Political power play: ‘The Comey Rule’ premieres on Showtime
As Nov. 3 looms on the horizon, the U.S. presidential election campaign is in full swing. No matter which way you intend to vote, chances are that you have been inundated with news stories and all manner of political theories about the candidates and their parties.With only weeks to go before the big day, a new miniseries explores events surrounding the previous presidential election from the perspective of a key player.
Emmy winner Jeff Daniels (“The Newsroom”) returns to television as FBI Director James Comey in the fourhour miniseries “The Comey Rule,” premiering Sunday, Sept. 27, and concluding Monday, Sept. 28, on Showtime. Based on Comey’s bestselling book “A Higher Loyalty,” the production details recent historical events from Comey’s perspective, including the FBI’s Russia investigation and Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email controversy. The miniseries depicts the relationship between Comey and President Donald Trump (Brendan Gleeson, “Mr. Mercedes”) and Comey’s eventual dismissal from his post as the head of the FBI. Holly Hunter (“Saving Grace”) also stars.
“The Comey Rule” was written and directed by Oscar-nominee Billy Ray (“Captain Phillips,” 2013) and was filmed in Toronto, Canada, beginning in November 2019. Initially, it was scheduled to air after the 2020 presidential election, but Ray publicly decried the move to delay the broadcast and even went so far as to write a letter to the cast to apologize for the move. After Showtime’s parent company, CBSViacom, changed its tune and rescheduled the miniseries for a September premiere, Ray explained why he felt it was important to air the show in the run-up to the election in an interview with Vanity Fair.
“Of course, I wanted this series to air before the 2020 elections,” Ray said in a July article. “I think our democracy is on the line right now.And I wanted this series to be part of the conversation.”
Considering the highly charged subject matter and its depiction of the sitting president, it’s no doubt that the show will draw a lot of attention. No matter which side of the table you sit on, Comey is a controversial figure, to say the least. In 2013, President Obama — who is played by Kingsley Ben-Adir (“The OA”) in “The Comey Rule” — named Comey the director of the FBI. During his tenure, Comey faced backlash from both Democrats and Republicans. Democrats criticized him for reopening the Clinton email investigation after previously determining that no charges were warranted. Days before the election, news of the renewed investigation was leaked, and many blamed Comey for Clinton’s loss, despite the fact that three days before the election the FBI reiterated that charges were not warranted. On the flip side, many Republicans claimed that he planned to exonerate Clinton even before the investigation was complete. Then, of course, there was the FBI’s Russia investigation, which looked at whether there was Russian interference in the 2016 United States presidential election.
“The Comey Rule” brings to life many of the major players involved in U.S. politics during that era. Luckily, producers secured a top-notch cast to do so. Daniels is known for such films as “Terms of Endearment” (1983), “Dumb and Dumber” (1994), “Looper” (2012) and “The Martian” (2015).TV fans may recognize him from his acclaimed role in HBO’s political drama “The Newsroom,” a role that earned him an Emmy along with Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
Irish actor Gleeson, who was reportedly initially reluctant to take on the role of Trump, is perhaps best known as Alastor “Mad Eye” Moody from the Harry Potter film franchise. His other film credits include “Braveheart” (1995), “Cold Mountain” (2003) and “Paddington 2” (2018), while his television work includes “Mr. Mercedes” and the 2009 TV film “Into the Storm,” for which he won an Emmy. He’s also won three IFTA Awards and two British Independent Film Awards.
Hunter plays acting U.S. attorney general Sally Yates, whom Trump fired just 10 days into his presidency. Hunter won an Oscar, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe and a Cannes Film Festival award for her role as Ada McGrath in 1993’s “The Piano.” On television, she was the star of TNT’s “Saving Grace” from 2007 to 2010. She’s earned seven Primetime Emmy nominations, winning twice — once in 1989 for “Roe vs. Wade” and again in 1993 for “The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom.”
Other notable castings include Michael Kelly (“House of Cards”) as FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, Jennifer Ehle (“Pride and Prejudice”) as Comey’s wife, Patrice, Peter Coyote (“A Walk to Remember,” 2002) as former FBI director Robert Mueller, Scoot McNairy (“Halt and Catch Fire”) as Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Oona Chaplin (“Game of Thrones”) as FBI lawyer Lisa Page, Joe Lo Truglio (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) as Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Michael Hyatt (“Snowfall”) as former attorney general Loretta Lynch and Jonathan Banks (“Better Call Saul”) as National Intelligence Director James Clapper.
Talented cast aside, there are those who will remain skeptical of the content of the miniseries. Some critics have already weighed in on the production. At press time, “The Comey Rule” showed an approval rating of 67% on the popular review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter called the miniseries “uneven,” while Daniel D’Addario of Variety called it “as self-satisfied as its subject.”
In the end, though, viewers will make up their own minds, as they will at the polls in November. Watch Daniels as Comey in “The Comey Rule,” premiering Sunday, Sept. 27, on Showtime.