The Roosevelts: An Intimate History

[Ken Burns] triumphs again with PBS's seven-night, 14-hour The Roosevelts: An Intimate History, which, as its subtitle suggests, never loses sight of the poignant human drama unfolding against a tide of national and world turmoil.

Burns and Ward pile on so much detail, alongside so much stunning footage, that by watching this whole spread--to borrow that famous and also well-rubbed line -- will be like arriving "where we started and know the place for the first time." Magnificent. Of course.

Don't let that "intimate" description mislead you--Franklin's infidelity is documented, but not detailed, and the show takes no stance on Eleanor's sexuality beyond making it clear that the subject is more complicated than some may assume. As were these people, and as is this completely splendid documentary.

The three Roosevelts come back to memorable life in Burns' epic through archival footage, some of which has been seen before in other Burns' films, and insightful commentary from historians and writers such as Jon Meacham, Doris Kearns Goodwin, David McCullough, Blanche Wiesen Cook, William Leuchtenberg, and others.

Burns' illuminating series turns the Roosevelt clan into a colorful Wes Anderson movie, albeit one in black and white. [12 Sep 2014, p.56]

It’s beautiful work that speaks to the storytelling power of Burns. This isn’t just a history lesson; it’s cinema.

It’s a fascinating documentary that’ll make you want to devour it all, no matter where you start.

The Roosevelts delivers on its subtitle, drawing such a full and close portrait of the extended clan and their social and political circles that a viewer can’t help but feel connected to them, faults and all.

Weaving the lives of these three towering Roosevelts into one triumphant 14-hour film, Burns has found another ideal prism for examining the American character and the American story.

Burns and his frequent collaborator, writer Geoffrey C. Ward, plunge into the elements that make The Roosevelts so engrossing, enlightening and entertaining. In a seemingly effortless balancing act, Burns and Ward do justice to the massive mark these three individuals left on the country's history, while also keeping a tight focus on their inner lives.

For those who have studied the Roosevelts, many of the stories will be familiar. But the beauty of the writing (“No other American family has ever touched so many lives”) and eye-opening video nevertheless make much of this feel fresh.

It’s a pleasure to watch, and the weaving of the narrative thread is a thing of beauty.

It should still be said, however, that pretty good Burns is pretty great, provided you more or less agree with his take on things.

While The Roosevelts is, yes, long and at points fast-forwardable, in its best moments it gives human breath to a well-covered period of history, all in service of an idea: showing the ways that, through these generation, America matured and changed.

If Burns' customary elegiac pace doesn't always work for his subjects--it is the opposite of everything we're told about Theodore Roosevelt, at least--he gives you time to really look at what he's brought to show you.

The Roosevelts doesn’t whitewash its subjects or make excuses for their missteps. It does admire them greatly, for their courage and vision.

These lives are familiar to us the way that folk tales are, which is to say that no matter how well we already know them they remain vivid and exciting and moving when told well, as they are here.

The entire 14-hour, seven-night experience of Burns' latest opus is an engaging and at times surprising marathon.

[An] intensive and exhaustive new documentary series by Ken Burns bowing Sunday night on PBS.