Brendan Gleeson's Donald Trump wants "loyalty" in the first trailer Showtime's The Comey Rule
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The world continues to quake beneath our feet as this fall’s election draws ever closer, making the events of 2016 seem all the more distant. Well, Showtime’s here with a reminder of the months both leading up to and following the election of Donald Trump to the presidency with The Comey Rule, a two-part miniseries based on A Higher Loyalty, the memoir of former FBI director James Comey, as well as additional interviews with some of the story’s key figures.
Today, following a brief teaser last month, Showtime has shared a full trailer for the series, one that offers a clear look at Brendan Gleeson’s muted portrayal of our cartoon president. The primary scene on display is one that dominated the headlines: A private dinner between Comey and Trump in which the newly elected president demands loyalty from the FBI director. As you might expect from an actor as estimable as Gleeson, the actor displays a firm grasp of Trump’s droopy facial tics and routine cadence. Granted, he’s got a lot of material to draw from— how many times have we had to hear Trump declare that “Nobody gets treated as unfairly as I do”?
Check out the trailer below.
Here’s a synopsis:
The Comey Rule takes us on an insider’s journey down the corridors of power, where decision-makers struggle to apply old norms to a dramatic new paradigm in the face of Russia’s deep and unprecedented penetration into American politics, with our nation’s rule of law hanging in the balance. Each character’s actions in these historic months made the careers of some, destroyed the careers of others and helped shape the incendiary political landscape we live in today. Part one of the series examines the earliest days of the Russia investigation, the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails and their impact on Election Night 2016, when Donald Trump stunned the world and was elected president. Part two is a virtual day-by-day account of the tempestuous relationship between Comey and Trump and the intense and chaotic first months of the Trump presidency – where allies became enemies, enemies became friends and truth depended on what side you were on.
Writer and director Billy Ray’s adaptation also stars Jeff Daniels as Comey, Holly Hunter as former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, Michael Kelly as former FBI director Andrew McCabe, Scoot McNairy as former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Peter Coyote as Robert Mueller, and Kingsley Ben-Adir as former president Barack Obama.
It unfolds across two nights on September 27 and 28.
69 Comments
Prediction: Prez tweets “Treason Gleeson” before the end of the day.
Nobody tell Trump where Gleason is actually from.
I’m sorry, but Jeff Daniels as James Comey is laughable casting.
“Just when I think you couldn’t possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this… and TOTALLY REDEEM YOURSELF!” ~ James Comey
“Those your private email accounts?”“Yes.”“Both of ‘em?”
…why? He kinda looks like him and he’s a pretty good actor.
At least from the trailer, the accent sounds totally off, and they really messed up the hair color. Plus I think Comey’s face is significantly thinner.
Yeah, how much Jeff Daniels looks/sounds like James Comey isn’t really in the top ten of things that should matter.
C’mon. Obviously the casting of Jeff Daniels is not one of the Top 10 Most Important Things happening in this country right now. But — given that this is an article about a trailer for miniseries called *The Comey Rule* based on a book authored by *James Comey* — it seems like my original post was far from irrelevant. James Comey is someone who is recognizable (at least by face if not also by voice) for most people who will end up seeing this series. A relative lack of verisimilitude is an entirely fair criticism.
I meant that it’s not in the top ten of things that should matter about this project. There are many historical figures where physical appearance is such an iconic part of their cultural standing (Einstein, Lincoln, Gandhi, etc.) that having the actor not resemble the figure would be widely distracting. Comey does not fall into that group.
Okay, that’s a fair point; maybe I’m overestimating the degree of distraction. There definitely are things that are more important than the casting of Comey (e.g., historical accuracy, the casting of Trump, directing, dialogue), but I’d still put it near the bottom of the Top 10. Still, that’s splitting hairs.(Wow, a constructive dialogue on the Internet in 2020 – who knew it was still possible?)
(Wow, a constructive dialogue on the Internet in 2020 – who knew it was still possible?)Sorry, I forgot where we were. [insert personal insults about hygiene and/or parentage here]
He fits the bill of being a tall man.
That’s true, and that probably influenced casting. And I’m not saying that Jeff Daniels is a bad actor! I just think he’s a poor fit for this particular role (although I must confess that off the top of my head I can’t think of a clearly superior replacement).
Gleeson as Trump legitimately made me lol, but I don’t put that on him. I think this is just how it’s going to be for me with anyone in the role. It’s just gonna look funny. Even in dramas.
Should have been Kyle Chandler.
This might be good, it might not be.Personally, however, I’ve had enough of Donald Trump in real life that I don’t want to see a single second of him in pop culture in any context. I’d say it’s PTSD except the trauma hasn’t ended yet.
This might be a really interesting movie to watch in 10 or 15 years, as an example of how movies were processing this presidency in the moment. The passage of time will also highlight the irony that no one had any inkling what the real historical event of this era would be. As it stands, I can’t imagine who the audience for this thing would be. But my wife just reminded me that there’s a whole generation of left-leaning retirees isolating at home, so there’s my answer.
Anyone remember Oliver Stones W? It came out when he was STILL IN OFFICE.
It also appears to glorify James Comey, the guy who willfully chose to reopen the Hillary inquiry two weeks before the election while failing to mention the ongoing criminal inquiry into the Trump campaign.Fuck James Comey.
Im probably easier on him then most but I’ll fully admit it was a fuck up of massive proportions. I know why he did it and I get it and I know it wasn’t to give Trump the win since he hates him so much, but goddamn it! What a mistake.
I think all I would get from this is hours of “yup, knew that…knew that too…not surprised that guy knew…” and so on.
My thoughts exactly: it looks like a well-made piece with real attention to detail and some good performances, but the trailer makes me want to vomit. Partly because I already see enough of these people, and second because it seems like another attempt to canonize Comey. If the election goes well, maybe I’ll take a look in a year’s time.
I hear you. I want to want to watch this but I fear I’ll have the same reaction as when I tried to watch The Loudest Voice and I can’t spend hours feeling abject revulsion.
I felt this way watching the last 2 dramatizations about Roger Ailes. Seeing how Fox News has radicalized nana and peepaw while operating as a perfect propaganda medium for conservatives was like watching a slow motion car crash. Russell Crowe did a fine job as Ailes but you can only watch a scumbag get his way for so long before you have to flip the channel.
Get used to it. They’ll making movies and docs of the Trump era for decades to come. Simply because it was so dramatic and terrible. It depends who makes it though. Some will spin Trump as being a good thing. We apparently needed a president in America who insults and threatens violence against America. Some will show what Trump really was and how much of a terrible direction he was for America.
Honestly it looks terrible but Brendan Gleeson as Trump is PERFECT
Not sure I can bring myself to watch this, but Jesus, the cast is stacked. Some sound scarily accurate, like Peter Coyote as Robert Mueller and William Sadler as General Flynn, and some sound so crazy they’re kinda fascinating, like Joe Lo Truglio as Attorney General Jeffy Sesesh.
I’m especially amused by the idea that Peter Strzok is played by the same guy who played Mark Fuhrman in The People v. OJ Simpson—apparently Steven Pasquale is the go-to actor to play “Supposedly clean-cut central figure in a historically important law enforcement investigation who fucks everything up when his private disclosures of bias become public and the investigation’s targets accuse him of an implausible frame-up.”
Joe Lo Truglio as Jeff Sessions seems fucking inspired!
I always imagined Sam Waterson as Mueller but Coyote is actually a good choice as well. Goddamn it why is this cast so good.
What about Clooney?
Eh not terrible but not my favorite.
I thought Michael Kelly was playing Jim Jordan at first. That’s the fit for me.
They saved a lot of money on part 3, the bottle episode where Gleeson-Trump does a Twitter soliloquy while having a steak shit on the First Toilet for 60 minutes.
Somehow i doubt this show is going to address what a complicit piece of shit James Comey is.Fuck him and fuck this.
It’s impossible to decide whether Gleeson’s makeup and wig here is good or bad
It’s bad. Not enough discount spray tan.
It should be caked on so thick that you’d say “That makeup was pretty bad, even for a Sketch 101 show in a blackbox theater.” Gleeson should look like somebody pitched the Tint on your television screen up to 100, but only on him. He should look much shittier, is what I’m saying. Just like living human shit.
Wasn’t there an interview with the director where he said they made the makeup less like real life because it made it look too much like a joke?
That’s the problem with trying to portray Trump seriously: You can’t.
People used to say the same about Nixon. Too much of a caricature to potrait. Trump is magnitudes worse.
OTOH, can’t parody him either
Really? I think they are capturing the amorphous blob forming inside through moral decay being contained by highly tanned aged leather feel. Does need to be more orange though.
How do you dramatise Trump without it being caricature?
It looks pretty good but I’m taking a break from splattergore movies at that moment.
That one quick side profile of Trump was every kind of perfect. His corpulent profile and preposterous comb over is as iconic as Alfred Hitchcock’s classic caricatures.
Not only his hands are too big, but Donald Trump does not deserve Brendan Gleeson playing him.
This is the part that I’m worked up about. I only want him portrayed poorly by C-listers on Lifetime Originals. Not by Brendan Effing Gleeson.
So what was the actual right choice for the role and why is it Joe Pesci
Gleeson’s kinda nailing it? That said, I have zero interest in watching this.
Gleeson is great and all but anyone else sad Phillip Seymour Hoffman isn’t alive to take this roll?
I dream of a world where Trump OD’d in 2014 and PSH is still with us every night. I imagine Hoffman plays the starring role in a film adaptation of Ripley Under Water. Just kidding, he actually plays Littleface in a Dick Tracy reboot.
Crossed my mind, but Hoffman could have convinced me he was Hillary – He was the Greatest. Ever.
I don’t want it. I don’t want a second more of that guy than we’re already forced to endure, even in something like this. That said, when Gleeson inevitably gets an Emmy for his scarily accurate portrayal, it’s bound to piss Trump off something fierce. Maybe finally give him that corollary.
The corollary to the Comey Rule?
Coronary. Autocorrect!
Autocorrect thought “corollary” made more sense than “coroner” (also something Trump should get soon)?
Yes. But also I’m an idiot who refuses to proofread.
if Claudia Conway’s tweets haven’t killed Dipshit, it’s clearly going to take more than conventional weapons to kill him.
Neat, so Comey gets the hero treatment and we get more exposure to Trump’s stupid sounding voice done by another actor.
You guys rightly complaining you don’t want to see another minute of this guy, imagine if he gets reelected. Which could still happen! Then what are we all going to do? Storm Canada and demand they let us live there? Hell, I’d support a foreign invasion of many countries to get rid of this guy.
My wife has seriously looked into applying for asylum in Canada
Canada’s government very worried about this election for that reason, most likely.
“Russia’s deep and unprecedented penetration into American politics”
We need some sort of House Committee to investigate the Un-American activities of these Russkie sympathizers and fellow travelers.
God this looks so bad.
“Donald, let’s face it. And I’m not being funny. I mean no disrespect, but
you’re a cunt. You’re a cunt now, and you’ve always been a cunt. And
the only thing that’s going to change is that you’re going to be an even
bigger cunt. Maybe have some more cunt kids.”
It begins…Thanks to all the scandals, they are going to make SO MANY of these. Enough Trump movies to be its own genre.
(And I’ll probably watch them all. It’s catnip to me)
Who on earth is this for?
Seems like Brendan Gleeson is doing Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump, but as a scary dude rather than as an utter fool.
Seems a little… soon for this, no? I mean there’s a very real and terrifying possibility that I’ll be watching this show during the early days of Trump’s second term. I don’t want that to be the case, but I don’t know if I’m enough of a masochist to *want* to watch this while he’s still in office.