Entertainment Weekly's Dishonest, Deceiving 'Game Change' Review

The new issue of Entertainment Weekly reviews the HBO telefilm “Game Change,” a production you may have read about at this site.

The magazine rates the film an “A-” and says Sarah Palin need not worry about the movie’s impact on her political future.

After all, according to EW, Julianne Moore plays the former governor “with a high degree of accuracy.”

That’s the first of many howlers sure to erode a chunk of the publication’s integrity.

The movie shows Palin to be a histrionic mess, a harpy who collapses into the fetal position at one point and is ignorant of the very basics of 20th century history. But, according to the magazine, it’s the staff surrounding Palin who is “criticized and humiliated” by the film.

But wait … you have to read deeper for author Ken Tucker to do a speedy about face:

There’s no point in trying to argue that ‘Game Change’ is a ‘fair’ film: In ignoring the source book’s long sections on Hillary Clinton’s campaign in order to concentrate on McCain and Palin, and by re-creating many of the latter’s greatest gaffes — her inability to cite a single newspaper she’s read in her Katie Couric interview, for instance — it obviously means for us to snort and chuckle.

So which is it, a hit piece on a GOP darling, or an effort to prove it wasn’t poor, dumb Palin’s fault for being overmatched by Captain Gaffe, Sen. Joe Biden, but a problem with Sen. John McCain’s advisors?

Both are grossly insulting to a self-made woman and popular governor. But can you imagine the tone of this review had the subject been Sen. Barack Obama, and a fraction of the silly attacks lobbed at Palin were directed at him?

Of course, that kind of movie would never get shown on HBO. But a poorly sourced, one-sided slam against Palin gussied up as reality will be hitting TV screens starting Saturday. And EW is there to protect HBO as best it can.