The Special Relationship

The Special Relationship is a film that most people will deem worthy although probably somewhat reluctantly admitting that it is not entirely satisfying. The praise comes because its subject matter is clearly challenging for many reasons, not least legal ones. The reservations come from how it shapes that material. That it is a BBC telefilm perhaps compounds a tendency to soft-peddle the murky world of high-stake politics.

Unlike another film which it suggests, Frost/Nixon (2008), in which Michael Sheen played David Frost, the two lead characters here, Blair and Clinton, are not, at least for the most part, engaged in a game of cat-and-mouse and this leaves much of the film fulfilling a largely, and largely indulgently descriptive function. This it does quite well. UK director Loncraine has a successful track record with soft-focus story-telling (e.g. Wimbledon, 2004, My House In Umbria, 2003) and presents the Blair-Clinton relationship as kind of bromance between two, when all is said and done, pretty nice guys.

Michael Sheen, in his third outing as Tony Blair (the other two were the 2003 telefilm, The Deal, and the 2006 feature film The Queen, both of which were, like this film, written by Peter Morgan), is portrayed as an all-round decent chap committed to doing good in the world, firstly, with the guidance of Clinton, resolving the suppurating sore of North Ireland, then twisting Clinton’s arm to save the Serbs from Milosevic. The only allusion to his subsequent betrayal of the hopes of a nation over Iraq is the film's valedictory ending, rather deliciously presented to the accompanimentt of the Conway Twitty song “Lonely Boy Blue”, as, this time using archival footage of the real Blair, we see him hopping into bed (metaphorically) with Bush.  

Clinton on the other hand is painted as a tough, canny and principled politician who has the sole drawback of having trouble keeping his johnson in his pants. If Sheen has little to do but be mildly heroic, Quaid has something to sink his teeth into and his performance is effective although he falls somewhat short of Clinton’s silver-tongued Southern charm. The women involved have much smaller roles. Helen McCrory makes Cherie Blair appear a good deal more attractive on all levels than she ever did in real-life. Hope Davis is however largely wasted as Hillary Clinton whose only substantial scene is one in which she is briefing the White House spin doctors on how to handle the Lewinsky scandal. It is a pity that the film, which gives a good deal of screen time to the latter, does not follow it through on a more personal level instead of largely brushing it under the carpet. A few marital sparks would have helped to make the film feel more of an inside view..

The fact that the Blair–Bush relationship, which is in many ways potentially more interesting than the one we have witnessed, is also hors de concours,  unavoidably gives the film a truncated quality as Clinton’s departure marks its end. We know however that everything is going to go pear-shaped for Blair (cue Mr Twitty). The Special Relationship deserves a sequel although let’s hope that it has more bite than Morgan and Loncraine have managed here.

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