The mini-series has great production values and the story of Franklin's ultimately successful negotiations with the French which saved the American Revolution is gripping.
The switching on and off of subtitles to account for the French-speakers was very distracting, taking one's eyes from the screen. The solution might have been to switch all the dialog to English after a few scenes.
But my biggest problem with the production is Michael Douglas, an actor whose work I greatly admire. That they did next to nothing to alter his appearance to resemble Franklin is distracting. I suppose he refused to have his hairline moved back another six inches and to not to have a nose prosthetic may have been vanity. But all I see is Michael Douglas, not Benjamin Franklin. Contrast this with other bio-based productions and, at least, the main character has been made to look like the subject.
This is not to say that Douglas doesn't deliver an excellent performance, but his appearance as Douglas rather than Franklin is as distracting as the subtitles.
The switching on and off of subtitles to account for the French-speakers was very distracting, taking one's eyes from the screen. The solution might have been to switch all the dialog to English after a few scenes.
But my biggest problem with the production is Michael Douglas, an actor whose work I greatly admire. That they did next to nothing to alter his appearance to resemble Franklin is distracting. I suppose he refused to have his hairline moved back another six inches and to not to have a nose prosthetic may have been vanity. But all I see is Michael Douglas, not Benjamin Franklin. Contrast this with other bio-based productions and, at least, the main character has been made to look like the subject.
This is not to say that Douglas doesn't deliver an excellent performance, but his appearance as Douglas rather than Franklin is as distracting as the subtitles.