Anthony's Film Review - The Comey Rule (TV Miniseries, 2020)

Showtime presents a well-crafted miniseries about an FBI director's navigation through political turmoil...

The 2016 U.S. presidential election ended with a stunning jaw-dropping upset, when Hillary Clinton, who was expected to easily win based on polls and general sentiment, lost to Donald Trump. Political analysts and scholars can point to multiple factors, like overconfidence leading millions of voters to not vote, a campaign that overlooked certain key states and didn't feel as fiery as Donald Trump's campaign, her association with security issues surrounding the Benghazi embassy attack, and the issue of her use of private email as Secretary of State to send government communications containing classified information. The last one would present the opportunity for a nail in the coffin. When FBI Director James Comey investigated the private email issue, he concluded that while she did indeed send classified information outside the confines of secure government email, there was no malicious intent behind it. Rather, just extreme carelessness. But later, just days before the election, a laptop computer seized as evidence in a separate case involving congressman Anthony Weiner and sexual misconduct contained thousands of Clinton's emails, prompting the Clinton email case to be reopened. Even though the follow-up investigation still found no misconduct on Clinton's part, the reopening of the investigation swayed enough undecided voters, out of distrust of Clinton, to vote for Trump.

Comey would be vilified by so many Hillary Clinton supporters, not just in the weeks after the election because the result was so unexpected but also in the years after because of actions by President Trump that critics decried as seriously harmful to the American public. I admit that I, too, was disappointed that Comey swung the election in Trump's favor. But then the open-minded part of me kept asking questions. For example, why was there talk, all of a sudden after the election, that the FBI was investigating members of the Trump campaign and their connection to Russia, whose government waged an election interference campaign to sway voters away from Clinton, through sensational disinformation on social media and hacking of the Democratic party's servers to steal and publicize its emails? It's like Comey successfully hurt Clinton, then suddenly decided to go after Trump. But actually, the Russia investigation started earlier while being kept secret, without the public attention that the Clinton email case received from the start. To make sense of it all, I read James Comey's memoir A Higher Loyalty, a book that I appreciated more than I thought, because it provided clarity and helped me better understand Comey and the tough job he had.

The book would eventually be adapted into a two-episode television drama miniseries on Showtime, called The Comey Rule. It stars Jeff Daniels as FBI Director James Comey and Brendan Gleeson as President Donald Trump, along with plenty of other actors portraying real-life figures, like Holly Hunter as Sally Yates, Michael Kelly as Andrew McCabe, Scoot McNairy as Rod Rosenstein, and Kingsley Ben-Adir as Barack Obama. The cast do quite a good job in their roles, and, perhaps with the exception of Daniels as Comey, all of the actors look so much like their real-life counterparts. It's also interesting that the scenes are interspersed with real-life news footage to help provide additional context for the events in the story. The transition from dramatic reenactment to news footage and back appears seamless. It looks nice overall.

The first of the two episodes, premiering on Sunday, September 27, 2020, focuses on the days leading up to Election Day 2016. Years earlier, Comey is interviewed by President Obama for the position of FBI Director. It's a nice scene, because we get to hear about what drove Comey into a career in law: an incident at age 16 involving a face-to-face encounter with a home invader. Then it jumps forward to 2016 when Comey and his team would handle two separate investigations: one directly involving a presidential candidate, and one indirectly connected to the other candidate. The "Midyear Exam" investigation surrounds Clinton's use of private email for classified government communications, while "Crossfire Hurricane" looks into multiple members of the Trump campaign who all had ties to the Russian government. Overall, the episode is not bad. I will admit that the first half feels somewhat contrived, because I thought some brief scenes had simplistic dialogue, as if the writers just looked at news articles related to the scene and wrote the minimum amount of dialogue necessary. But otherwise, the second half definitely gets better, because there is more in-depth conversation about how the FBI should proceed with certain steps.

This is evident in the key moments of Midyear Exam. For example, the FBI team, including Comey, McCabe, and investigators Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, have to figure out the careful wording of a public statement regarding the conclusion of the Clinton email investigation, knowing the partisan divisiveness that exists and the intense scrutiny of each and every word. Then there's the biggest moment of all, about whether to reopen the investigation after seizing Anthony Weiner's laptop. There is suspense as the team discusses the two choices they have: to speak or to conceal. The first is really bad, because it's now so close to the election and this will massively sway voters away from Clinton. The second is catastrophic, even worse, because if the emails on the laptop do reveal something criminal and the discovery is made after Clinton wins the election, the backlash against the FBI will be so massive that it could irreparably harm the public's trust in the FBI, maybe even result in the end of the FBI itself. The team is between a rock and a hard place, and they agree to pick the lesser of the two evils.

The drama with Crossfire Hurricane is also fascinating. The sense of seriousness is established right from the start. The FBI learns that not one but multiple members of Trump's campaign staff have ties to Russia, including George Papadopoulos, Michael Flynn, and Paul Manafort, raising concerns about national security and infiltration by a foreign power. Later, the FBI receives the Steele dossier. That's the document collecting field notes about Trump and Russia from former MI6 agent Christopher Steele, in response to the Democratic party's request for opposition research into Trump. Steele's findings, like Russia's desire to help Trump win the election and the salacious claim of prostitutes in Trump's hotel room, are alarming enough to warrant the FBI's attention, though the document is initially uncorroborated. Still, the conversation about it is enough to make anyone nervous about the safety of the U.S.

The second episode, which first aired on Monday, September 28, 2020, focuses on what happens after the election. At this point, talk about Hillary Clinton and Midyear Exam is in the rearview mirror. The focus is now on the newly elected President Trump and the continuation of Crossfire Hurricane. This is where we get to see Brendan Gleeson shine in his portrayal of President Trump. The actor plays the president with a hint of menace, given his bombastic personality. He provides a stark contrast with Comey, a man who is more principled in his ways. Watching these two is like watching a duel where one man is making moves carefully to avoid trouble with the other. Of course, anyone following the news knows how it ultimately ends, with Trump firing Comey, which Comey learned about while he was delivering a speech at an FBI field office in Los Angeles.

I want to talk in detail about one particular scene in the second episode. It's essentially the pivotal moment of the whole saga. It's the part where Trump invites Comey over to the White House for dinner. Comey, perhaps thinking that this would be a large gathering of some sort, is surprised to learn that the dinner is just for him and Trump, because the table set is small enough for just two people. The two men proceed to eat and chat, but then Trump gets to the reason he invited Comey over. He asks Comey for loyalty. Even without saying what the loyalty is to, it's pretty clear that Trump is asking for loyalty to him. Not to the country or the U.S. Constitution. To him. Comey can only respond in a carefully ambiguous way, by saying he would give "honest loyalty." Once the dinner ends, Comey begins his practice of taking notes of all conversations with Trump, something that he would eventually submit as evidence for a congressional hearing.

Altogether, the two episodes of the miniseries present an interesting profile of who James Comey is. He is a man who always acts based on truth and facts, even in the face of political ramifications. Investigating Clinton's private emails while Secretary of State may hurt her campaign, but the only thing that matters is that appropriate actions are taken based on facts about the case. Similarly, investigating the Trump campaign for ties with Russia may ultimately hurt Trump, but the law delineates what is appropriate or inappropriate when it comes to contacts with foreign officials and the details of the case warrant further scrutiny. If Comey were to carry out either investigation to achieve a specific outcome, instead of letting it proceed wherever the facts take it, that would be detrimental to himself and the FBI. Ultimately, it's a difficult choice: something really bad, or something catastrophic.

I enjoyed watching both episodes of The Comey Rule because of its fine storytelling and cast performances. It has enough of a cinematic feel that, in my mind, it's not really a television miniseries, but rather two movies of 90 or 105 minutes in length, or a 3-hour 15-minute film split into two parts. Any way you look at it, it accomplishes what it sets out to do: provide a fascinating review of events for people following news and politics, educate those who don't really follow current events, and entertain both types of viewers. As for Jeff Daniels as James Comey, he captures the persona of the man, and even the real Comey himself approved. As for Brendan Gleeson as Donald Trump, he practically nails it, being almost indistinguishable from the real-life Trump.

Even though the events presented in The Comey Rule took place primarily in 2016 and 2017, it's still very relevant to 2020. The miniseries concludes with a note that the Russians not only interfered in the 2016 presidential election but are also still doing it right now, with the 2020 election. There's no mistake that this miniseries was released a little more than a month before Election Day 2020 with a purpose: inform the public about the incumbent presidential candidate. (Interestingly, The Comey Rule also premiered on the same day that The New York Times published its bombshell article revealing what is in Trump's elusive tax returns.) But even after the election, The Comey Rule can still be viewed as a snapshot in American history, of the events surrounding one of the most consequential U.S. presidential elections ever.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about The Comey Rule, visit the Internet Movie Database.