Ed Harris has been tapped to play Senator John McCain in HBOâs adaptation of Mark Halperin and John Heilemannâs book Game Change, which follows the behind-the-scenes turmoil of the 2008 presidential election. Julianne Moore was previously announced as signing on to play Sarah Palin. Jay Roach (Dinner for Schmucks) is set to direct the flick from a screenplay by Danny Strong. The director/writer duo previously teamed up on HBOâs Recount, which chronicled the fallout of the 2000 presidential election. Now that McCain and Palin are set, who will be chosen to fill out the Democratic Ticket? Hit the jump for a synopsis of Game Change.Hereâs the synopsis for Game Change:
Even before the book was out, its juiciest bits were everywhere: Sarah Palin was serene when chosen for V.P. because it was âGodâs plan.â Hillary didnât know if she could control Bill (duh). Elizabeth Edwards was a shrew, not a saint. Overall, the men from the campaign garner less attention in these anecdote wars than the women and tend to come off betterâbut only just: Obama, the authors note, can be conceited and windy; McCain was disengaged to the point of recklessness; and John Edwards is a cheating, egotistical blowhard. But, hey, thatâs politics, and itâs obvious that authors Heilemann (New York Magazine) and Halperin (Time) worked their sources wellâall 200 of them. Some (including the sources themselves) will have trouble with the bookâs use of quotes (or lack thereof). The interviews, according to the authors, were conducted âon deep background,â and dialogue was âreconstructed extensivelyâ and with âextreme care.â Sometimes the source of a quote is clear, as when the book gets inside someoneâs head, but not always. Many of the bookâs events were covered heavily at the time (Hillaryâs presumed juggernaut; Michelle Obamaâs initial hostility to her husbandâs candidacy), but some of what this volume delivers is totally behind-the-scenes and genuinely jaw-dropping, including the revelation that senators ostensibly for Clinton (New Yorkâs Chuck Schumer) pushed hard for Obama. Another? The McCain camp found Sarah Palin by doing computer searches of female Republican officeholders. A sometimes superficial but intensely readable account of a landmark campaign