Into the lives of America's most famous family

Review: The Kennedys

MANILA, Philippines - The eight-part mini-series now showing on Wednesday nights on the History Channel is a bold attempt to both chronicle and dramatize the lives of the Kennedys. It is a noteworthy effort but there is something that hovers over every frame that keeps it from becoming an in-depth portrait of America’s most famous family. 

This is respect. I am sure you agree that almost everybody has the utmost respect for John F. Kennedy and his family. Though flawed, its most prominent members may have been, it is a fact that they gave up so much in pursuit of their dreams, albeit, first for themselves but which would later encompass the whole world. 

It is this respect that coats the scandals with a soft sheen. The script goes where no one has dared before. Sam Giancana, Marilyn Monroe, Jack Kennedys other extra-marital indiscretions, J. Edgar Hoover’s determination to bring the family down and others. But only the heroics are nailed down. The nasties are instead glossed over. 

It is this same respect that causes static scenes and self-conscious acting. Probably aware that they were shooting well-remembered scenes, immortalized in famous photographs, the players lapse into acting out the pictures as in a tableau. These succeed as such and it is almost uncanny watching them come alive on screen.

I do not think anybody should be blamed for these faults. I believe that this outcome would have been the same with any cast or director. So much is still unknown about the Kennedys and it will take many years before all of those are attested to as either fact or rumor and stripped of mythology. Only time will provide writers and filmmakers with the perspective to fairly document that era and the license to choose to change what they want for cinematic purposes. 

Judging from the outcome of The Kennedys, 48 years away from Dallas is not enough. Now is not yet the time. I guess later attempts should wait until such time when the generation that remembers where they were when JFK was shot on Nov. 22, 1963 have either gone all senile or departed for the great beyond. Then and only then can they look at this real-life saga with brand new eyes.

That said though, it will still take a lot to keep me from sitting in front of the TV set every Wednesday to watch another The Kennedys episode. And don’t tell me to get the whole series on DVD for marathon viewings. I like the weeklong suspense that culminates on the next episode. And although I have already seen the entire thing during the three-day premiere last week, I will watch again because the show is first-rate, engrossing soap opera. 

Greg Kinnear as John F. Kennedy with Katie Holmes as Jackie Kennedy

I can tell you that if a scriptwriter dreamed up a story such as this, he would have been accused of being too melodramatic and asked to tone down his material to make it more realistic. The Kennedys though is based on the very real. In fact, I believe that with less respect and more of a distance, this series could have shocked viewers with juicy revelations.

The series also abounds with great performances. Okay, Katie Holmes is clearly not up to the task. I think I recall a better, feisty and flirtatious Jackie Kennedy by Jill Hennessey of the Law And Order experience in a miniseries about the Kennedy women some years ago. But Katie so looks the part, it was like watching iconic images come to life. Watching her enter the picture in that pink suit on that fateful day in Dallas gave me the shivers. 

The rest of the cast though will be hard to top. Tom Williamson as the patriarch Joseph Kennedy is a pathetic picture of the powerful tycoon, mob dealer, diplomat and Irish immigrant combined reduced to nothing after a stroke. Barry Pepper is a revelation as the volatile Robert Kennedy. Watch him and you will notice how your eyes stay locked on his image. You do not want to miss those little things he does, that make his acting so natural.

Of course, who would have thought that it would be Greg Kinnear (Sabrina, Little Miss Sunshine, As Good As It Gets) who would provide us with the best delineation of JFK ever. Kinnear, the nice to watch, reliable performer, makes us feel the pain and the glory of being the most powerful man in the world. 

Too bad it was only for too short a time and that we still feel the loss. Maybe it is just as well that The Kennedys is more glossy melodrama than factual documentary. It is always better to remember only the good about the great.