The Kennedys

A dialogue-driven, eight part drama miniseries charting the rise and fall of the Kennedy family in American politics. The main draw is JFK and the story of his ascendancy and eventual downfall, but it turns out the real star of the show is his father Joe, a character exposed as an utterly ruthless manipulator as the plot unfolds.

I'll admit that the first couple of episodes left me a little cold, depicting a bunch of characters it's difficult to care about at first. Once I was hooked, though, I was hooked, and Joe's hunger for power is every bit as engaging as that of Caesar or Henry VIII. Tom Wilkinson, still best known for his cuddly roles in the likes of THE FULL MONTY, is unrecognisable and outstanding in the role, a true test of his talent as an actor.

Greg Kinnear and Barry Pepper equally shine as the Kennedy brothers, each actor bringing likability to his part without neglecting the various character defects. Katie Holmes is uncanny as Jackie. The historical backdrop is well realised, with such dramas as the Bag of Pigs fiasco, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the civil rights struggle adding plenty of meat to the storyline, and I was alternatively gripped, disgusted, moved and surprised as the story reached its culmination. THE KENNEDYS is a piece of well-made drama and TV at the top of its game.

"The Kennedys" is a competently produced and mostly entertaining series with terrific performances, realistic dialogue, and fine set design that convincingly evokes the time period of John and Robert Kennedy. The story is nothing new to those familiar with the Kennedys: after the death of his eldest son in World War II, New England patriarch Joseph Kennedy pushes his son John to become President of the United States. Along the way, John's fearless brother Robert and his enigmatic wife Jackie give him needed support as he campaigns for higher office and makes decisions that will forever change the course of history.

The TV series isn't entirely historically accurate: it does take liberties with certain details and embellishes relationships and events that in reality were less sensational. But I mostly didn't mind since this is a drama and not a documentary, and the changes made generally served the narrative. The story of the Kennedys has been brought to life in better, richer TV shows and movies such as "Kennedy" starring Martin Sheen and "Thirteen Days" with Bruce Greenwood. If you're interested in the Kennedys I recommend you watch those first, but "The Kennedys" does tell their story very well overall even if it doesn't really bring anything new to the table.

The four central characters are all complex and fascinating, and the actors (Greg Kinnear as JFK, Barry Pepper as RFK, Katie Holmes as Jackie, and Tom Wilkinson as Joe Kennedy) do a terrific job bringing these historical figures to life. In particular Barry Pepper is spellbinding as Robert Kennedy: he captures the intensity and the empathy that drove RFK all his life, and he exactly replicates Kennedy's appearance and speaking style without doing an impersonation. If nothing else I recommend watching the series for his performance alone. The costume design, sets, and music all do a terrific job of replicating the 1960s, and at no point in the series does anything feel out of place, fake, or less than authentic to the times.

The biggest complaint I have is that the series takes a downhill turn after JFK's assassination: the final episode, which focuses on the Kennedys after his death, is unfocused, sloppy, and skips over four years of riveting history from 1964 to 1968. Jackie is sidelined as a character and RFK comes across as too self-pitying and opportunistic. Because the series almost entirely ignores his service as a U.S. Senator, we don't witness his tireless work for the underprivileged or his painful indecision over whether or not to run for President in 1968. The finale was a missed opportunity to tell a compelling story, and overall it's a disappointing conclusion to the show.

If the series had ended with JFK's death, I'd rank it an 8/10. It's slick, well-acted, entertaining, and does a fine job of bringing such cherished American icons to life on the silver screen. It also manages to show the Kennedys' flaws while remaining respectful of their accomplishments and principles. But the finale just doesn't cut it, making the series an incomplete experience. 7/10.

The controversial 2011 miniseries "The Kennedys" was turned down by History Channel because it wasn't 100% accurate, as if anything that purports to tell a true story on film is 100% accurate. The truth is that the channel was pressured by its board members, many of whom were friends of the Kennedys, to turn it down. The History Channel in England managed to stoop to broadcast it, so something tells me, as my grandmother used to say, there was "dirty work at the crossroads." Speaking of which, this miniseries attempts to give us a realistic look at the Kennedy family, and it isn't too pretty. If this were about my family I'd try to keep someone from broadcasting it as well. And they didn't even give us the worst parts.

The beginning story centers around Joe Kennedy, a man who built his fortune with insider trading and had political aspirations which were dashed when he was pulled from his Ambassador job in England. He then focused on making his son, Joe Jr., the star politician, but when Joe was killed in the service, his hopes turned to Jack. According to this, he didn't think too much of Bobby. Yet in the series, Bobby actually emerges as a hero.

The focus is on these Kennedy men without much about the rest of the family, which was a criticism. But in order to do that, the miniseries would have had to be a maxiseries. It does touch on Rosemary, the mentally/emotionally challenged child who was institutionalized, and whom Joe arranged to have a lobotomy. The miniseries doesn't mention the last part.

There is no mention of Kathleen, nor would there have been, since her family cut her off when she became involved with a married man. When she died in a plane crash at the age of 28, her mother Rose, who did not attend her funeral, said that it was God's punishment for her being involved with a married man. In 1963, President Kennedy saw his sister's grave for the first time.

As far as Jack and Jackie, Jackie emerges as a woman very much in love with her husband, a man who made her unhappy most of the time with his infidelity. This was just something you were supposed to put up with, I guess. I believe there was a lot of love between both of them; and I believe that toward the end of his life, JFK became more and more impressed with her as a woman and realized how important she was to him. It's said that when he died, clippings about her were found in the top drawer of his desk.

Bobby Kennedy comes off as extremely aggressive, loyal, hardworking, a loving husband, and a family man. He was one who, in a way, had greatness thrust upon him and came to a tragic end as a result. Not mentioned is how much Ethel came to resent Jackie because after JFK died, she was calling Bobby for every little thing. One does see her doing this in the miniseries, though.

JFK's portrait is that of a thoughtful man who listened carefully to advice and didn't cave into the military, who wanted him to blow Cuba to kingdom come. The focus here is on the pain he endured from Addison's disease and various infidelities. We do not see a lot of his tremendous charm, his humor, and his great charisma.

The acting is uniformly excellent. I had some problems with Barry Pepper's accent, which I felt in the beginning wasn't organic but really put on. Greg Kinnear was amazing -- as usual, his performances are surprising and he's underrated as a result. If he doesn't sparkle enough as JFK, it's probably because it wasn't in the script.

The most brilliant performance is that of Tom Wilkinson as Joe, a powerful, controlling, ruthless man who let nothing stand in his way to get what he wanted. Wilkinson's real-life wife, Diana Hardcastle, is a marvelous Rose Kennedy.

Katie Holmes does a good job as Jackie, though she resembles Mary Tyler Moore a little more than the First Lady. She is nevertheless lovely and a sympathetic character. We're not really able to see her courage, but we can see what she went through in the White House. We also see that she was an amazing woman, classy and sophisticated, and a wonderful mother without it being beat over our heads. The assassination was well-handled with real documentary footage and no emphasis on gore.

Some of this film is verbatim from real events - Kennedy's speech in Dallas at the Chamber of Commerce, his televised report to America about the Cuban missile crisis, Bobby's speech in Los Angeles, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of the White house meetings were verbatim as well, since those transcripts exist and were used in "Thirteen Days."

All in all, I thought this was very good; I read an expert's list of inaccuracies, and it was fairly short, having to do with whether or not Bobby and Jack discussed their sex lives with one another; whether Joe was pro-Hitler; and whether Joe kissed his secretary in front of Rose. The expert had that incorrect. In the film, Joe is kissing his secretary when Rose enters the room. It wasn't deliberate. Also the expert didn't know if Joe actually did have an affair with his secretary. Not that it would surprise me if he did. I do believe he had a great deal of respect for his wife, however, and would not have done anything to embarrass her.

I highly recommend this series. If the miniseries comes off like a soap opera, let's face it, the lives of the Kennedys were just that. Unfortunately their lives were all too real, and most of them paid a high price for their fame and ambition.

This miniseries of the Kennedy family was a joy to watch, all the way! First of all, the series covers a lot of controversial and exciting episodes in the 1960's: The Kennedy's campaign for election, Bay of Pigs invasion, Cuba Missile Crisis, civil rights for black people, the JFK assassination and parts of RFK's political campaign for election as President. Each story is handled intriguingly and insightful, yet maintaining the golden entertainment values. Parts of which, is because that the series is handled as a regular huge Hollywood production. The patriotic music playing in the background, excellent cinematography, amazing dialog, superb direction etc.

But the series doesn't just cover what happened in The White House during all of these escapades. It rather blends in with the daily life of the Kennedy's. And that's what we see: the daily life of the Kennedy's. I, for one, now has a far greater caricature in my head, concerning the personas of that generation of Kennedy's. Almost every personal conflict inside the family is handled, and with bravour!

The acting is all top notch! Greg Kinnear is the heart and soul of this series, having the weight of this series' fate on his shoulders. If he sucked, so would the series. Luckily, Kinnear is all out brilliant in this complex and controversial role of JFK, with everything considered down to the way he walks. I thought, that Kinnear really breathed the role of John F. Kennedy, disappearing into this ambiguous and public persona. Kinnear bears a physical resemblance to JFK, and his accent was very much alike, as well. Kinnear earned a very well deserved Emmy nomination for best leading actor! Barry Pepper surprises with his revolutionary performance as Robert F. Kennedy! He may not look the part a 100 percent, but he manages to recreate his accent very well! Pepper was a joy to watch on-screen, stealing absolute every scene he was in! He handled every emotional reaction with skill and a nice sense of human subtlety to it. For his role, Pepper fairly won the Emmy award for best leading actor! Tom Wilkinson as Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. was a tour de force in it's own right! With every scene Wilkinson seemed to give his absolute best, and it shows! His performance was amusing, heartbreaking, subtle, efficient and moving! Wilkinson earned an Emmy nomination for best supporting actor. Katie Holmes wasn't as good as the three former actors mentioned, in my opinion. Still, she looked the part of Jackie Kennedy quite much, and she showed the right kind of silence to her performance!

The reason this series only gets an 8/10, is because that some odd things was left out of production. First of all, I would have liked to have Ted Kennedy included, and behold the actor who could have hopefully exemplified in the role. Instead, Ted's only appearance is in the background as a small boy hearing his name getting mentioned. Second of all, an obvious historical escapade that was left out, was the moon race with the Soviets. Not even a mention there. That would have been more interesting than an episode, partly dedicated to JFK's apparent affair with Marilyn Monroe!

Overall, I found the series to be highly enjoyable and very interesting to watch.

8/10

I have always been fascinated with the Kennedy family & over the years have read & seen so much about them. This series was wonderful - very entertaining & extremely well written. A lot has been said about the acting & I too was watching with a critical eye. I have to say the acting was excellent! I found myself totally engrossed in watching the story line which of course I know so well. I was captivated by how each & every actor was able to portray such a likeness to their real life character. This was indeed enhanced by the stupendous job by the make-up & costume department! Katie Holmes in particular had an extremely difficult role to play, but what an amazing job she did! I truly enjoyed this fabulous series!