Later this year Showtime will debut The Comey Rule, a limited series about former FBI Director James Comey and his involvement with the 2016 Presidential Election and, most importantly, his horrid relationship with President Donald Trump. To get people hyped up about the political drama, Showtime just released a new teaser, which you can watch below:
The all-too-short trailer gives us a minor taste of Jeff Daniels as the titular Comey and Brendan Gleeson as President Donald “Hell, let’s have the election whenever I say” Trump. Gleeson’s performance as the commander-in-chief has been the subject of much speculation because people are so curious to see how he plays the role. Will it be comedic and larger-than-life? Forgiving? What will Gleeson and director Billy Ray choose to do with the buffoon who currently resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave?
Based on the small teaser, it seems that Gleeson is playing Trump as much more human than, say, Alec Baldwin. He doesn’t look quite flattering but you can’t really look good when you’re playing Trump, can you? Visuals aside, he seems to lack the cartoonish mannerisms and voice that some actors may lean into. That’s good, I like that. We don’t need a parody of Trump, we need an accurate representation of him, especially when adapting this source material.
Ray has said that he knows The Comey Rule will piss off both sides of the aisle. Trump fans will hate how it makes the president look like a criminal, ruthless cheat and liberals will hate how it makes Comey (who many think cost Hillary Clinton the election) look like a good guy. So it’s a lose-lose for Ray and his team. But they’re ready for the backlash. And I’m glad because, despite its frustrating and intricate political sticking points, this is a story needing to be told.
The Comey Rule premieres on September 27th.