Product Description

Kennedy covers the tumultuous 1000 Days of the JFK Presidency - the abortive invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs, violent racial conflict, the escalation of America's involvement in Vietnam, the moon shots and the Missile Crisis, It explores his private life, relationships within the family and with Jackie, the tragic death of their infant son, his womanizing and obsessive scrutiny by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. Winner of Golden Globe and the Screen Actor's Guild Awards for his portrayal of President Josiah Bartlet in the hit television series The West Wing, Martin Sheen leads an all-star cast that includes Blair Brown as Jackie, John Shea as Bobby, E.G. Marshall as Joseph Kennedy, Geraldine Fitzgerald as Rose and Vincent Gardenia as Kennedy nemesis J. Edgar Hoover.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #58211 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-09-25
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 282 minutes

Amazon.com
Martin Sheen played president well before his stint on television's The West Wing in this affecting miniseries about John F. Kennedy. 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 Kennedy 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. The DVD includes 75 minutes of documentary footage from the Kennedy library. --Ali Davis

Customer Reviews

ONE OF TV'S BEST MINI-SERIES
Having already mastered RFK in 1975's THE MISSLES OF OCTOBER, it was only logical that Martin Sheen step up to the role he was seemingly born to play in what has proved to be one of the best mini-series ever produced. KENNEDY is a believable docu-drama that stays true to the 1000 day historical record. What's very commendable is Jim Goddard staying away in mass from the soap opera element of JFK's now much publicized adultery and the blind eye turned (to it) by his wife, staff and family. Vincent Gardinia offers memory burn as J. Edgar Hoover, just as Sheen does with JFK. The final ride through Dealy Plaza is horrific.

The Kennedy Years, Warts and All
This 1983 NBC mini-series may well be the best of its kind and remains probably the definitive Kennedy docu-drama. The film is confined to the brief years of the presidential administration, and is refreshingly honest in retelling the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the presidential philandering and, of course, the drama of that fateful final day. Martin Sheen is magnificent, as usual, in the title role, and he plays his presidential role with a believeable human quality that the real man thought of his constituency as the disenfranchised. As the first lady, Blair Brown's portrait of Jacqueline Kennedy is riveting and haunting as impressed throughout with her voiced-over prophecy of her "appointment with death." Beyond the two leads, a stellar supporting cast is headed by the late E.G. Marshall as the Kennedy patriarch, Joe Sr., John Shea as RFK and the late Vincent Gardenia in a sinister turn as FBI head J. Edgar Hoover. But this film belongs to Sheen and Brown, and together they ignite a sense of glamour and vitality that defined the real couple. Brown, especially, however, is mesmerizing, and her accomplishment here is a must-see. There are apparently two versions on the market, the original and an edited time-condensed version. Stay away from the shorter one. The editing is so bad that continunity is sacrificed, and all we get is a jumbled mess. The original is well worth the five or so hours to watch it, and its an impassioned account of the successes and shortcomings of the Camelot administration.

Outstanding docudrama: Sheen, Brown and Gardenia shine!!
This is a fantastic (20th anniversary) docudrama of the highest order. Martin Sheen (as JFK), Blair Brown (as Jackie), and Vincent Gardenia (as Hoover) are amazing, as is some of the other cast (i.e. E.G. MARSHALL). The dialogue and settings are very good, ESPECIALLY for 1983-era regular tv. I even liked the Clint Hill stuntman. Get this!!
Vince Palamara-JFK/ Secret Service expert (History Channel, author of two books, in over 30 other author's books, etc.)
Pittsburgh, PA

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