Sons of Liberty

The History channel’s Sons of Liberty miniseries tells a satisfying tale of Boston’s slow burn toward rebellion in the 1770s.

Viewers will get a kick out of how each character is portrayed from what we know today about them from history texts and biographies. Samuel Adams likes his beer, Benjamin Franklin his women and John Hancock his money.

If you want a history lesson, stay in school. Otherwise, there are enough facts in Sons of Liberty to add some ballast to a ripping good saga.

It's a cut above boilerplate, with good production values and decent performances.

Although this miniseries stages large-scale action reasonably well (with the occasional lapse into visual clichés, such as the silent/slow-motion Boston Massacre) and has a marvelous atmospheric quality, it seems more generic and un-special the more conventionally "exciting" it's trying to be.

At its best, The Sons of Liberty captures in admirable detail the cleverness of the rebels, in their smuggling efforts and ability to amass and hide guns and ammunition, their personal bravery and astonishing commitment to a long-odds pursuit. If only their intelligence and ideology had been given the same, or indeed any, attention.

So many strong ingredients could have gone into this brew, but, no matter how obviously the casting tries to turn up the heat, it's still a half-empty glass of weak tea.