Easy, I always saw Roger Ailes never noticed Russell Crow. Wouldn’t be almost laughable to even think that most of what have happened during the last two decades in the US is mostly the making of an (ex) Aussi and not the infamous “Russians”.

A fine overview of a pivotal figure in American socio-political history and an insightful piece of cultural anthropology Anchored by a superb central performance, and built upon a fascinating aesthetic design and wide-ranging thematic concerns, the show does an excellent job of arguing that Fox's onscreen reactionary politics and the behind-the-scenes culture of sexual harassment and xenophobia were simply two sides of the same pernicious coin. Depicting a man who believed (correctly, as it turned out) in the profitability of fudging the distinction between reporting the facts and offering opinions on them, the show illustrates the damage such an ideology can have on society as a whole. Does it tell us anything new, anything one can't glean from reading a decent Ailes biography? No, not really. Is it biased, with its own agenda? Yes, absolutely. Is it subtle? Hell, no; not even a little. However, it's well-written, brilliantly acted, extremely well-mounted, and, for the most part, it avoids caricature. All things considered, it's a very fine overview of a pivotal figure in American socio-political history and an insightful piece of cultural anthropology, showing how one man's paranoia reshaped a nation and birthed an ideological chaos from which the country has yet to emerge. For my complete review, please visit: https://boxd.it/1eVyhN

Important but not outstanding. Russell Crowe is nominated in a Best Actor category for the 2020 Golden Globes but I only saw Russell Crowe in a fat suit (unlike John Lithgow who disappeared into Churchill in THE CROWN). I have to admit I only watched 4 of the 7 episodes (1995, 2012, 2015 and 2016), at first by accident (the episode were listed out of sequence) but then, deliberately (I couldn't handle watching any more of the devolution of the man that seems to eerily parallel the megalomaniac spiral of Donald Trump). I just wanted to get to the end. This tale is one too often repeated in this levelling time of the Me, Too era (powerful, unattractive men who use their power to get gratification they could never attract on their own). Because these stories change the power dynamic, these stories need to be told, and for that I give this limited series an 8 (important) out of 10. [Biographical Drama]