TIFF 2016: LBJ

LBJ is Rob Reiner's biopic of US President Lyndon Johnson, featuring a very convincing Woody Harrelson in the leading role. Harrelson's Johnson is crude, blunt, smart, ambitious but insecure, jealous of John F Kennedy, and ultimately a very savvy politician.The timeline moves back and forth from the familiar events of Kennedy's assassination to the months leading up to Kennedy;s election and choice of Johnson as his Vice President, to Johnson's assumption of power in the wake of the tragedy. It's a fascinating look at a man who is usually relegated to the shadows of the Kennedy story, but who himself had a profound impact on American society, both for the better through the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and for the worse through his escalation of the war in Vietnam.

TIFF 2016 Overview