LBJ

A middle-of-the-road yet somewhat entertaining drama, LBJ details the presidential career of Lyndon Baines Johnson (Woody Harrelson) and his ongoing efforts at carving out a niche for himself after John F. Kennedy’s (Jeffrey Donovan) assassination. Director Rob Reiner, working from Joey Hartstone’s script, delivers a pretty standard biopic that hits many of the beats one expects from the genre, with the movie often faring better than expected due mostly to the inherently compelling material and above-average performances – with, in terms of the latter, Harrelson delivering a turn that undoubtedly ranks among his best (which is no small feat, ultimately, given that he’s buried underneath pounds of admittedly convincing makeup). It’s just as clear, though, that LBJ never quite becomes as compelling or engrossing as one might’ve expected, and there’s little doubt that Reiner’s pervasively run-of-the-mill approach plays a key role in cementing the picture’s mediocrity – as the venerable filmmaker delivers a by-the-numbers narrative that doesn’t seem to aspire to anything beyond competence. The movie does, as such, suffer from a sort of erratic atmosphere that does tend to test one’s patience, with the material stretched thin through the course of (a refreshingly brisk) running time of 98 minutes – with, at least, the film concluding on a high note as Johnson delivers a rousing speech to congress. It is, in the end, hard to label LBJ as anything more than a passable look at a well-known figure, with the movie benefiting time and again from Harrelson’s often spellbinding work as the notorious title figure.

**1/2 out of ****