Winter Kills (1979)

I must admit, I don't know how this film has received such a high rating on this site. A good cast? Yes, but a wasted cast. This is basically the Kennedy assassination on Quaaludes. It's a film that simply doesn't hold up well through the years. Stiff direction and substandard cinematography reduce the look to that of a "B" movie. While it's always fun to watch John Huston, he cannot carry this movie alone. Bridges, who has consistently been one of my favorite actors, is wooden here, certainly nowhere near the caliber of his performance in "Rancho Deluxe", made a few years earlier. In short, it tries to be a comedy, drama and a parody all at the same time, and fails on all fronts. Want to watch good political filmmaking? Opt for 3 Days of the Condor for drama, Dr. Strangelove for satire/parody, and Being There for comedy.

Nineteen years after JFK was killed (by whom?) and five years after Watergate, this one puts the whole conspiracy theory industry in its place. One of the funniest films I have seen for a very long time - anyone who still thinks that Americans don't do irony (always a stupid claim but one which is made time and again) should see this. But it's bone-dry and very subtle, and I can understand how many people were puzzled and bemused by this when it was first released and that it did not do well commercially.Performances are universally excellent, tho' Jeff Bridge as the starry-eyed son trying to discover who killed his half-brother, the US president, and John Huston as the paterfamilias and caricature mega capitalist are treat. The plot is nonsensical, but then that is the whole point of a film which sends up conspiracy films something rotten and then some. Buy the video, because this really does bear watching again and again.

This was before all of the theories were "known." (hah)Kennedy becomes Keegan, Dallas becomes Philly (my hometown), and 11/22/63 becomes 02/22/60. No attempt made to hide the scenario they were portraying either.I agree that the book was too long and detailed for one film. And hearing about guys we just met getting killed in the next scene only helped a little. It moved the story along but seemed like a cop-out.Jeff Bridges seemed too young to be playing the role. They never made ages clear here. He was still great though. And I never thought much of John Huston as an actor. As a director he's brilliant. As an actor he tends to overplay a bit. He re-did his "Chinatown" role here.The name cameos helped. And I'm glad they didn't go nuts with the flashbacks as films like this tend to do. It makes a great spy thriller but not for conspiracy buffs.Watch for......the mother and kid on the bike ...the wig makers view from the window ...the cat on the mafia don's table ...the maid in the bedroom

Winter Kills is a wild, breakneck ride, impossible not to enjoy if you can muster up a two hour attention. Dullards who like to browse or half-watch will be quickly mystified and thus bored, but this film rewards those who make the investment. An excellent, creepy movie--funny and insightful, particularly relevant in these strange and disturbing days. John Huston gives a great over-the-top performance that seems more like a cartoon version of himself than the Joe Kennedy caricature he is meant to be. Tony Perkins is the embodiment of everyone's paranoid suspicions about who really runs things. Karl Rove must have sat spellbound in the theater as a young homunculus, taking notes as he ate his popcorn. Bizarre cameos and way inside references provide the icing on the cake.