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I wanted to but couldn't!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The merit of this film is that it persuaded me to try to find out more about P.T. Barnum, since it wasn't really telling me anything about him. Other reviewers have mentioned the meandering biographical style. I couldn't follow Mr Barnum's business dealings. His younger self seemed quite engaging, but I kept asking myself if this was Beau Bridges. It didn't look like him, but the later stages of his life didn't seem to resemble him either. By the time he was on his death-bed, which was a position he was in fairly often, he looked as if he was 160, although he was only 80. Perhaps he got confused with the 160 year old slave woman, who turned out to be only 80. I never discovered what made this man tick.There was something immensely dull about the whole story. George Hamilton must be easily the worst actor I've ever come across. Every time he came into the picture it was as if he was saying: Look at me. I'm acting. And I'm tanned. He should stick to skin care and sun care. No, this was not an enlightening or interesting biopic. I found the Wikipedia article much more useful and informative, with a brisk account of numerous facts which seemed to have escaped the film makers.

I knew nothing about P.T. Barnum before this movie. Since I have seen it on A&E I have since bought the VHS and later the DVD of the show. I loved it! Since my first viewing I have read up on my Barnum history and found only the smallest details changed, more to enhance the drama then an attempt to re-write history. The history of the man is fascinating and seeing how the great showman juggled his family and his career was expertly done! Most all of the Barnum historians agree that his wife Charity was someone of great importance to Barnum despite his touring with one act or another. This film does credit to the connection between husband and wife. Further more we get to see how the Civil War impacted everyone's lives and showcased the struggles families felt between the north and the south. The language of the script is excellent and the speeches given to Barnum are the stuff actors dream of getting. Seeing Barnum describe his dreams of touring with Joyce Heth shows not only his style and panache in the art of the humbug but also gave a wonder in being able to believe things that we know can not be true! Beau Bridges does a tour-de-force job with Barnum. Bridges has the huckster style down perfect and shows just how charismatic the real man must have been to pull off all his dreams and schemes. There is not one weak spot in the cast and it was a masterful stroke to have Beau's son, Jordan, play the young PT. The transformation between actors is enjoyable and believable! Others have pointed out the lack of time the sideshow people receive in this film. The movie is about the life of P T Barnum, not Cheng and Eng or the Bearded Lady. To tell their stories would take a movie all their own. Also the site has listed as goofs the fact Barnum never said "there's a sucker born every minute." That is very true but not a goof. What is a goof is the fact that phrase is never once mentioned in the film so while this fact might fit in trivia it is not a goof in the film. The script is faithful to Barnum's life, brings humanity to the man, and draws on first person source material in the form of Barnum's own biographies! This is a first as almost every other film/musical version goes off in totally random directions and ignores what is right in front of them. Why other writes feel the need to add made up facts when the real ones are more then interesting is beyond me. I take my top hat off to the screen writer and thank him for an excellent piece on the man who often hid behind his own myth, Phineas Taylor Barnum!

Although I cannot argue with the former comment about this miniseries a bit boring, I feel it's also misleading. Certainly, it needn't have been 4 hours long, but if you look past that, and watch it as the costume drama it is, you'd probably enjoy it. The sets are magnificent, and the acting isn't as bad as the former comment suggested. But what is stunning is Barnum himself, and all the things that we take for granted, that he started or invented - like Madison Square Garden, the permanent circus, the terms "rain check", "grandstanding", and "press conference" (as well as the very notion of a press conference), but also modern advertising - including full page ads, creating a demand, and infotainment. That's the real strength of the miniseries - Barnum's optimistic view of the world and his ideas of marketing and showmanship.So, if you're interested in how show business started to be a legitimate business, you should see it, even if you shouldn't place it at the top of you "to watch"-list.

We, my girlfriend and I, enjoyed being in another epoch. The people and their costumes made us go back in that time. People were polite and smiling. Life was more simple.We really enjoyed that tv-series. Thanks to all those persons who have made us live a nice moment of the past.We thank you all.