The TV movie "Ike: Countdown to D-Day" is, as the title suggests, not about the greatest invasion force in history but about the planning for it. And about Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who shouldered the responsibility for making sure it succeeded.
There's a lot of talkin' and very little fightin'. Although there is plenty of arguing in "Ike," which airs at 6, 8 and 10 p.m. tonight on A&E.
And it's a genuinely engrossing movie. Tom Selleck, of all people, does a fine job as Ike (a role for which he sacrificed both his mustache and his hairline. Although, frankly, it's tough to feel like we're really getting to know Eisenhower, given that Lionel Chetwynd's script paints him too perfect to be true — and paints just about everybody else (including Gens. George Patton, Bernard Montgomery and Charles de Gaulle) as buffoons.
Chetwynd defends his script as "historically accurate," pointing out that it's "drawn from the diaries and the letters of Dwight David Eisenhower." Fair enough — but we might get a different view if other sources had been consulted.
Which becomes part of the story, given Chetwynd's position within Hollywood — as an outsider who has often complained that his conservative political views aren't welcome there.
Oh, make no mistake about it. The entertainment industry is full of hypocrites of all political stripes. The left-wingers and the right-wingers, of course, can see the hypocrisy in each other but not in themselves.
"This is not a culture that is embracing of people whose politics are not within the mainstream of the left wing of the Democratic party," Chetwynd said. "Of course, we all know that."
But his last TV movie, "D.C. 9/11," did get produced and did air on Showtime. A re-creation of events that happened the day of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the telefilm was reverential in tone toward President George W. Bush and his administration.
(It was also a big bore, but that's beside the point.)
But you can't argue with Chetwynd when he says, "I'm not Oliver Stone."
The ever-annoying Stone, of course, played fast and loose with facts in movies like "JFK."
Still, it comes as no surprise that "the culture is not friendly" to his conservative take on history. "It'll be a while before you see my version of the Reagan presidency," Chetwynd said. "Quite a while."
There were, however, some similarities between the way "D.C. 9/11" and the somewhat infamous TV movie "The Reagans" were received. Both were criticized by people who judged them without seeing them first. Which you'd think would give Chetwynd some empathy for the writers and producers of "The Reagans."
Apparently not, however. Asked if he was dismayed when "The Reagans" came under fire, Chetwynd snidely replied, "Oh, I have no comment on that. You know, that is somebody else's problem."
Some might think it's a problem for anyone working in the entertainment industry — and a particular problem for those who make fact-based movies — but Chetwynd does not.
"I have nothing to do with that. I mean, I wasn't dismayed," he insisted. "I made my movie and they made their movie."
It's too bad more people within the entertainment industry didn't come to the defense of "9/11." Although it's no big surprise that Chetwynd doesn't seem to have a lot of friends in Hollywood to defend him.
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com