It deals with the first fifty years of the United States and the life of our second President. John Adams, played with his usual panache by Paul Giamatti, wasn’t the most loved, best looking or even heroic of our founders. But he was a brilliant man and an important part of the forging of this nation and the drafting of the Declaration of Independence.

Based on David McCullough’s Pulitzer Prize winning book and starring a host of great actors like Giamatti, Laura Linney, David Morse, Tom Wilkinson, Danny Huston, it shows is how fragile the nation was in its infancy, the forces that drove the founders to revolt against the English crown, the politics that threatened to tear the country apart afterward, how the country was treated by the Europeans then. It’s very eye opening.

John Adams was lawyer who believed in the rule of law. He served two terms as George Washington’s vice president and one as president. He had to make some tough decisions in his one term, which meant he was vilified in his time, much like the last president. John lived to a ripe old age and saw a lot of changes come to this land. He even lived to see his son John Quincy become president.

It’s important for viewers to gain some perspective on what makes America one of the most unique nations in the history of the human race and why our constitution is so valuable. While kleptocratics and crypto-marxists try to whittle away our freedoms and send our children down the bitter road of statism, this series reveals why we need to fight them. Why our nation is too important in the annals of history for any corrupt bureaucrats and incompetent political cretins to squander our founder’s legacy.

America is a treasure that its besotted, ungrateful descendants have tried to loot like the selfish children of an old money estate. But America is made of all of us and we still have the chance to right the ship of state and repair the damage made by those who would run us aground.

Our founders risked everything they owned, including their lives, so their descendants could be free. And we should not let the disreputable among us sully their great gift to us all.

Many Americans are ignorant of how important this country is. And how it has stood as a shining beacon of liberty these long years. This series is a great introduction to our history and helps shed light on one of America’s most overlooked creators.

“Inside Moves” is a little gem of a film, director Richard Donner knocked out back in 1980 between, among others, “Superman” and “Lethal Weapon.” Working from a solid script by Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson, “Inside Moves” tells the story of a young man named, Roary, (beautifully portrayed by John Savage) who, after a failed suicide attempt, sets out to put the pieces of his life back together again. Along the way, he finds a motley group of friends, who accept him for the man he is, as he discovers just how sweet life can be, when you’re willing to risk, willing to go for your dreams. 

Shortly after being discharged from the local hospital, Roary, moving along like some sort of sand crab as a result of his injuries, finds himself among the slightly ‘crippled,’ yet not-so-broken souls of Max’s Bar (a wonderful ensemble of actors, including casting director turned actor, Bert Remsen, jazz great, Bill Henderson and Harold Russell, the Academy Award winner from “The Best Years of Our Lives,” add to the joy and spirit of the film.) 

Roary immediately strikes up a friendship with bartender, Jerry Maxwell, (the fine David Morse) who invites him to watch the San Francisco Warriors, play some round ball later that night. At the game, Jerry is all over hot shot rookie, Alvin Martin, (Harold Sylvester) who, while clearly a talented player, seems to lack the killer instinct to be a truly great player. After the Warriors lose the game, due to Alvin’s freezing under pressure, the mouthy Jerry confronts him, challenging him to a game of one-on-one. Alvin accepts. Put up. Shut up. 

The next day, the two friends arrive before the Warriors practice and much to his surprise; Jerry gives Alvin all that he can handle, losing the game by one point. Jerry, you see, has a bum knee and despite being ‘a cripple’ battles with great passion. Never giving up, Roary is inspired by his friend. 

From that moment on, a spark is ignited in both men. Life suddenly has meaning. For Jerry, the possibility to repair his damaged knee and the slight hope to follow his dream of playing basketball. For Roary, a chance to hitch his wagon to his new best friend, while providing him support in the process. 

New beginnings. 

Not so fast. 

After Max (Jack O’Leary) suffers a heart attack, Roary, with ten-thousand bucks in a trust fund and Jerry, with some money saved for his surgery, go in as partners to save Max’s from foreclosure. To them, Max’s is more than just a bar, it’s family.

Things do not go smoothly, as Jerry is forced to deal with his drug-addicted, hooker girlfriend, Anne, (Amy Wright) who brings nothing but trouble into his life. When Anne’s pimp (Tony Burton) arrives to reclaim her, he subsequently has Jerry beaten to a pulp, which sends him into a deep funk, nearly extinguishing his hopes of ever pursuing his dream. 

Roary on the other hand continues to plug along, finding peace in his life and love, in the form of the new waitress at Max’s, Louise. (Diana Scarwid, Academy Award-nominated for best supporting actress.)

Without giving away too much, Jerry has an operation to repair his gimpy knee and is soon on the road to living his dream of playing professional ball. Months later, when a big welcome home party is set at Max’s, Jerry is a no-show. Later that night, he calls Roary to meet him and explain his absence. 

Soon after, Jerry begins sneaking around while seeing Louise; Roary finds out and is crushed. Once again, he’s back to where he started, forced to deal with the hurt and pain of his life. Confronting the Warriors newest basketball star on the eve of his big-game debut, Roary digs down deep, setting Jerry straight on the issue of friendship. Louise then handles the situation in her own classy way,  wisely choosing between the two men. The next day finds Jerry back at Max’s to face his old friends, telling them the truth of why he stayed away for so long. (the lack of PC dialogue in this wonderful scene is very refreshing.) 

For me, “Inside Moves” is a small labor of love, as evidenced by the b/w photo of the cast and crew over the closing credits, while Count Basie’s “Captain Bligh” plays on. It really is family.

Without question, the heart and soul of this film is John Savage, whose portrayal of Roary is superb. Coming on the heels of his amazing work in “The Deer Hunter” and “The Onion Field” (is there another actor out there who captures the inner pain and torment of his characters as well he?) Savage centers the film, providing his fellow cast members with the opportunity to shine. A generous actor who here is at his best.

Add to the mix, original music by the great John Barry and you have a thoroughly satisfying movie that will no doubt  leave you smiling…

Good stuff.

The junkets are simple. You sit in a hotel room with other writers and one by one the film’s participants stop by for a few minutes. So, in no particular order, as a group we had the chance to interview Bigelow, screenwriter Mark Boal (“In the Valley of Elah”), who researched the film in Iraq, and actors Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty.

All were charming and personable to be sure, but whenever politics or previous Iraq War films came up, things would get a little tense and surreal as each responded by assuring us they weren’t worried because “Hurt Locker” wasn’t at all political. Again and again, the film was described as a straight-forward war picture that just happened to be set in Iraq.

Obviously with these anti-Iraq films flopping at a resounding 100% rate, you can understand why the subject was uncomfortable, but the disconnect between the film I saw just a few days earlier and what the participants seemed to sincerely believe was an apolitical action film, was striking.

Here are some of the story beats. [minor spoiler warning]

The film opens declaring its theme in writing: War is a Drug.

Renner [pictured above] plays Staff Sergeant William James, a soldier unable to function in the real world or sustain a normal relationship with his family, including a young child. War’s turned him into a reckless adrenaline addict who constantly puts himself and the men he’s in charge of in danger when defusing IEDs.

Actor David Morse has a cameo as a field commander, Colonel Reed, who’s portrayed as sadistic and slightly unstable. After an Iraqi civilian/suspect is shot, Reed’s informed the man’s life can be saved if medics are called in immediately. Reed refuses to even consider it, and as the dying man bleeds out, exhibits an unsettling admiration for James’s cowboy ways.

After an Iraqi cab driver (who inexplicably plowed through a road block) is roughly subdued, James says to the troopers handcuffing him, “If he wasn’t an insurgent, he sure the hell is now.”

As the armored vehicle carrying our protagonists passes by, a group of Iraqi children angrily hurl rocks at them.

Naturally, there’s the “They all look alike” remark directed at the Iraqi people by one of the leads.

And the Iraqi people get the worst of it. Something all these anti-war films share in common is a refusal to put a real human face on the people our military are fighting and dying for (this is the case in many anti-Vietnam war films, as well). To do so, to give the Iraqis humanity, works against the abandon-them-to-embarrass-George Bush goal. So instead of portraying them as people — as real, relatable human beings worthy of support and liberty — they’re stripped of humanity and turned into story-props: Villains, victims, foul-mouthed hustlers, or strange alien beings who keep an awkward distance and mourn the dead by yelling savagely at the sky.

Director Kathryn Bigelow

During the interviews, I didn’t press these specifics. They were emphatic the film was apolitical, so the question could only come off as argumentative. Besides, the plot points speak for themselves. How I interpret them is my opinion. Others may feel different. But I did ask everyone the actors what they thought drove the men who volunteered for the Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) squad, which, though obviously dangerous, is difficult to get accepted into because of the skill level and personality requirements.

Only Renner (who memorably portrayed a heroic soldier in “28 Weeks Later“) had an answer. He remarked that the EOD personnel he spent time with while preparing for the role enjoyed the work and the bump in pay. It also offered unique career opportunities after military life was over. That’s a perfectly good answer and no doubt true.

However, the rest looked as though no one had ever asked that question before, which is interesting. You would think that this very “motivation” would be the prime characteristic in creating the foundation of the characters. This and the film’s actual portrayal of these characters makes clear that a sense of duty or a selfless desire to help others and serve a cause bigger than one’s self wasn’t a motivation remotely near the universe of anyone’s consideration.

To their credit, when it came to the military, all the participants spoke with respect, but there was certainly a disconnect, and it shows in the film.

“The Hurt Locker” starts it theatrical roll-out June 26th.

My review will post next week.

UPDATE: June 15th 7:37 a.m.: While preparing a follow-up interview, I reviewed the recordings of the junket and have updated the post to correct a misintepretation of my notes.