This "ACS" episode from season 3's Impeachment called "The President Kissed Me" is one interesting and entertaining one that expands and unravels the scandal more. As Monica reveals to her mom that President Clinton has shared a kiss with her, and later she elaborates to Linda Tripp that this is an attraction and dangerous obsession. I must say Clive Owen captures Bill's look and talk so well as his southern drawl passes. Still we see Paula Jones trying to get fame and bring down president Clinton in the process, as she's helped by conservative leader and media pusher Susan Carpenter McMillian(the still beautiful and elegant Judith Light). Wow again great work and direction from Ryan Murphy as he portrays real past happenings so well, as each episode is like a page turning chapter which sets up burning questions to be answered and secrets to shock as revealed. Well done episode that moves the series along just fine.
12 Reviews
"I'm Bill. I like your sweater, Monica."
evening116 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Sad portrait of White House intern Monica Lewinsky, orienting her entire existence toward that next telephone call or furtive glance from President Clinton. And it can take weeks to materialize.
So Monica (Beanie Feldstein) will pretty herself up for the latest rope line or radio broadcast, or cancel plans for a trip, so that she can wait somewhere in heels for five and a half hours, or spend another evening by the phone.
Monica seems a cross between a lovesick puppy and a stalker in Episode 2 of this absorbing series, during which Clinton (Clive Owen) may ghost the 23-year-old for stretches of the calendar, only to make her feel special with the gift of a hatpin or poetry book.
When Monica finally spills about the dalliance to a dumbstruck Linda Tripp (Sarah Paulson), revealing not only the affair but that Clinton has lost interest and moved on, Linda goes into Iago mode, fanning the flames of Monica's flickering hope. Monica hasn't been sent to DC Siberia (the Pentagon) because Clinton doesn't care, but because he cares oh, so much!
"He's gonna call you," Linda says. "If you miss it, you'll never forgive yourself."
Monica's tawdry tale awakens the conniver in Linda, who hasn't had sex in seven years and looks forward to nothing but a potato at the end of the day. She's been angling for a White House exposé for years, and now she's stumbled onto a whopper of an exclusive.
In contrast, visiting friend Kat (Sarah Catherine Hook) observes that Clinton's just the latest unavailable guy in Monica's life -- someone who will "take way more than he gives, then you end up in a really bad place."
Monica hints to Kat that she's told Clinton that she loves him, to which he replied, "That means a lot to me." And, boy, must that have hurt...
"Just when I think he'll never reach out to me again, he calls," Monica laments.
"Don't hate me," sensible Kat responds, "but if I'm seeing someone, and he only calls me twice a month, I take that as a sign."
Like a gambler at the slots, Monica is hooked on visions of her next payout, never knowing when it may arrive. Many a viewer may commiserate.
So Monica (Beanie Feldstein) will pretty herself up for the latest rope line or radio broadcast, or cancel plans for a trip, so that she can wait somewhere in heels for five and a half hours, or spend another evening by the phone.
Monica seems a cross between a lovesick puppy and a stalker in Episode 2 of this absorbing series, during which Clinton (Clive Owen) may ghost the 23-year-old for stretches of the calendar, only to make her feel special with the gift of a hatpin or poetry book.
When Monica finally spills about the dalliance to a dumbstruck Linda Tripp (Sarah Paulson), revealing not only the affair but that Clinton has lost interest and moved on, Linda goes into Iago mode, fanning the flames of Monica's flickering hope. Monica hasn't been sent to DC Siberia (the Pentagon) because Clinton doesn't care, but because he cares oh, so much!
"He's gonna call you," Linda says. "If you miss it, you'll never forgive yourself."
Monica's tawdry tale awakens the conniver in Linda, who hasn't had sex in seven years and looks forward to nothing but a potato at the end of the day. She's been angling for a White House exposé for years, and now she's stumbled onto a whopper of an exclusive.
In contrast, visiting friend Kat (Sarah Catherine Hook) observes that Clinton's just the latest unavailable guy in Monica's life -- someone who will "take way more than he gives, then you end up in a really bad place."
Monica hints to Kat that she's told Clinton that she loves him, to which he replied, "That means a lot to me." And, boy, must that have hurt...
"Just when I think he'll never reach out to me again, he calls," Monica laments.
"Don't hate me," sensible Kat responds, "but if I'm seeing someone, and he only calls me twice a month, I take that as a sign."
Like a gambler at the slots, Monica is hooked on visions of her next payout, never knowing when it may arrive. Many a viewer may commiserate.
Pawns
revchristodd-138-98572622 October 2021
The theme of this episode and one of the major themes of this series is the exploitation of the 2 women at the heart of this drama. It is most obvious with Monica, who is being used by Bill for his personal ends but also, ironically, Paula, who resisted Clinton, and who is being used by conservatives to attack the President. Monica is being used by Linda as well, apparently to strike back at the administration that exiled her to her relatively trivial job at the Pentagon. And now the press is coming into the picture. Nobody cares about these two women except in so far as they are useful to the desires of others.
So good!!
rockymountaingirl0516 September 2021
Fantastic acting! Particularly by the actresses playing Monica, Linda and Paula. I was a teen when this happened so I didn't really follow it closely, so it's really interesting to me to hear the whole story or I guess Monica's side probably mostly, haha but still good. I think it's really well written and acted. Holds my attention!
Magnificent writing and cast
mls418213 October 2021
it really good
DanyDanyShopper17 September 2021
The only thing that takes me out of the fantasy is that I don't buy Beanie Feldstein as Monica. She's a good actress but everyone was made to look like who they were playing. She dose not look like Monica back then at all. Not height, body, face THE NOSE ... nothing. Once again her acting is awesome but she's the only one that snaps me out of it, because we know what Monica looked like. They payed attention to everyone els looking perfect.
paulson is a tripp,however
hadfield1118 September 2021
Sarah Paulson as always is magnetic in her role. Although entertaining in a tabloid way the show smacks of a "smarmy slant of reality". Casting is odd and chosen poorly, is that jonah hill's sister as Monica? You betcha YIKES!
The President Kissed Me
Prismark108 November 2021
I'm really not feeling much for this series. Impeachment has left me cold and Clive Owen does not convince me as Bill Clinton.
The bombshell is Monica telling Linda that she is having an affair with President Clinton.
You get to see how Monica's relationship with the President developed. You can also sense Linda Tripp lapping all this up. She is no fan of the Clintons.
At the same time conservative publicists are working on Paula Jones. At the moment they just hope she will embarrass the President, not knowing that there is dynamite elsewhere.
Looking at these events almost 20 years later. It is hard to muster sympathy for Bill Clinton even as a liberal sympathiser. It was well known by 1992 that Clinton could not keep his zipper up. However as President, people expected better from him.
The bombshell is Monica telling Linda that she is having an affair with President Clinton.
You get to see how Monica's relationship with the President developed. You can also sense Linda Tripp lapping all this up. She is no fan of the Clintons.
At the same time conservative publicists are working on Paula Jones. At the moment they just hope she will embarrass the President, not knowing that there is dynamite elsewhere.
Looking at these events almost 20 years later. It is hard to muster sympathy for Bill Clinton even as a liberal sympathiser. It was well known by 1992 that Clinton could not keep his zipper up. However as President, people expected better from him.
Poor casting
patricklarragy26 October 2021
DocuTainment?
taswuf10 October 2021
American Crime: Impeacment raises some interesting questions. Ultimately, it is supposedly a docudrama about an important moment in American history: the impeachment of a president.
It is uncomfortable to compare this to other films in the genre which cover events like Lincoln's Herculean effort to amend the constitution abolishing slavery before the expiration of his first term, or Kennedy's missile crisis or Watergate, for example.
These were all watershed moments in US history.
This film is about the second time a US President was impeached by Congress, the first being Andrew Johnson owing to a constitutional crisis between the executive and legislative branches. The second impeachment was about the Chief Executive lying under oath to Congress about his sex life.
Looking back from the Trump era, one could hoist the old canard about this being America's "loss of innocence" because of the discovery that presidents have illegitimate sex. Well, no. The JFK presidency was still in living memories. Both Harding and Cleveland had illegitimate children. So it's not that. Perhaps you could say its about the hardening of American political tribalism and the rise of propagandistic journalism in the post-fairness doctrine era at the dawn of the 24-hour news cycle. Effectively, though, it's about the decline of political discourse into celebrity entertainment and cancel culture.
Perhaps purposely or by accident the film takes living people and turns them into flat characters: Clinton, the manipulative narcissist, Monica the starry-eyed bimbo, Linda Tripp the sour and vindictive ugly broad. The only character that seems real is Ann Coulter, who is a cartoon figure to begin with.
That is the problem. The dialogue is wooden. All the characters are self- seeking and none of them are likable (actually, that might be accurate).
If you lived through this in reality, the actors in their make-up remind one of "Spitting Image" marionettes, only without the satiric intent.
In short, the series is just plain boring. It could just as easily be set in a high school populated by horny and self-seeking adolescents.
Then again, given the political culture in the Trumpian era, maybe that's the point.
It is uncomfortable to compare this to other films in the genre which cover events like Lincoln's Herculean effort to amend the constitution abolishing slavery before the expiration of his first term, or Kennedy's missile crisis or Watergate, for example.
These were all watershed moments in US history.
This film is about the second time a US President was impeached by Congress, the first being Andrew Johnson owing to a constitutional crisis between the executive and legislative branches. The second impeachment was about the Chief Executive lying under oath to Congress about his sex life.
Looking back from the Trump era, one could hoist the old canard about this being America's "loss of innocence" because of the discovery that presidents have illegitimate sex. Well, no. The JFK presidency was still in living memories. Both Harding and Cleveland had illegitimate children. So it's not that. Perhaps you could say its about the hardening of American political tribalism and the rise of propagandistic journalism in the post-fairness doctrine era at the dawn of the 24-hour news cycle. Effectively, though, it's about the decline of political discourse into celebrity entertainment and cancel culture.
Perhaps purposely or by accident the film takes living people and turns them into flat characters: Clinton, the manipulative narcissist, Monica the starry-eyed bimbo, Linda Tripp the sour and vindictive ugly broad. The only character that seems real is Ann Coulter, who is a cartoon figure to begin with.
That is the problem. The dialogue is wooden. All the characters are self- seeking and none of them are likable (actually, that might be accurate).
If you lived through this in reality, the actors in their make-up remind one of "Spitting Image" marionettes, only without the satiric intent.
In short, the series is just plain boring. It could just as easily be set in a high school populated by horny and self-seeking adolescents.
Then again, given the political culture in the Trumpian era, maybe that's the point.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
