Susan Granger’s review of “Gaslit” (Starz)
A half-century after the nation was riveted by the Watergate scandal, the Congressional committee hearings about the Jan. 6th attack on the Capitol are eerily reminiscent of that era, as depicted in the eight-chapter Starz’ original miniseries “Gaslit.”
Delivering Emmy-worthy performances, Julia Roberts stars as flamboyant Martha Mitchell with Sean Penn as her husband, Attorney General John Mitchell, in this political thriller.
Back in the 1970s, wealthy Arkansas socialite Martha became a media star for her outspoken accusations that POTUS Richard Nixon and his cohorts were responsible for the break-in at Democratic National Committee headquarters. A pill-popping alcoholic, nicknamed “The Mouth of the South,” Martha became Watergate’s Cassandra – for which she eventually paid the price.
While gregarious Martha seemed to know all about the conspiracy and cover-up, at first no one would listen to her. Even as she gave interviews and did the talk-show rounds, she faced doubt and derision.
Other primary players are ambitious White House Counsel John Dean (Dan Stevens) and his levelheaded wife Maureen (Betty Gilpin), along with earnest Watergate security guard Frank Willis (Patrick R. Walker) and sadistic, delusional Nixon loyalist G. Gordon Liddy (Shea Wigham).
Adapted by showrunner Robbie Pickering (“Mr. Robot”) from the Slate podcast “Slow Burn: Watergate” and empathetically directed by Matt Ross (“Big Love”), it captures Washington D.C.’s culture of complicity and cultural bitterness as it relates several personal stories, relentlessly cutting from one to another.
“I really didn’t want to make a show that was a Wikipedia rundown of Watergate,” states Pickering in the press notes. “I’m more interested in how complicity destroys people.”
Astutely aided by hair/make-up, Julia Roberts poignantly captures Martha’s complicated, impetuous nature, including her quippy charm. Wearing heavy prosthetics and a bald cap, Sean Penn is almost unrecognizable as hefty, jowly John Mitchell, torn between loyalties to President Nixon and to his beloved wife.
True to Martha’s real 1976 funeral, an anonymous supporter sent a huge, white chrysanthemum floral arrangement that spelled out: “Martha Was Right.”
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Gaslit” is an addictive, intriguing 8, streaming on Starz and accessible via Hulu.
