The Comey Rule (2020) User Reviews

Leave your politics at the door

[glenn_gallagher · 9/10 · 27 September 2020]

You'll have to decide yourself, with topics as big and with so many opinions and moving parts, reviews will be bias forsure!!!

Regardless of political opinion 'The Comey Rule' is one hell of a production. The cast alone deserves your attention but beside the big name actors and the characters they portray this series is extremely entertaining.

It was better than I expected...

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 29 September 2020]

..because I expected some preachy piece that did not show the people involved as they were. But it worked and it keeps the tension up even though we all know what happened. And the vices and virtues of everyone are shown, warts and all.

After Comey makes what is a very difficult decision - to report to Congress the continuation of the Clinton email investigation though he knows somebody will probably leak it to the press - he is called out in public by people who both support what he did and denigrate what he did, but they all pick the wrong reasons as to Comey's motivation.

Very good acting by the entire cast. Nobody really looks like who they are portraying. Let's face it, Jeff Daniels looks nothing like Comey, yet he is quite believable.

There was one what might have been accidental piece of realism though. Comey's wife and daughters are portrayed as over the top Hillary supporters. It's not that they seem to like Hillary so much, but that they really want a first woman president and they act like they really don't care who that woman is. Normally I would roll my eyes at such shrill histrionics, but I live near Loudoun County and this is exactly how Loudoun county women of privilege behave.

I shall now prepare to be pelted by tar and feathers for my criticism of Loudoun county women. Or will it be fondue and feathers?

The truth behind the act we could never understand

[GonzoDanMan · 8/10 · 28 September 2020]

This movie is done very well, especially for a news junkie like me. But most importantly and really the only reason to review this movie is the fact that I never knew, until now, why Comey did it. Why he thrust a hand grenade into the gears of the democratic (HC) machine. As many did, I HATED Comey for not just once damning Clinton, but TWICE; the second of which there was no coming back from. Watching this movie and seeing what went on behind the scenes that ultimately forced Comey to do what he did, I get it now. What a horrible awful impossible situation to be in. And although I voted for her, I'm afraid HC has no one to blame but herself.

worth watching

[sarahrobb-66406 · 10/10 · 27 September 2020]

The rating seems very unfair for the quality of this series. unsurprising as i'm sure this ruffled many trump supporting feathers. they don't enjoy seeing trump in this light, which is funny because so much of his dialog is straight out of his mouth. It's not glorifying democrats or Hilary either, just feels like a genuine insight into the background of politics and the stresses that come with the decisions they make on a daily basis.

Well worth the watch

[Towering_Infern0 · 10/10 · 27 September 2020]

Jeff Daniels and the rest of the cast did an incredible job portraying Some big names in the political and DOJ world. The difference in tone between the two episodes was amazing. Showing how smooth and in control the Obama administration was, opposed to the feeling of chaos around the Trump administration.

The directing, music and writing can also not be faulted. Definitely give this a watch.

Focus is on Comey, NOT Trump

[Sprott_Woods · 7/10 · 27 September 2020]

The 2-part series is not an attack on Trump but rather a presentation of how institutions, procedure, and rule of law work in America. The first part focuses on Hilary emails before the election, while the second part focuses on Comey's work after Trump gets elected.

It's an honest portrayal that's worth watching. The focus is repairing public faith in the FBI and DOJ.

Amazing Performances

[hollyfringe · 10/10 · 27 September 2020]

This is a two parter that's a class act! Brendan Gleeson is incredible as Trump, and Jeff Bridges and Holly Hunters performances were fanstastic also! So incredibly timely, and needed before the election with some vital truths every American should know before the election. The first posts on this review were made prior to the series release date, and should be ignored. ( a tactic that has been documented in this series.) 10/10

An important, well-acted, beautifully choreographed show.

[hershdhillon · 27 September 2020]

This show is a must watch. It is very well acted with great performances from Jeff Daniels, Brendan Gleeson, Holly Hunter and many other notable actors and actresses. The direction and pacing of the show is also well done. The show is based on Jim Comey's book A Higher Loyalty, so it included many personal and intimate situations from his time during the unfolding of these events. The low ratings are of course from the same individuals/bots who target other shows as well which promote any truth or diversity in the Trump Era.

Comey on Comey

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 13 April 2021]

FBI Director James Comey (Jeff Daniels) reluctantly finds himself in the middle of the 2016 Presidential election. His actions would help elect Donald J. Trump (Brendan Gleeson) who expects nothing less than loyalty from everyone.

This Showtime mini-series is based on James Comey's book. It's Comey's version of events. Daniels' performance gives him a sincere boy scout personality. I can accept that but it is Comey's Comey. He's the hero of his own story. As for Gleeson's Trump, he is doing too many physical ticks. While it may be needed for an impersonation, he's becoming a cartoon. If the material is written differently, he would be doing it on SNL. Trump is such a singular overwhelming real person that Gleeson may be better to underplay it so that the words are more compelling. In the first part, I almost wish for the movie to eliminate some of the rehashing and showing Trump. Of course, that would never work in the second part. I do appreciate the dinner scene. In the end, it's Comey's side of the story. One must accept that.

Terrific!

[silence-26 · 10/10 · 27 September 2020]

Great cast, crisp writing, Jeff Daniels never disappoints. This may have been released too soon after the actual events to allow viewers to thoroughly sort out where they stand in relation to what transpired. That's particularly so with Round 2 coming up just a few weeks from now.

However, I'm convinced this will stand as a superlative historical document, and lesson, in years to come. It shows, with great clarity, how a well-intentioned system can fall prey to going so utterly wrong.

Great script and acting, they could have done better in technicals

[col-macara · 7/10 · 28 September 2020]

Every time I review a series or a movie I put under the lens all aspects: script, acvting, direction, photogrphy, costumes, music

The lot

This one has a great script , a rock solid cast with some outstanding duets between Bridges and Gleeson - they really stand out in a league of their own.

So in these departments the series is damn good

As far as the direction and photography, they could have done better. I liked the diner scene not only becuause it's a showcase of the two main players literallly giving an acting masterclass, but also because it's a great scene visually : lights, camera angles, cuts, direction. Everything is just damn good. The rest of the show is much more ordinary and "TV-ish", so in comparison with the diner scene it made me feel they could have done something outstandingly special but for some reason they didin't .

The music score is aboslutely anonimous, and even if you can't have a big soundtrack in a show like this it's nevertheless a minus - they could have gone for something more original for the titles at least, but fore some reason they didn't.

That's whay I'm giving a 7 out of 10, so if you want a great story with great actors and a couple of really outstanding performances that's what you need, but on the visual/cinematographic side be prepared for something just average

Not a Russian bot

[migsthemerciless · 10/10 · 22 October 2020]

Excellent show, looking at all the negative reviews I'm guessing some people aren't ready for the truth yet, and the rest are Russian bots.

Should Have Been a Longer Series

[mayaschneiderbsc · 7/10 · 27 February 2021]

This is an interesting and entertaining miniseries based on James Comey's book "A Higher Loyalty". The events that take place are largely from his perspective as he grapples with some impossible choices during an election year and beyond to maintain the FBI's independence from partisan politics. Jeff Daniels looks nothing at all like James Comey, but being the superb actor that he is makes this easy to overlook. But Brendan Gleeson steals the entire show with his disturbingly accurate portrayal of Donald Trump. I don't think anyone else could have pulled it off in the same way without it appearing over-comedic.

The one thing I couldn't really buy into was how hard this show tried to sell us on James Comey's independence. The viewer is reminded of it in what seemed like every five minutes. At the office, at the voting place, at the White House, and even at home with his family where he doesn't need to keep up appearances. We get it. The FBI needs to be non-partisan and it's his job to keep it that way. But the TV James Comey just comes across as very different from reality James Comey. TV Comey is always virtuous, calm, and seemingly incapable of emotion. Almost saintly. Reality Comey is much more opinionated and capable of strong emotional expression. He was far more upset by his dismissal than the show seems to suggest.

Lastly, I think this should have been made into a longer series. Maybe 10 or so 1-hour episodes. The two episodes we have are workable to a point because we all know the story. But there was still something lacking. Overall I found this to be entertaining, especially as a heavy consumer of political media. Anyone who follows politics will likely enjoy this, especially if you are open minded to the truth.

Comey lied under oath

[I-like-cake · 1/10 · 10 August 2022]

Is there really anything else that needs to be said? The Comey Rule is "do whatever it takes to further your career while trying to stay out of jail." He led the FBI down a corrupt path that they may never recover from. The acting is OK, but at the end of the day this series was just an attempt to get ahead of the facts that later unfolded, much to his discredit.

Do the Almost Right Thing

[lambiepie-2 · 8/10 · 3 October 2020]

This is the tale of James Comey in a real darned if you do, darned if you don't situation. All the cliches work here "Walking the line", "Crisis of conscious", etc. Comey's side of the tale is that he was trained not to have any of these things - just do the work, present the work, move forward from there. Don't let politics or personal relationships be involved. It's the FBI that is trained not to be that way.

But in the 2016 American election campaign and things connected to it, were ALL political and personal. This is the story of a guy of the head of the FBI who really didn't want any of that,. It shows how he remained "robotic", with a very military attitude, stoic approach in his work, while he was surrounded by others that were not, including those in his own home.

The production of the telling of this side of Comey's tale was top notch. And as we all write reviews, that is what this is, Comey's side of the tale. And that is how I will present this review. Excellent casting with Jeff Daniels and Brendon Gleason - and even down to other important casting such as Scoot McNairy as Rod Rosenstein narrating the tale, Holly Hunter as Sally Yates, Jonathan banks (wow!), William Sadler as Michael Flynn (another WOW!), Michael Hyatt, Joe Lo Truglio and Kingsley Ben-Adir - the whole cast of actors were knock outs in their roles. All of them, they are all worth a look up on IMdB.

While many want to harp on the "political" side of this, The Comey Rule is not primarily about that as I mentioned above. For me, it was clear this wasn't about Party sides, but about a man so professional in his job, he wanted to do the right thing no matter who it was about. Comey shows even trying to walk the line, that there was no line for many - the Candidates, the media, the White House, his own team members in in the FBI, etc. And for a man who was as direct to do such, this production was good enough to walk that line as well.

Makes you aware of righteous hubris

[vincentlrry · 10/10 · 29 September 2020]

This is a disturbing movie that shows what can happen when men believe they have a moral high road and do not take honest reflection on the consequences of their actions or question the ethics of their actions believing they are the ultimate decider of right and wrong. It shows a desire to crush a woman who made an error in judgement vrs giving a free pass to a man involved with foreign influences. Then they all paid for their hubris as the nation they swore to defend suffers. It was engrossing and maddening to see how those decisions were made.

Infuriating

[catpurdy · 7/10 · 7 October 2020]

Well this made me hate Comey all over again. The epithets flew fast and free during Part 1 - I am sure I was not alone. Holly Hunter, Comey's wife and AndReq McCabe were the most "real". I wasn't that impressed with the Trump portrayal. If accurate, every original Cabinet member is guilty of treason for not invoking the 25th amendment. Rosenstein comes off as a nervous weasel. He's also the one who told Mueller not to go into Trump's finances. Comey not only brought the country to its knees, he nearly destroyed his beloved FBI. As Hillary said "I believe in karma more every day".

Blows the 'no collusion' rhetoric out of the stratosphere

[mplg_au · 10/10 · 27 September 2020]

Even worse seeing this and how it unfolded behind the scenes....

One more star than it deserves, and it's because of The Irishman

[pranavkr29 · 7/10 · 28 September 2020]

Brendan Gleeson man, what a performance. Probably the first time I actively looked forward to The Donald's face. The mini-series itself is too simplified(I guess), but the surrealism was captured so well by him. Jeff Daniels is good too, in usual way.

A must watch

[alfredsmith · 8/10 · 28 September 2020]

If I were to believe most of the other reviews here, I would have given this mini-series a wide berth. Further investigation reveals that most of the haters couldn't have even watched it as their reviews appeared before it was shown. How can you review a show before you've seen it? The obvious answer is they are biased and dishonest, so I watched it depite the poor ratings and reviews.

I'm so glad I did and I think it worthwhile that you all watch it. It will open your eyes, perhaps for the very first time. Jeff Daniels is brilliant as Comey.

Very interesting narrative from the eyes of a narcissist

[RJR99SS · 7/10 · 4 October 2021]

In terms of being an actual tv production, this show is top notch. The acting, production value, and writing are all brilliant. Jeff Daniels throws in his best performance in quite a while, and I even enjoyed Brendan Gleeson's seething malignance in his portrayal of President Trump (even though I think it's probably not quite accurate and has more than a little personal bitterness thrown in).

The narrative itself plays pretty loose when it comes to the truth. There's many things this show expects the viewer to take as solved, undisputed fact, even though many of these "facts" are highly disputed, and have since even been flatly proven false. I don't find that really matters though as this is a tv show, and as always this is "based" on a true story, NOT a true story.

The real gem of the show, I find, is the narrative Daniels weaves with the Comey character. It's kind of a fascinating social statement told from the point of view of a high level bureaucrat, in his seemingly self delusional belief that his only fault is that he's just too darn good, too darned right, people just love him too darn much. He creates himself as Mary Sue, and seems to think if there's any fault in any of the proceeding events, it's not even conceivable that any of it is his. The FBI and himself, were just a sterling organization, and then the big evil meany bad women came along with her emails, and then the "Sammy The Bull" of business was elected, and it all went south for the bureau, and there was just nothing they could do to stop it, despite their personal amazingness.

I don't say any of this as if it's bad, I find this is a refreshingly honest, if maybe delusional take on the events. But it at least circles around what is perhaps the only real truth of the matter, if it doesn't actually hit the mark; which is that all people just live in that unique little shade of grey that is our own selective, self-serving morality, and we all tend to think we're doing good, even when we do something wrong. And in reality, there's no real heros or villains, especially on capitol hill, and it's just all messy people screwing things up and smiling as they do so, expecting an A on their test.

Ask yourself, what would you do as a Patriotic American?

[etpandadavid · 10/10 · 29 September 2020]

It's an obvious dramatization based on known events. It's not about whether you like Trump, Comey, Hillary, others or not. It's a very well produced and acted project. We need more of this intelligent quality out there.

President Ego

[zydonk · 7/10 · 8 October 2020]

I am not a citizen of the US and my understanding of that nation is abstract and relative. Its most characteristic feature is that it has no history, seen at least from my own perspective: some of my ancestors already many thousand years on this island, others here for only a thousand years. From this perspective, I would say that what most saves people from themselves is customary inertia, doing today what we did yesterday, while all the time wanting to do something else. And what maintains social coherence is the fact that most people do what their forebearers did, and that includes the ruling class - however you characterise this group, aristocratic, bourgeois, bureaucratic.

There is a degree of customary inertia in the US, but it has been imported from elsewhere - Europe and Asia - and so abstract in relation to the social whole. Because of this, its ruling class must operate through abstract values, centred on the idea of the integrity of the legal system, and organised intrinsically as a bureaucracy. Such a system is very fragile: at its core it is dependent upon language, not habit. It is an untrustworthy foundation, open to lies and misrepresentation.

The Comey Rule shows very clearly this fragility. The bureaucratic structure of US government is very apparent, there are rules for everything, and seniority within this system is based on knowledge of these rules. And what happens when someone is in a position to bend/ignore these rules?

Donald Trump is a businessman, and business can be seen as a form of legalised theft: profit means that you never get what you pay for. Donald Trump might be President, but he is still a businessman: so profit is still his motive-power. The novelty of this situation for Donald Trump is that for the first time in his life he is dealing for something other than more money. If he was a philosopher he would tell us - in his best-selling memoir of his presidency - that what he most learned from the exercise of pure power is that the Ego is absolute, with no limit to its appetite for enlargement.

Of course, there is a second lesson here, but whether Donald Trump could learn it, or if he did, could he admit to it, is not clear. It is this: Donald Trump's Ego is not merely Donald Trump. If Donald Trump comes to seem to be an empty windbag, then that will be a sign that his Ego has broken free.

Another four years of Donald Trump could well be a very interesting spectacle.

Points for the integrity of the acting and production, and most of all for the insight of the writers. Less points because portrayal of Donald Trump verged on the hammy.

Hmmmm ... interesting

[jfh-72320 · 5/10 · 1 October 2021]

So, it's interesting to see the high and mighty reviews that say Trump supporters are giving this a bad review. This is coming from a group of people, who actually think they have no political bias, when they write all their 9 and 10 ratings. It sort of falls into the "our sh-t doesn't stink" idea.

Don't be naive, and think all these reviews aren't politically biased to one party or the other. Plus, this show is being presented on the most liberally slanted streaming platform there is.

I think none of these reviews can be trusted to be accurate and unbiased.

Essential watching

[lexomm · 10/10 · 29 September 2020]

As far as I (the public) know, a factual, fabulously acted and directed account of what went on in the months before Trump's victory. Jeff Daniels appeared on MSNBC to talk about the show, it's what led me to watch it. To an informed person, the facts are mostly clear. I guess Comey got Trump elected, but not because he wanted to but to save the FBI. Jeff Daniel greatly delivers the inner conflict within James Comey, very believable. Knowing what I know today, the answer to the question, what would I have done, would be to not release the second letter to congress before the election and deal with the fallout. The fallout of releasing it was the worst catastrophe to hit the US in modern History. Surely, Comey must have know about the Trump Russia Connection, and Trump's corrupt character. So I can't help but damning Comey for his decision, but I'm not in his shoes. The one star ratings are seething with hatred, foul language and conspiracy. These people, 40% of American voters, are delusional paranoids without a single solid argument, running down conspiracy alley, unmoored from reality. Some of them should be placed under legal guardianship and have their voting rights removed, harsh, but isn't that what we do with the certifiably insane? They dismiss accepted facts, the show, the acting, the entertainment, because they feel personally attacked by the truth portrayed. Eventually, what the series reveals, Trump is not the root of the problem, he is the fungus that grows on rotten wood. The US constitution is a doormat now, law and order as well as checks and balances are suspended and society is either complacent and ignorant, or divided with hatred to the point of wanting to murder each other. The healing will take decades. Make sure you start in November, VOTE.