‘Impeachment’ retells Lewinsky affair
“Impeachment: American Crime Story” (10 p.m., FX, TV-MA) returns to the end of the last century. Set in the “You’ve Got Mail” era of dial-up internet connections and beige box computers, it recalls the sordid Clinton-Lewinsky liaison that almost drove President Bill Clinton from office.
Unlike the O.J. Simpson installment of “Crime Story,” which focused on legal theater and courtroom machinations, “Impeachment” mines the peculiar intimacy between Linda Tripp (Sarah Paulson) and Monica Lewinsky (Beanie Feldstein) while they were exiled from the West Wing and consigned to the Pentagon. Set design has always been an essential ingredient to “Crime Story,” and this tale seems to equate working for the Defense Department to a stint in East Germany.
An exercise in claustrophobia and fear, “Crime” concentrates on the odd mother/daughter bonding between two miserable cubicle dwellers. It’s ultimately a tale of delusions that come to light in all the worst ways. Lewinsky clings to the hope that she can have the leader of the free world all to herself. Tripp sees herself as far more essential and important than anyone else, an arrogance that drove her from the White House in the first place. And Bill Clinton (Clive Owen) believes himself to be both persecuted and bulletproof, able to slip through any predicament.
“Impeachment” does a great job showcasing the neurotic co-dependency between Tripp and Lewinsky, but fails to portray any sexual chemistry between the president and intern. And that almost makes the whole affair seem more sordid and sad.
Seven of the 10 episodes have been made available for review, and they barely take us to the moment when the scandal breaks and Lewinsky’s private anguish becomes a public nightmare. How they will cover a whole year of “impeachment” in the final three is anybody’s guess.
And these seven screeners allotted scant moments to Edie Falco’s portrayal of first lady Hillary Clinton.
Paulson and Owen are both remarkable in their roles and yet almost entirely submerged in prosthetics. Falco, in contrast, looks and sounds very much like herself, leaving one with the impression that any moment, a wandering Bill Clinton is about to be lectured by an angry Carmela Soprano.
Paula Jones (Annaleigh Ashford, “B Positive”) emerges here as rather a naive small-town woman who seemed willing to have settled for a little acknowledgment and respect before becoming a pawn in a much bigger game.
The most over-the-top casting is that of actor/ comedian Billy Eichner as internet aggregator Matt Drudge. Cobie Smulders has fun as Ann Coulter, brash, bratty and completely honest as she revels in being part of a “coup d’etat.”
Ultimately, “Crime” does such a good job of re-creating the fevered sentiments of the time that it makes you wonder about the things that didn’t happen.
Clinton would fight like mad to deny his tormentors their prize. But given the events of the past 20 years (or just the past two weeks), it’s worth pondering a might-have-been raised by “Impeachment.” How different would American history have unfolded had Clinton’s enemies succeeded in making Al Gore president in 1998?