Monica Lewinsky served as a producer on this latest Ryan Murphy production, giving the proceedings the imprimatur of her blessing. Yet the story casts a wide net, drawing in a who’s who of bold-faced names who surrounded the Clintons or sought to topple them — in the case of Ann Coulter (Cobie Smulders) and Matt Drudge (Billy Eichner), eventually handsomely profiting off all the president’s indiscretions.
Indeed, while the episodes run roughly an hour each, as two-screen experiences go you could easily spend a few more just googling those briefly featured whose profiles later grew.
Despite how well-documented these events have been, dramatizing them — and the dramatic license that goes with it, sure to be picked apart — offers a surreal vantagepoint from the characters’ shoes. At one point, the viewer watches Lewinsky (Beanie Feldstein, also sensational) and Tripp as they watch Jay Leno and “Saturday Night Live” mercilessly lampoon them.
As “Impeachment” makes clear, Clinton (Clive Owen, nailing the accent and swagger) handed a gift to his political enemies through his relationship with Lewinsky, whose insecurity and neediness is on full display as she flirts with the president at every availability and sulks when he doesn’t immediately call her.
“We have to be really careful,” Clinton tells her when they’re alone, in scenes that manage to feel lurid without being graphic.
The abundance of talent is such that Edie Falco’s role as Hillary Clinton proves minimal until late in the 10-episode run (seven chapters were made available for review), before the recklessness of her husband’s betrayal — in light of all those who were so intently gunning for him — is revealed.
Although “Impeachment” offers a master class in name-dropping, as structured under playwright Sarah Burgess, working with Murphy and his team, the heart of the story involves the manipulation of two central figures: Lewinsky, who misguidedly put her trust in the chain-smoking Tripp; and Jones, shown as having been pressured to turn down a six-figure settlement by those whose interests and motives don’t…
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