As Episode 1 of "The Lincoln Project" (2022 release; 5 episodes of about 58 min each) opens, we are in "Tallahassee, Florida" at the home of Rick Wilson, one of the co-founders of The Lincoln Project, a group of mostly Republicans who have banded together to oppose the re-election of Trump in 2020. We then go to the "Project Launch, New York, December 2019", as we get to know the other co-founders, including George Conway, husband of Trump spokesperson and trusted advisor Kellyanne Conway... At this point we are 10 min into the mini-series' opening episode...
Couple of comments: this mini-series is co-directed by Fisher Stevens ("The Cove") and Karim Amer. They were given almost unfettered access to the Lincoln Project's main operatives. At first we visit some familiar territory (how much of the GOP staunchly opposed Trump in 2015, only to then cave, one by one, to become a Trump lackey). The meat of the documentary is to see how the Lincoln Project trolls Trump, with great effect through smart yet biting advertising, rolling in the contributions along the way. And also this: even though the group is united by its sole goal of defeating Trump, there is a lot of internal bickering and positioning (if not worse). One of the best bits is when they watch the first presidential debate (on September 29, 2020), when Trump famously goes off the rails like never before, and the Lincoln Project immediately pounces. The mini-series takes an unexpected (for my, anyway) turn in the last 1 1/2 episodes (I won't spoil why) and all of the sudden it feels we are almost watching a different series. But when all is said and done, Trump did lose the 2020 election, which was the goal of the Lincoln Project all along. But as one talking head pointedly observes in the documentary: "Trump lost, but Trumpism didn't" and look where that has led us now two years later. It's just depressing. A to the mini-series itself, I quite enjoyed it but I fear that the appeal of this mini-series will be limited as it is very much an "insider politics" documentary with little "action" but lots and lots of talk.
All 5 episodes of "The Lincoln Project" started streaming last night on Showtime. I binge-watched the initial 3 episodes last night, and will watch the last 2 later today. If you are super into politics, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.
