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John Adams: Season 1
  • Network: HBO
  • Series Premiere Date: Mar 16, 2008
  • Season #: 1
John Adams Image
Metascore
78 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 27 Critics What's this?

User Score
8.6 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 97 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Summary: The seven-part miniseries on the life of the second US president is based on the book by David McCullough.
  • Genre(s): Drama, Movie/Mini-Series

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 27
  3. Negative: 0 out of 27
  1. New York Daily News
    100
    Writers Kirk Ellis and Michelle Ashford do justice to McCullough's narration, and director Tom Hooper has a straightforward style that gives flesh-and-blood dimension to names from history books. Best of all are two extraordinary performances at the center: Paul Giamatti as Adams and Laura Linney as his wife, Abigail.
  2. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Reviewed by: Rob Owen
    100
    Credit for building drama goes to screenwriter Kirk Ellis ("Into the West") and actor Paul Giamatti ("Sideways"). His intellectual, vain Adams is a reluctant rebel, tentative in his support of an American revolution, wary of insurgency and mob rule and defender of the tenets of American democracy.
  3. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Alessandra Stanley
    60
    John Adams is the weakest part of John Adams.

See all 27 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 59 out of 70
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 70
  3. Negative: 6 out of 70
  1. Spielberg00
    10
    JOHN ADAMS is (or, rather, was) an HBO mini-series telling of the historical figure of the same name. By the simple title and the promotional poster, you would think that this would only be a shallow feature, giving only textbook information, if that. As surprising as it is, that is definitely not true. The performances are believable, and the story introduces more facts that possible to learn if they were just spat out at you like a textbook (except in a video, of course). Quite surprising, worth checking out if you can find it on the Internet or re-running on HBO.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. ToddinHB
    5
    I used to believe that HBO and Playtone could do no wrong, and I was really enjoying this at first, but with each successive episode, the dialogue became increasingly unintelligible and I was forced to keep the volume blasting while I went back over scenes three or four times just to get a piece of the dialogue. It is a fascinating peek into our historical roots, but not the most engaging and the soundtrack was infuriating!… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. JS
    3
    Acting is excellent but what is the purpose of a historical film if there are numerous inaccuracies. Even a low budget film could have easily been historically accurate. I am disappointed in that this could have been a wonderful movie to enjoy as a family but full frontal nudity especially within the first hour of the first episode. Seems there is more than early American history politics being sold in this film.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

See all 70 User Reviews