Search - Truman on DVD

The man who played the cowboy hunk from "The Stand"...

R. L. MILLER | FT LAUDERDALE FL USA | 01/04/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"...tries his luck as one of the most unpretentious Presidents ever. That's the mark of a good character actor--when he can play two men absolutely unlike each other. Especially when Gary Sinise's performance here covers a period of Truman's life when he was about the same age as "The Stand"'s Stu Redman. Truman's low popularity while he was in office was entirely attributable to the fact that he lacked the charisma his predecessors and successors all had. Americans have always liked flash and Truman had none. We've always preferred leaders who tell us what we want to hear, or at least in a way that makes it sound like that. Truman was always blunt--often painfully so. In recent months (which is to say since September 11) one of his observations that appears here has come back to bite us on the rear end--that far too many of us are so carried away with "freedom" that we forget that responsibility also goes along with that freedom."

Bess Truman really got a break.

JOHN GODFREY | Milwaukee ,WI USA | 03/03/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Gary Sinese is one of the best actors of our time. Now we can enjoy him every week on CSI: New York. Back in 1995 he did Truman & he is right on. Truman was a farmer before World War I. He volunteered for an artilley unit, even though he didn't have to go on two accounts: his age & his weak eyes. He went, commanded men & acquited himself very well. This movie follows his life until the end of his presidency. After the war he failed in business, & aligns himself with the local political boss & crook Tom Pedergast. He got Truman elected to political jobs but never turned him. Once elected to the US Senate Truman was known as the Senator from Pendergast & carried the stench of scandal. It was pointed out that Truman, with little influence & less money would never have become Senator without the Pedergast machine behind him. Ironically, he became a tireless worker against government waste & graft. Diana Scarwind played Bess Truman & she made Bess look a lot better. The real Bess Truman made Eleanor Roosevelt look cute by comparison. That's cruel, but Truman never looked at another woman. Harry loved her & she was the only women he ever had. FDR according to the movie, shamed Truman into accepting the vice presidential spot. Why Truman was picked is a mystery given the fact that everyone knew that FDR was dying. Truman was not really that well-known. So he became president, when FDR died, totally unprepared. He had not been trusted with war secrets as VP. The biggest secret, led to his most important & the best decision of his presidency: Dropping the atomic bomb, ending the war, & saving a million American & Japanese lives. The second best decision was firing megalo-maniac General Douglas MacArthur in Korea. Truman probably saved the US from World War III, this time with the Soviet Union & China. A fine tape that should be in every school library."