If I were a betting man, I would have lost some money this weekend. The Kennedys has had a long and controversial production, and I had begun to doubt that the miniseries would ever see the light of day. Be it political pressure, claims of inaccuracies, or the potential that it was just plain bad, the historical biopic was dumped by the History Channel, and was shopped to many networks before finally landing on Reelz, a channel I didn’t even know I had. Finally an audience gets to decide if the show was worth its salt.
Any show or film that is going to be based on historical figures is going to largely be judged, unfairly or otherwise, on the ability of the actors to inhabit their real life counterparts. In the case of The Kennedys, that means primarily Jack, Bobby, and Jackie. My quick review is that two of out three ain’t bad. Greg Kinnear is surprisingly good as our 35th President. It was eerie how small makeup and hair tweaks had the look down. We’ve not seen a whole lot of Katie Holmes as Jackie, but I like what I see so far. Barry Pepper as RFK, though, leaves a lot to be desired. For my money, Steven Culp has the definitive performance in Thirteen Days (plus, you know, this).
(A note before anyone throws “the accents” in my face … I’m not from Massachusetts, so I can speak with very little authority on the quality of the voice work. Also, as not from that area, I could care less how bad or good they are. So leave me alone)
If a fourth grade project on JFK makes me an expert, then so I am (Obviously it does not, because otherwise I’d also be an expert at chasing girls around the playground). But I’m familiar enough with the family’s story to be glad that they spent some time solidifying the shadow that Joe Kennedy Jr. cast on Jack and his Presidency. As much as his father seemed to push him into the job, that would have never happened if the original “chosen one” hadn’t died in in the war.
Joe Sr. is the “character” that has, at least thus far comes across the worst. Either by buying, or stealing, the Kennedy patriarch was always going to get his way. He comes across as a bastard in the extreme. His attempt to bribe Jackie into not filing for divorce personifies that (though, it is hard not to look past the fact that he got what he wanted in the end). But these accusations aren’t exactly new.
The big question remains … how accurate is the story? Well, it is tough to get the big stuff wrong, like the results of the 1960 Election. We’ll never know, however, the real behind the scenes stuff that the writers have just guessed at. This is, obviously, the material that the Kennedy family had so much of a problem with. It is hard for me personally to get up in arms about it, because so far the story has been compelling. Two hours in so far, I’m decidedly along for the rest of the ride.
Clacked by Ivey West 
on Apr 05, 2011 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
It’s decent, but the acting is horrible. The actor playing Robert Kennedy is distracting in how bad a choice he is for the role, and the same with Jackie. But overall it seems fine. Who care if they Kennedys’ themselves don’t like it?? I really don’t get what the big deal is.
*POST AUTHOR*
Well, to speak to your last point … If someone where to make an eight hour mini series about your parents, how your father encouraged you to sleep around, just keep it from your spouse … As he slept around on his spouse. Was a controlling, manipulative SOB. Bribed your spouse with a million bucks to stay married to you …. Well, I’m sure you wouldn’t like it either.
And to speak of Barry Pepper as RFK, that’s kinda what I said in the post sir.
I know, I’m agreeing with you.
My point is why did TV people care what the Kennedy’s think? Sure they are pissed off, they be pissed off if anything made them look bad, even when it’s true. But why didn’t a real channel pick up the show? I mean NBC could use the press. 98% of the country doesn’t even know what Reelz Channel is.
*POST AUTHOR*
We still disagree on Katie Holmes, though :P I think people dump on her just because she is who she is, and married who she married. But she has shown acting chops in the past (Go), and rarely takes an opportunity to stretch those muscles.
No, that was the whole point I was making in the introduction. I get one network passing if there was a little political pressure. But if so many did, the next question is: Was the show just plain bad, or so inaccurate that it wasn’t “newsworthy.”
But, at the end of the day, it is a Conservative making a show that is critical of a famous (and famously liberal) historical American family. Doesn’t that always make for some controversy?
Aliens could invade for all I care. If you watch movies and want to get facts from them then you are one sorry person. lol
And yes I think Katie Holmes in this movie is bad. I didn’t even pay enough attention to realize it was her until halfway through because she was so bad. I wonder how she will do when JFK is killed by evil socialists. ;)
I probably won’t finish any of the other parts. It’s fine, but not like “I need to watch this!”, and I never remember what channel Reelz is.