All the Way (2016)

  Everything I've read about Lyndon B. Johnson paints him as a loud, crass, blustery asshole.  This HBO Original tries to ameliorate that by also claiming that he was genuinely trying to improve the lives of Black people in the Civil Rights debate instead of just using them for political points.  Content warning:  racism, racial murder, homophobia

Thrust unexpectedly into the Presidency, Lyndon B. Johnson (Bryan Cranston) has to scramble with pushing legislation from his predecessor, including the 1964 Civil Rights Act.  His Southern Democrat compatriots vehemently oppose the Act but Johnson knows that the South must change or be left behind.  He tries to walk a fine line between appealing to Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. (Anthony Mackie) and not pissing off his oldest supporters, like Senator Dick Russell (Frank Langella). Then there's a re-election campaign and a looming war in southeast Asia to consider.

I feel like history has judged LBJ already and it was not a positive legacy but I'm not a presidential scholar.  This biopic is pretty decent.  Stephen Root plays J. Edgar Hoover and Bradley Whitford is back in the West Wing as Herbert Humphrey.  Cranston kind of disappears under the makeup but Melissa Leo quietly steals the show as Lady Byrd.  All the starry performances can't quite get it out of the shadow of JFK, though.  As always, your mileage may vary.  It's currently streaming on Max.