace. Sinise brilliantly portrays Wallace's ruthless ambition and drive for power, but then there is the 1972 assassination attempt that left him paralyzed. There is a sad scene in the film where a doctor tells him that he will be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, that he will be impotent and not even able to control bladder or bowel and that he will never have another day without pain. It's maybe because of this that Wallace sought not power but forgiveness in the last years of his life. He apologized to those he had hurt like the Freedom Riders. Sinise is wonderful in his role as is Angelina Jolie as his wife Cornelia. Forget her tatooes and her eccentricities, she is a fine actress who always delivers. Joe Don Baker also gives as Jim Folsom, Wallace's protege. Actually, it was only thru luck that Wallace became governor in 1962. Jim Folsom was a very popular Alabama politican who had been elected Governor twice before (1947-51,1955,59). In 1962, he ran against Wallace and had a good chance at a third term until he appeared drunk on a tv show on the eve of the election. Folsom forgot the names of his children and gave an extended imitation of a cuckoo clock. The performance cost him the election and ended his career as an important politician in Alabama.
Review of George Wallace
