I really enjoyed this film and think they did a fantastic job given the budget and casting limitations. The bad rating appears to be related to people not being "properly" entertained (acting and directing issues).
I read the first four reviews of this production. The first three seemed to be fair and measured.
A More Perfect Union examines the creation of the US Constitution from the perspective of chief author, James Madison. Beginning with trade war problems between states and Shay's Rebellion in Massachusetts, the film follows Federalist Madison's desperate attempts to enlist the aid and involvement of George Washington, the battles with states rights (anti-Federalist) advocates such as Roger Sherman and John Dickinson, his efforts to make both the Senate and the House elected by proportional representation, and his ultimate acceptance of the compromises which ultimately made the Constitution palatable to enough states to be ratified by 1788.
This film does an absolutely terrific job of explaining in detail the complex, intellectually demanding task of writing the US Constitution in one long summer. No buggy crashes or romantic affairs like many treatments would do-just a moving, meticulous representation of the difficult work of compromise and negotiating and endless redrafting between differing men with competing interests.
In high school I would have rather watched paint dry then study some of the "boring" details of the formation of our government. This film is long in places but I have to admit it helped me understand the background and differences of the founding fathers and how they created the Constitution.
A Congress of the United States was never so well portrayed, was it? I wish there were more hours of this.
This is not the worst movie I have ever seen. That said, it was awful.
