Killing Kennedy (2013)

I did not find this movie to be very engaging. Normally I enjoy historical films, but this one did not hold my attention very well. In many historical films, even though you may know how it is going to end, it can still captivate you and take you on a journey with the characters. All of the events portrayed happened very quickly, and did not give you enough time to learn much about the characters or to even see who is the hero and who is the villain, even though history has already told us. It was a short movie and might have been much more entertaining if it had been longer. It was all very intense because it did not have much time to build up, and there was not really anything that made it personal. The characters were not relatable. It was a very uninteresting movie for such an interesting topic.

Reviews of a historical film can break down into its accuracy and the quality of the production. This movie does fine on both counts. Many will wish to dismiss the movie's narrative as it portrays Oswald as the lone assassin driven by his personal demons and failures. These viewers would rather see a Costner style conspiracy film with grand villains. I myself believed in the multiple shooter theory for many years, and still have a library of conspiracy books larger than any of the reviewers you are likely see read here, but over time it became clear that Oswald did indeed act alone. To believe otherwise is to credit our government with a competency that history proves is utterly lacking.For the quality of the film, Rob Lowe has captured JFK perfectly. It's sad he didn't win an award for his performance. The talented cast of supporting characters all play well to the known facts, a rare event in the Hollywood culture. The production values, no doubt limited by the film's budget, are adequate for the purpose, and the time period has been recreated well enough not to be distracting.As a devoted fan of President Kennedy and having seen every Kennedy film, I would place this one above average, and a good basic education for those unfamiliar with the story.

I hesitated to watch this movie because I was in college when Kennedy was killed, I remember it well and I wasn't sure I wanted to be reminded of it again. But I did and I am glad.The movie is based on Bill O'Reilly's book. He was in fact a reporter in Dallas during the 1970s and has had a keen interest in the death of Kennedy for quite a while. As he himself says the story, as far as he has been able, just tells the facts that they were able to uncover from witnesses and official police reports.As the title "Killing Kennedy" suggests, much of the focus in on Lee Harvey Oswald, his background, his unhappiness with American Imperialism, his attempt to live as a Communist in Russia (couldn't stand the life and the cold), and his great unhappiness at the USA stance on Cuba and Castro.The author doesn't believe Oswald was necessarily after Kennedy, any high-ranking government official would have served his purpose, but he worked in the Dallas book depository and the parade route gave him the perfect vantage point for a shooting. But Oswald was passionate and not very smart, he had no post-shooting plan, he made it up as he went along, was quickly caught, and Jack Ruby made sure we could never get Oswald's side of the story.Oswald's story is told in parallel to Kennedy's story, throwing his hat in the ring for President, picking Johnson as a running mate just to get the Texas vote, and winning a narrow victory. Kennedy's being too trusting of his military advisers early, leading to the Bay of Pigs fiasco, then standing his own ground later to turn away the Russians in the Cuban missile crisis, averting a war with Cuba and Russia.So these two paths crossed, in November of 1963, in Dallas. Within 3 days both were being buried, under quite different circumstances.Most of the actors do a very credible job, quite different from the people as we remember them, but things people younger than about 60 wouldn't necessarily notice. Rob Lowe as John F. Kennedy and Will Rothhaar very powerful as Lee Harvey Oswald. Francis Guinan did as good as he could with Lyndon Johnson, a person difficult to get right.I really like Ginnifer Goodwin and she was OK as Jacqueline Kennedy, but Jackie was also such a unique person I never felt like I was seeing her. But Michelle Trachtenberg seemed just perfect as the Russian bride, Marina Oswald. Even when her lines were in Russian they seemed perfectly believable. For me she was the best in this movie.

not conspiracy theories, not great revelations. only two stories and the link between them. a correct film, boring and disappointing for the fans of cool subject but, more important, a honest work. and this fact is important because , far of usual expectations, it is only a National Geographic exercise , part of a series who do not desires juggle with exotic hypothesis or conquest high rating/different public.this virtue - precision of details for each lead character. not analysis but only good points. a traditional history lesson. nothing more. so, a real good movie. if you do not ignore its basic purpose - to tell, in honest manner, a well - known story.