'Game Change' Trailer: Julianne Moore As Sarah Palin, Ed Harris As John McCain (VIDEO)

The full first look at Julianne Moore playing Sarah Palin has been revealed, and it's not all that pretty.

Moore plays the former governor of Alaska in the upcoming HBO film "Game Change," which chronicles the ups and downs of then-GOP presidential nominee John McCain's 2008 campaign for president. Based on the book by journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, the film is less than flattering to Palin, who is seen flailing and rebelling against those running the campaign.

"We have her displaying moments of sheer brilliance –- I mean, she was unbelievably charismatic," Moore said earlier in January about the film's portrayal of Palin. "Suddenly here was this working class mother who popped out and seemed to be able to command the world, but of course upon further inspection, she was clearly not prepared. She didn't necessarily have the experience necessary to lead our country, and that’s what we were attempting to characterize."

Ed Harris, who plays McCain, is portrayed as an exhausted, exasperated candidate. Woody Harrelson plays adviser Steve Schmidt, who scrambles to cover Palin's flaws with her natural charisma.

The film premieres on March 10th and 9pm on HBO.

WATCH:

Trailer

Comments

[Derman Glm]

04:34 PM on 04/30/2012

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[Gordon Couch]

11:54 AM on 02/23/2012

Hatchet job? Seriously? Do those of you rushing to the defense of Palin suddenly have so short a memory that it can't reach all the way back to 2008? I'm no Obama fan, I didn't vote for him and I won't vote for him again so please spare me the "typical liberal" fire you're going to throw my way but Palin was a disaster. The choice by McCain to include her in his campaign was without reason and better choices were a hair's width away. It astounds me to this day how someone with as much political experience as McCain would have given a person like Palin a tap for his running mate. She was woefully prepared. She had no significant political experience. She had liabilities due to her actions in the short time she was acting as governor of Alaska. Palin is a case study of what to NOT do in preparation for deciding a running mate for the greatest nation on Earth. Please, don't romanticize this sorry episode of American politics. If you must, please, go back and watch the interviews and read the news articles from various left and right sources. Stop putting this person where she does not belong in the prism of politics. She was and is a caricature and a joke in the strictest sense.

[mjeffn]

03:17 PM on 02/27/2012

Fanned & Fav'd. So, if you didn't vote for Obama, are you admitting you voted for Palin or, did you just not vote? I'm with you, she was, is and, will always be a disaster for Republicans and it doesn't look like she's going away anytime soon. As a Democrat, I feel I'm doing Republicans a favor by trying to yell her down to point that she gives up. Truly, that she makes people want to scratch their eyes out shouldn't be a partisan issue; a battle between those who admit she makes them feel this way and those who refuse to admit it.

[Gordon Couch]

08:32 PM on 02/27/2012

@meffn Since you asked...I'm a two-time Clintonista who decided to vote for Bob Barr when Hillary lost the nomination to Obama. I, for the life of me, cannot understand why there is so much hand wringing about this photogenic dingbat politician-cum-author/speaker/talking head. Verily I say unto you, Palin protagonists, give up on Sarah Palin the way she gave up on her Alaskan constituency when she punted on her own elected office. Do your party a favor and read, objectively, about your candidates and then make a decision as to where your loyalties lie and be able to justify those loyalties with passion. Doing anything less is at least irresponsible. That goes for the Democrats, too.

[Derman Glm]

01:55 PM on 02/08/2012

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[Derman Glm]

01:54 PM on 02/08/2012

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[KsAPigButt]

04:17 PM on 02/04/2012

That was so interesting and entertaining watching that whole thing unfold. It was funny to see their little 'rogue' star turn into a real tiger that they could not control. She definitely had a mind of her own.

Never underestimate the power of a woman, Boyz!

[mjeffn]

03:20 PM on 02/27/2012

A mind? I can't see how she could be judged to have anything beyond some rudimentary neurological connections resembling an evolutionary throwback of some sort.

[KsAPigButt]

08:34 PM on 02/27/2012

OK. Ya got me. I should have left out the 'mind' part and just said they freaked out when they realized they could not and were not going to be able to control her, her mouth, her brai...nope, or her actions.

How's that? :)

[willpen]

05:55 PM on 02/02/2012

If any of what this trailer intimates is true then I don't know if it makes me feel sorrier for McCain or makes me loath him and what he set upon this country, even more.

[LFox6]

10:45 AM on 02/02/2012

More accurately, this HBO film (code for 'hatchet job on anything not liberal') is based on one-third of the book "Game Change".

They should have included the whole nastiness between Obama and Clinton in the '08 primary race and the relationship between Biden and Obama and how the veep was chosen.

Left out are segments where Reid described Obama as electable as the first black president because he was "light-skinned" and had "no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one". Also left out were Bill Clinton's remarks about Obama when trying to convince Ted Kennedy to back Hillary over Obama. Clinton said to Kennedy that "a few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee"

All the Edwards data and story is left out as well.

What a hatchet job. Not surprising, considering it's an election year, and the incumbent is not looking so good

[juanr149]

11:13 AM on 02/02/2012

Incumbent not looking so good? Who's going to beat him, Mitt Romney? Keep dreaming pal. I turn to watching highlights (if you can call them that) of the republican primaries for my daily dose of humor.

[LFox6]

11:43 AM on 02/02/2012

You're so busy watching highlights, you are ignoring the obvious - you were 'had' in '08.

Nationally, Obama and Romney are in a dead heat in the polls, specifically in the swing states, which will seal the election

http://www.gallup.com/poll/152240/Romney-Ties-Obama-Swing-States-Gingrich-Trails.aspx

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/us/general_election_romney_vs_obama-1171.html

Who's dreaming now? LOL

[Libgirl746]

08:35 AM on 02/03/2012

'' the incumbent is not looking so good.''
Well...as compared to who? Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich? Denial is not just a river in Egypt. I read the book and can't wait to see the selfish, woefully unprepared Palin portrayed onscreen. We have all seen it in real life.

[LFox6]

08:43 AM on 02/03/2012

How convenient. You completely skipped over anything to do with the liberal hijinks mentioned in my post - typical.

As I said, a hatchet job

[siljerjo]

07:21 AM on 02/02/2012

I feel a little cheesy, but I really look forward to seeing this.

Also agree with other commenters here. Julianne really looks the part, but the voice is not nearly annoying enough, which is a big part the SP package.

[kalima1]

02:55 AM on 02/02/2012

julianne moore and ed harris are the prettier versions of palin and mccain...and not as hate-able.

[Libgirl746]

08:36 AM on 02/03/2012

Lol. good one.

[RickyPoo]

08:39 PM on 02/01/2012

This will make a great double-feature with "Recount" sometime.

With after-movie arguments about whether Julianne Moore or Laura Dern gave the better performance.

[DocJoseph]

08:22 PM on 02/01/2012

The protrayal may be very accurate, but I think they could have done a much better job with that "fingernails-on-chalkboard" voice of hers.

Just thinking about the original makes me shiver - and not in delight.

[conservativelady]

07:16 PM on 02/01/2012

It's very accurate, I worked in a situation once where the Boss was weak and the secretary was power hungry and ran things. People know how dirty things get when an underling is in control. Power unjustly gained corrupts. This trailer rings true, it backs up what we saw during the campaign. Palin upstaging McCain, getting too caught up in her own celebrity. Wanting to give a speech when McCain lost, being told no, again and again that that wasn't right because it was unprecidented. Palin looking like she wanted to talk, looking indignent. To me, the evidence has been coroborated, because we saw it happen.

[cindylou1962]

07:44 PM on 02/01/2012

Wow, that's an interesting take. The fact is, John McCain wouldn't take the advice of his campaign manager(s) who begged him NOT to choose her as his running mate, but he refused to listen. Once she hit the campaign trail -- and started talking about seeing Russia from her house, or not being able to answer the simple question such as "what do you read?" -- he realized what a huuuuuuuuge mistake he had made, which is the premise of this movie.

[Libgirl746]

08:41 AM on 02/03/2012

Exactly. You just negated the argument that some Palin supporters on here are trying to justify...that the portrayal of Palin is unfair. How can someone argue against what we all saw on a daily basis? Good post.

[Sue Starr Dech]

04:51 PM on 02/04/2012

Yep, and it's pretty bad when SNL (Tina Fey) didn't have to change a word of what Palin said for it to be hilarious! lol

[larmarch5]

06:57 PM on 02/01/2012

Julianne just doesn't quite have that grating voice. Maybe if they had had her shriek TAAAAAWWWWWWWDDDDD about 500 times before each take, she could have rasped it up enough.

[MPFIED]

06:40 PM on 02/01/2012

I'm sure Palin will lob her Facebook missives complaining about what she deems a negative portrayal,provided of course, she's capable of figuring out how to turn on a TV.

[Neechie]

06:21 PM on 02/01/2012

I'll probably watch it, but just in the trailer she is more likable and less dumb than the real SP comes off. Not sure if that was to make her look like a victim, but it's a bit of a stretch.