Game Change

Game Change is less about Palin than it is about this sad state of political affairs....That message made an impression, as did two amazing performances, beginning with Julianne Moore's uncanny and nuanced portrayal of Palin.

Jay Roach, who directed the Austin Powers films and won an Emmy for the HBO political drama Recount, knows from parody and keeps his actors from slipping into it.

While Moore's performance is riveting, the most insightful aspects of the tale are the insider reactions.

Filled with pulse-pounding, thriller-style music, Game Change is a thoroughly engrossing film made all the more compelling by Ms. Moore's performance.

The overall atmosphere of the film is surprisingly kind to all, much more fatalistic than hypercritical and certainly not derisive.

It takes a story whose outline we know and uses backstage access to turn it into a well-paced drama.

Roach's bland style and Strong's script never allow for anything to come of such challenging subjects, opting instead for uninventive hindsight.