Heilemann and Halperin in town for “Game Change’’ screening
They haven’t seen it yet, but some people — supporters of Sarah Palin, mostly — are already complaining about “Game Change,’’ the HBO movie starring Julianne Moore as Palin and Ed Harris as John McCain. The film, which premieres March 10, is drawn from the book “Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime.’’ The authors, John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, will be at Harvard tomorrow night for a special screening. (The film is written by Danny Strong and directed by Jay Roach, the same duo that did HBO’s “Recount,’’ about the 2000 election.) Relying only on the glimpse they’ve gotten in a trailer for the film, some conservative are calling “Game Change’’ a thinly veiled attack on Republicans generally and Palin in particular. Preposterous, say the book’s authors. “People are entitled to their opinion, but none of them has seen the film,’’ Heilemann says. “It’s a balanced portrait of Palin. There’s stuff [Palin] won’t like and stuff that paints her in a very sympathetic light.’’ Halperin, who was born in Cambridge and went to Harvard, said Moore’s portrayal of Palin is nuanced and respectful. “Not to diminish what Tina Fey did, but that was a caricature,’’ said Halperin. “And [Moore] was very determined that this would not be mimicry.’’ The film also stars Woody Harrelson as Steve Schmidt, a senior adviser to the McCain campaign. “It’s not that whole, ‘Oh my god, they’ve taken our thing rendered it in a way we don’t recognize,’’’ Halperin said. “We’re honored and delighted.’’
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