Kennedy (Box Set) [DVD]

undefined

Although the Kennedy family are never far from the headlines, it was John F. Kennedy who was the most celebrated and notorious of the clan. The 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy was also the country’s first Roman Catholic President, its richest and its youngest to die in office. Kennedy’s administration attracted some of the most brilliant young men and women in America and together they recreated the twentieth century version of King Arthur’s court at Camelot. He and his beautiful wife Jackie (Blair Brown) captured the imagination of people the world over. Kennedy is the behind-the-scenes story of JFK’s dynamic Presidential years, from the night before his election in November 1960 to the afternoon of his assassination on 22nd November 1963. It covers momentous events including the abortive invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs, the turmoil of violent racial conflict, the escalation of America’s involvement in Vietnam and the Missile Crisis. It also explores the private life of the man – the tragic death of his son aged only 39 hours and his chronic womanizing, scrutinized by the FBI under the leadership of the sinister and obsessive J. Edgar Hoover. .co.uk Review ------------- Made in 1983, the US TV mini-series Kennedy has Martin Sheen playing a president well before his stint on The West Wing ( /exec/obidos/ASIN/B000068OVR/%24%7B0%7D ). All of the momentous events of JFK's remarkable term are covered (with actual news footage used to excellent effect), but it is the portrayal of the entire Kennedy family as real, flawed people that gives Kennedy its power. The Kennedys gossip, snipe, joke and bother each other like a real family rather than rigid historical figures or threadbare caricatures. Sheen plays JFK as a man with lofty ideals who is more than willing to dirty his hands to serve his greater purpose. Blair Brown plays Jacqueline Kennedy with a shrewd understanding of politics, but also a whiff of vanity. In addition to the strong performances by both leads, Vincent Gardenia gives a brilliant performance as J Edgar Hoover: stiff, quirky and strange, prurient and moralistic at the same time and boiling with hatred. --Ali Davis