(Bloomberg)— A new film about Tony Blair and Bill Clinton could have been subtitled “Bambi and Humper.” “The Special Relationship,” which debuts on HBO May 29 at 9 p.m. New York time, follows the political and personal alliances between the two leaders and their wives, which eventually cooled considerably. Michael Sheen stars as Blair and looks so much like the former prime minister you move between his portrayal and archived press footage without a blink. His big eyes, upturned nose, and chirpy idealism explain why he was known as Bambi, at least in his early days. Dennis Quaid passes for Clinton though the former president’s trademark bulbous nose is AWOL. He is full of Clintonian bombast, dissembling and political smarts, reminding us that they didn’t call him Slick Willie for nothing. The film is the third installment in screenwriter Peter Morgan’s Blair trilogy, and focuses on the debt he owned the American president whose politics, if not peccadilloes, he closely shared. The writing is tight and the pace is just about perfect. If you’re a political junkie, or simply like watching politicians on the make – in every sense of the word – you’re in for a good couple of hours. Clinton spotted a winner in Blair early on and took him under his wing. “We think that the smart money is on you,” he tells Blair during a White House visit designed to enhance Blair’s electoral chances. After Blair’s victory, Clinton waxes profound about the possibility of advancing their “center-left” policies: “We’re on the right side of history,” he insists. “It’s a slam dunk.” Then along comes Monica, looking like a somewhat beefy tart in familiar footage, which brings Hillary Clinton to center stage. Hope Davis, who looks like Hillary on a very good day, portrays a first lady surprised and hurt by the intern revelations. “How do you know this girl?” she asks Clinton, who looks like a cornered possum. “I talked to her a few times,” Clinton gamely bluffs. “You know me, I offered to help. Just trying to be nice.” Suddenly we’re back in the good old days, with Hillary going into battle mode and declaring war on the “vast right wing conspiracy” while Kenneth Starr snoops around for stained dresses and forked tongues. “I did not have improper relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky,” we hear in one of politics’ true Golden Oldies. The Blairs were somewhat scandalized by the revelations, according to the film, especially Cherie Blair (Helen McCrory), who shuffles their children away from the telly when a news broadcast mentions the president’s wayward member. There are some very funny scenes, including a discussion during a flight to Washington about the nature of sin. One of Blair’s assistants says Clinton’s “rapid response” team has found a passage in Ecclesiastes suggesting the sexual act now known as “the Lewinsky” is not actually adulterous. Cherie Blair isn’t buying it, though when later asked by Tony if she would dump him if he got caught philandering, she provides a pragmatic response: “No, but I’d make your life hell.” It’s wasn’t Monica but Slobodan Milosevic that drove the biggest wedge between Clinton and Blair. Blair believed ground troops were the proper response to the Yugoslav leader’s predations in Kosovo, while Clinton was wary: “That dog won’t hunt,” he explains in proper Arkansan. Blair held to his guns, arguing passionately for intervention in a Chicago speech that inspired the press to dub him King Tony -- and Clinton to drub him as a blowhard. “What kind of king begs others to do his fighting for him?” he sneers. The kiss-off is delivered during a visit to Blair’s country estate as George W. Bush, aided by the Supreme Court, is granted his electoral victory. Clinton, during a late-night refrigerator raid, says he doesn’t know if his old colleague is a center-left politician any more, “or if you ever were.” He also warns him about Cheney/Bush. “Be careful, these guys, they play rough.” By now, however, Blair is a seasoned pol ready to cut his own deals with any devil he chooses. Bill shouldn’t take it hard. After all, Tony learned from a master.
