Grant Bio w/ Spielberg and DiCaprio Attached

[Poe Dameron]

This is one of those stories that maybe I'm the only one who will get excited about, but Grant has always been one of my favorite historic figures and one who was maligned by historians thanks to racist Southern sympathizers having outsized influence on history's first draft. Spielberg did well for himself the last time he dipped into the Civil War. And I never considered DiCaprio as Grant, but he fits surprisingly well now that I consider it.

 

I do wonder how they handle it though. Lincoln was comparatively easy. The audience already basically knows who Lincoln is and what he did. Really, the movie was a focus on what kind of a politician Lincoln was.

 

Grant is different because he had two big roles in his life (general and president) and neither of them can really be defined by one specific event. Both of those stories take up years and are rather complex. The closest single event I can think of that encompasses Grant is his handling of the surrender at Appomattox Court House. That certainly has a lot of Grant's traits in focus, such as his relative modesty, the juxtaposition of his reputation as a butcher and his soft-heartedness, his surprisingly apt political instincts, and his odd ability to be the right man at the right time during the Civil War.

 

But, even if they squeeze in a few things like family, that leaves out Grant's meteoric rise through the ranks and his presidency, both of which are fascinating. While trying to detail those events over years would make the movie feel thin.

 

Don't suppose I could convince these guys to go full HBO mini-series for us?

[Guest El Chalupacabra]

That sounds interesting. I also admire Grant as an historical figure. If only they could make an HBO series out of Grant's life!

 

Like you, I never would have considered DiCaprio for the part, but considering he also played the parts of Howard Hughes and J. Edgar Hoover pretty well (at least I thought so), and The Revenant was awesome, I think he can do a passable Grant at the very least. I think it would be great if they get Daniel Day Lewis to reprise (briefly) the role of Lincoln, which would reunite the two actors, who were both in Gangs of New York. However, that all depends on how they cover Grant's life. I am actually hoping they cover his earlier career in the US-Mexican War, Grant's life in relative obscurity and poverty in between the two wars, and his redemption of sorts when Grant went on to be a successful general in the Civil War.

[Poe Dameron]

However, that all depends on how they cover Grant's life. I am actually hoping they cover his earlier career in the US-Mexican War, Grant's life in relative obscurity and poverty in between the two wars, and his redemption of sorts when Grant went on to be a successful general in the Civil War.

 

Yeah, that's the thing about Grant though, there's so much of interest in his life and a lot of it's spread out. The turnaround was one of the most remarkable in American history. If you think about, he went from being an abject failure in life and ignobly tossed out of the military to being the nation's top military official and a national hero in the space of 1,000 days.

 

The thing is, though, I don't really want to see a simple triumphant story about him. It doesn't fit the man. That's the problem, there's really no end point because Grant's story as long as he had a mission is that he would shrug off of constant setbacks only to power through with breathtakingly relentless tenacity as seen with the "Lick 'em tomorrow" anecdote after the first disastrous day at Shiloh.

 

Really, the story that best fits Grant is one they'll likely never film. It's how, after being swindled out of his savings (not for the first time), he powered through the horrific pain and mind-numbing drug treatment of terminal throat cancer and crafted one of the greatest sets of memoirs in American history while essentially on his death bed in order to provide his family with income after he was gone.

 

That says it all about the man to me.

 

As a side note, I believe they should cancel Harriet Tubman on the $20 and instead put Emily Dickinson (as a challenger to Whitman as America's premier poet, she makes much more sense than the the schoolhouse legend, but historically low in significance Tubman). They should then announce that Grant will be replaced on the $50 by Frederick Douglass. That would not only be highly appropriate, but I believe Grant would personally approve of the change.

[Guest El Chalupacabra]

I could see a narrative for the movie that starts out with Grant towards the end of his life, writing a memoir, as you suggest, where he recounts his life, and then the rest of the film covers select periods (EG: Mexican War, back to civilian life, Civil War, and finally presidency). The real problem is doing it in such a way that pays homage to his life, without feeling cramped for time, or glossing over it and leaving important details out. But with Spielberg involved, I think it is doable.