TRUMAN (1995)

With a decent impersonation of HST from Gary Sinise & a naughty smirk from Diana Scarwid’s Bess, this bio-pic ought to be better. Alas, the script just dips into David McCullough’s bestseller, like a student with a highlighter pen, skipping tasty character material for tableau vivant worthy moments. A big problem since helmer Frank Pierson manages to make a budget of five million look like two. And with barely 20 minutes spent delving into Truman’s pre-political life -- one failure after another, all met with "can-do" Missouri blinders -- how can we understand or develop a rooting interest in Harry S's amazing ride/rise to the top.