"THE KENNEDYS": A PATH TO POLITICS AND TRAGEDY...

Times of history and people. The main cast of THE KENNEDYS. Images: REELZ channel

Loved and loathed in equal measure during their political reign of the early 1960's, the Kennedy clan, most notably its two elected brothers, President John Fitzgerald and District Attorney Robert, would become symbols of hope and the American Dream during the worse upheavals ever seen within their influential and well analysed period in power-their leadership and critical decision making, not always wanted or appreciated by others (including political rivals, military powers and senior White House staff), soon being linked to such notable events like the Cold War against the Soviet Union and the latter Cuba/Bay of Pigs incident, the almost end of the world stand-off against Russia and its military might with the subsequent Cuban Missile Crisis, the much needed breaking down of internal racial barriers across the country, the birth of the Vietnam War and the critical birth and launch of the space race. From such an incredible time their tenure together within the Oval Office would be considered by many to be almost like a modern day Camelot, whilst the equally fashionable and trend-setting First Lady, Jackie Kennedy, would become the darling of the elite In-Crowd worldwide, the Women's Institute of America, and help bring about the start-for good or for bad- of the celebrity lifestyle. Yet behind such intriguing and striking men and women-and the Kennedy family in general was a large one!-there was always a seedy veneer of tragedy and scandal lurking not too far behind in the shadows. There were the many women in the Brothers life (especially the President, whose charismatic personality and charming smile would prove too hard to resist for many a glitzy lady, including Marilyn Monroe, who was romantically linked with both brothers), the scandals and subterfuge, the buy-outs and pay-offs on the road to political victory, the links to Organised Crime and the rumbustious and all-consuming power machinations of their father, the ever ambitious Joseph Kennedy, who was determined to see his sons elected by any means-at a cost that would come back to haunt them not long before, during and after John F. Kennedy's fateful but iconic reign.

Brothers in politics! Robert Kennedy (Barry Pepper) and John Fitzgerald Kennedy (Greg Kinnear)

American Royalty. John with glamorous wife Jackie (Katie Holmes).

And, with all the power, the landmark moments and the vitality of leadership, came that fateful day on November 22nd 1963, in Dallas, Texas, when the world literally stopped with the terrible, terrible news streaking across the world to a shocked world audience of the President's assassination, of which modern America, having reached such a peak of internal and social evolution, would never be the same again...


Charting so much of this incredible history linked to America's First Family in a dramatic television series environment was never going to be an easy task, and would always be deemed a risky and controversial gamble by any film-makers choosing to go down that path of dreams and bloodshed. The most recent attempting to chart their fortunes and dramatic inner demons is THE KENNEDYS, starting tonight in an episodic double bill on BBC 2 and BBC HD, and having previously been shown in the UK on the HISTORY channel, boldly created for the small screen as an eight part mini-series that reasonably and successfully treads the line between serial and soap with glossy aplomb, from the talents of 24 co-creator/writer Joel Surnow and his top visualist for that series, Jon Cassar, who makes a welcome directorial impression for his dramatic work beyond the prior exciting gun play and explosions of Jack Bauer and CTU. Though they don't look too much like the real-life people they're playing, in the acting stakes both Greg Kinnear and Barry Pepper acquit themselves admirably in the challenging realisations of the two loyal brothers, whilst Katie Holmes, Mrs Cruise to you and me!, whom I originally felt was a little too young to play Jackie Kennedy, also does a creditable job. Towering over all of them performance-wise, however, is award winning British actor Tom Wilkinson, who I've always thought was a bit of a ham, as dad Joseph, who is the glue, acting and character-wise, that holds the series together as their mighty and bold as brass father, Joe, supported by the actors real-life partner, Diana Hardcastle, as his loyal and equally tough wife, Rose.

John and Jackie would be in happier times during the middle parts of the mini-series.

As the project gamely covers the innumerable events of 1938 to 1963, a few things here and there are either scarcely mentioned or not fully dwelt on (I suppose to avoid legal problems, like John F. Kennedy's womanising ways) but, for the most part, it doesn't shy away from touching base on many of the controversial aspects of the Kennedy's lives previously accounted for in such acclaimed books as the superb must-read, THE DARK SIDE OF CAMELOT, by Seymour Hersh, whilst the major dramatic aspects, like the Bay of Pigs scandal, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the tragedy and after-effects from John F. Kennedy's assassination, are well handled for the TV format.

The core cast of THE KENNEDYS, including, at centre, Tom Wilkinson as Joe Kennedy and Diana Hardcastle as wife, Rose.

Martin Sheen's 1980's portrayal of John F. Kennedy in the acclaimed UK/US made mini-series, KENNEDY, alongside its then overall film-making approach, is still the best TV project related to the subject matter in my own personal opinion (I think because it had a better mixing of the real-life politics and family drama), but THE KENNEDYS, despite the criticisms from the mostly American historians and people who have worked within the inner circle of the Kennedy family at that time, and even now (who feel that the series tarnishes the legacy of the Kennedy brothers, and the important work they did (it doesn't)-often glossing over key events or, overall, mis-representing them (an always thorny controversy that could be debated for years, not just with this series but other TV dramas/biographies in general that have to shorten down and encapsulate certain events for adaptation purposes), is ultimately an enjoyably fresh and interesting approach in covering the fascinating, incredible and tumultuous years of an American dynasty of power, glamour and influence.

THE KENNEDYS is also available on DVD.