The Comey Rule
showtime
The political world has always been represented on-screen, whether through a thematic exploration of ideas or a biopic approach capturing the facts of the situation of each time. The 2016 US Presidential Election and following Trump Administration are historical events sure to be explored in media for decades to come, with one of the first high budget legitimate attempts to document them being The Comey Rule. The two-part Showtime miniseries focuses on former FBI director James Comey (Jeff Daniels) and the series of choices that he made which forever left a mark on 2016 history.
Rather than looking at the series as a whole, it is first important to break the show into its two parts, as each carries its own identity and effectiveness. The first half of the series is easily its most ambitious, introducing James Comey as a loving family man. Comey is fighting to do the right thing only to be put in an impossibly difficult position when he has to make a call regarding the Hillary Clinton email scandal, just weeks before the 2016 Presidential Election. This is a choice that will push audiences and ask plenty from them. Despite this being a defining turning point in the battle for president between Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton, the series asks audiences to look beyond the consequences and emotions that are tied to these events, and instead consider the complex position Comey was in. With just weeks to go before a major election, Comey had to make the call of withholding information that could potentially not just ruin the credibility of the FBI, but also clearly favour one candidate over the other. The alternative was to be honest about this information which would also tie one campaign to criminal activity that could hurt their campaign. There was no easy answer and no path without consequences.
Where the subject material will simply hit too close to home for some audiences, for others this first episode will be one of the most captivating political thrillers in recent memory. The screenplay from Billy Ray does a masterful job at taking the public legend of a figure like James Comey and humanising it, almost in the same breath as Bombshell in how it handled its character of Megyn Kelly by connecting the audience to their deeper humanity, without ignoring or hiding the pain they have also caused others. Another easy connection that can be made to the film is that of Bad Education, which takes the character of Frank Tassone – he undeniably has done wrong, yet is simply trying to do the best he can, which ultimately leads him on a path to major consequence.
Held together by a truly incredible performance from Jeff Daniels, the portrayal of James Comey falls between these two examples, becoming a tragic character that was dealt a terrible hand, with no options other than self-destruction. This self-destruction is ultimately realised in the second half of the series, which deals with the fallout of the 2020 Presidential Election, with Donald Trump taking office and butting heads with Comey, leading to his eventual firing. Where the first half of the show might stand out as a captivating political thriller, the second half is a drastic step down in quality, in nearly every sense.
The immediate thing to jump out as a negative is the portrayal of Donald Trump. While every character in the show is a modern day figure, none of them were necessarily household faces to the point some performances would be distracting, as was the case with Brendan Gleeson's Donald Trump. With an extreme yet unsubtle makeup job and forced interpretation of Trump's mannerisms, the performance stood out like a sore thumb, constantly feeling out of place compared to the subtle complexion of the show around him. What is even worse is how the screenplay treats the character. In a second half that carries an endless amount of weight narratively, the choice to play into comedy with Trump's character is clearly tone deaf.
Not only does this feel completely misplaced in the context, but it attempts to make a mockery of a person who, at the time of this show airing, is actively refusing to acknowledge a pandemic that has killed thousands in his own country and nearly a million worldwide. Though it might be easy for Twitter to poke fun at small things Trump does, an exploration of the character needs to take a more mature look to fully work; the truth is that the impact Trump has had on the world is far greater than his strange mannerisms behind closed doors. For a series that so accurately presents the weight of certain elements of its storytelling, it ultimately fails to find the weight of perhaps the heaviest consequence of its story.
Where the second half of the series ultimately stands out as frustrating, the ending at least nails it when it comes to closing the narrative of James Comey. Through subtle yet emotion-evoking filmmaking, the final conclusion the show reaches on the character is not only satisfying but also incredibly powerful. Overall, The Comey Rule is a series with an incredible weight to it when it comes to its interpretation of James Comey. Even for those who might disagree with his choices, the show demands that his point of view is seen and that the answers that seem clear in retrospective were far from simple at the time they were made. The first half of the series and the very end remain some of the most captivating television in recent years, despite the large chunk of the show that feels painfully misplaced and out of touch.
