The Kennedys

The Kennedys

2011
The Kennedys
The Kennedys

The Kennedys

7.6 | TV-14 | en | Drama

The Kennedys is an Emmy-winning Canadian-American television miniseries chronicling the lives of the Kennedy family, including key triumphs and tragedies it has experienced. It stars Greg Kinnear, Katie Holmes, Barry Pepper and Tom Wilkinson among others, and is directed by Jon Cassar. The series premiered in the United States in April 2011 on ReelzChannel and on History Television in Canada.

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Seasons & Episodes

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EP8  The Aftermath: A Family's Curse of Misfortune and Heartbreak
Apr. 10,2011
The Aftermath: A Family's Curse of Misfortune and Heartbreak

Bobby blames himself for his brother’s death. Five years later, tragedy strikes again. “I admire Robert Kennedy because of his courage to stand up during an extremely volatile and difficult time in America, knowing full well what might happen to him. RFK lived and died as a passionate advocate of peace, justice and equality and he believed in compassion toward fellow human beings, not only in the United States, but all over the world. I believe he would have made an extraordinary President. Now, more than ever, the world is in need of men like Robert Kennedy.” - Barry Pepper

EP7  The Countdown to Tragedy
Apr. 10,2011
The Countdown to Tragedy

Jack and Jackie suffer the loss of their newborn child; she and JFK are in Dallas on that fateful day in November. “There’s an arc of the love story through the whole eight episodes. In episode seven [after the death of their newborn son], they’ve really started to reconnect. They’ve had their ups and downs and at the point where you think that they can live happily ever after, the unfortunate happens.” - Director Jon Cassar

EP6  On the Brink of War
Apr. 08,2011
On the Brink of War

The Cuban missile crisis brings America and Russia to the brink of war; Jackie leaves JFK after one infidelity too many. “The lasting legacy of Jack and Bobby Kennedy was to resolve political crisis with the least amount of bloodshed possible…We never went to war with the Soviet Union. Had that crisis not been handled the way it was, we wouldn’t be here. This planet would be dead. Everything else pales to insignificance compared to that.” - Writer Stephen Kronish

EP5  Moral Issues and Inner Turmoil
Apr. 07,2011
Moral Issues and Inner Turmoil

Riots over desegregation in the South force JFK to act; Jackie’s use of amphetamines continues; Joe Sr. suffers a stroke. “Jack and Jackie Kennedy were truly the king and queen of America at the time. They were called America’s royalty because they were…But as beautiful as they looked, and as trouble free as they seemed, underneath there was always another more troubled layer.” - Director Jon Cassar

EP4  Broken Promises and Deadly Barriers
Apr. 06,2011
Broken Promises and Deadly Barriers

When the Bay of Pigs invasion proves disastrous, JFK makes a difficult decision he must later atone for. “John F. Kennedy changed the image of the United States when he was president. People around the world remember that time and remember the days when America was the leading shining light for freedom and democracy, which was represented so well by Kennedy at the time.” - Executive Producer Michael Prupas

EP3  Failed Invasion, Failed Fidelity
Apr. 05,2011
Failed Invasion, Failed Fidelity

When the Bay of Pigs invasion proves disastrous, JFK makes a difficult decision he must later atone for. “John F. Kennedy changed the image of the United States when he was president. People around the world remember that time and remember the days when America was the leading shining light for freedom and democracy, which was represented so well by Kennedy at the time.” - Executive Producer Michael Prupas

EP2  Shared Victories, Private Struggles
Apr. 03,2011
Shared Victories, Private Struggles

The Presidential election comes down to the wire; Bobby tells Joe Sr. he’s leaving politics. “John F. Kennedy was a very complicated person who meant a lot of things to a lot of different people. I have my own interpretation of who he was and what his legacy was. Kennedy served as President of the United States during an extraordinary period of time and brought us exceptional social and political changes in a short time, in 1000 days. He gave this country a sense of purpose and enthusiasm which was much needed at that time.” - Greg Kinnear

EP1  A Father's Great Expectations
Apr. 03,2011
A Father's Great Expectations

The Kennedys rally to put Jack in the White House, but their difficult past illuminates a deeper struggle. “People talk about the curse that seems to echo down the generations of the Kennedys and in a certain sense it’s true,” says Tom Wilkinson. “And if you are going to see it in the kind of Greek tragedy sense, there isn’t a better sort of patriarchal figure than Joe Kennedy because his world view was extreme. His world view was: ambition, money and family. It’s almost medieval in its simplicity … but almost everything else went by the boards.” -Tom Wilkinson

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7.6 | TV-14 | en | Drama | More Info
Released: 2011-04-03 | Released Producted By: Asylum Entertainment , Muse Entertainment Country: United States of America Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website: http://www.kennedys-miniseries.com/
Synopsis

The Kennedys is an Emmy-winning Canadian-American television miniseries chronicling the lives of the Kennedy family, including key triumphs and tragedies it has experienced. It stars Greg Kinnear, Katie Holmes, Barry Pepper and Tom Wilkinson among others, and is directed by Jon Cassar. The series premiered in the United States in April 2011 on ReelzChannel and on History Television in Canada.

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Cast

Greg Kinnear , Barry Pepper , Katie Holmes

Director

Mun Ying Kwun

Producted By

Asylum Entertainment , Muse Entertainment

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Reviews

midge56 This is one of the best miniseries I've ever seen. It is right up there with John Adams and Thornbirds. I rarely give out 10 stars but this series truly deserves it. The DVD's can be found on Amazon.The makeup and hairstyling was better than any film or series I've ever seen. In fact, Kate looked better than Jackie. It was also nice that we didn't have to suffer through overacting and ridiculous forced accents like we did with Martin Sheen on Kennedy. All the actors in this miniseries were so natural and looked so much like the real life persons, I forgot they weren't the real deal. Truly exceptional acting and natural makeup without prosthetics. Tom Wilkinson stole the show as Joseph Kennedy. The Kennedy early years was excellent about the son Joe & Rosemary. I wish we could have seen the others like Kathleen, Pat and Eunice. Teddy is shown in the sequel. But they forgot to include John John.However, whenever there is a foreigner or foreign country involved in a true life historical show like the recent Jackie, (Canada in this case) they inevitably show Oswald as the assassin when all of us who were alive at the time know depict no one as the assassin and just the result... so the lie about Oswald doesn't PO the American Public. Oswald grates through us like chalk on a chalkboard anytime someone shows that ridiculous lie.Then we had the BS with the fake history channel boycotting the film in the US. Read Wikipedia. I hardly believe Caroline's opinion carried that much weight. Especially since she wasn't even alive during the first part and a child during her fathers administration. So she wouldn't know the truth any more than Will and Harry really know how their mother Diana was killed.There is nothing revealed about the Kennedy's or outside of what we know from news articles, so no surprises which should have upset the last of the original Kennedy family so I don't know why they tried to destroy this series before it was even cast or filmed. This was a deliberate premeditated attack before the filming script was even written.Read about Operation Mockingbird if you want a real eye opener how our media has been controlled by the CIA. Think I'm kidding? Look it up. They recruited publishers, broadcasters and filmmakers in every major company to control what we see. People like Ben Bradlee and Katherine Graham of the Washington post and Newsweek. CNN, Fox, History Channel, A&E, etc. My brother was a CIA publisher. This is the real deal.Read about Operation Mockingbird on Wikipedia and Ben Bradlee's obit to learn just how free and honest our press, broadcast news networks and filmmakers really are with the CIA involved. Allen Dulles, CIA director fired by JFK along with Charles Cabell and Richard Bissell, is the one who orchestrated the assassinations. Cabell's brother Earl was the Mayor of Dallas in 63. Notice how all the secret servicemen were all standing on the 2nd car following Kennedy and how Kennedy's driver slowed down when the shooting began. Bolton, Kennedy's protection was sent away to keep him out of Dallas and set up to silence & discredit him.JFK's mistress Mary Pinchot Meyer was CIA like her ex husband & brother in Law Ben Bradlee who gave her diary to the CIA. Mary had been assigned to control JFK and his cabinet. Read about her on Wikipedia. She was murdered a year after JFK to silence her. The staged witnesses gave CIA safe house as their address and the other gave phony military identity as they tried to set up a scapegoat for her murder. Bradlee admitted to lying about the diary in his trial testimony. He was Washington post and Newsweek.Dulles was put in charge of the Warren Commission by LBJ to mislead all of the evidence and testimony. Pres Ford & Arlen Spectre were also on the commission and Bush Sr coordinated from the CIA. Witnesses say their testimony was changed and completely altered. Why would LBJ appoint the fired CIA director Allen Dulles over JFK's assassination investigation unless LBJ was involved or knowledgeable of the complicity of Dulles and put him there to misdirect the evidence.I loved this miniseries with the one exception about Oswald. I had to buy it on DVD due to the ridiculous boycott by History channel. So be sure to boycott them. Contact all their sponsors and tell them you will boycott any product which sponsors that network and A&E. I cancelled my service 5 years ago. Isn't it amazing how the UK History Channel aired this series and called it one of the best ever with nearly 3 million viewers there. We are the victims of propaganda and media control.This is an excellent video. Highly recommended.
blanche-2 The controversial 2011 miniseries "The Kennedys" was turned down by History Channel because it wasn't 100% accurate, as if anything that purports to tell a true story on film is 100% accurate. The truth is that the channel was pressured by its board members, many of whom were friends of the Kennedys, to turn it down. The History Channel in England managed to stoop to broadcast it, so something tells me, as my grandmother used to say, there was "dirty work at the crossroads." Speaking of which, this miniseries attempts to give us a realistic look at the Kennedy family, and it isn't too pretty. If this were about my family I'd try to keep someone from broadcasting it as well. And they didn't even give us the worst parts.The beginning story centers around Joe Kennedy, a man who built his fortune with insider trading and had political aspirations which were dashed when he was pulled from his Ambassador job in England. He then focused on making his son, Joe Jr., the star politician, but when Joe was killed in the service, his hopes turned to Jack. According to this, he didn't think too much of Bobby. Yet in the series, Bobby actually emerges as a hero.The focus is on these Kennedy men without much about the rest of the family, which was a criticism. But in order to do that, the miniseries would have had to be a maxiseries. It does touch on Rosemary, the mentally/emotionally challenged child who was institutionalized, and whom Joe arranged to have a lobotomy. The miniseries doesn't mention the last part.There is no mention of Kathleen, nor would there have been, since her family cut her off when she became involved with a married man. When she died in a plane crash at the age of 28, her mother Rose, who did not attend her funeral, said that it was God's punishment for her being involved with a married man. In 1963, President Kennedy saw his sister's grave for the first time.As far as Jack and Jackie, Jackie emerges as a woman very much in love with her husband, a man who made her unhappy most of the time with his infidelity. This was just something you were supposed to put up with, I guess. I believe there was a lot of love between both of them; and I believe that toward the end of his life, JFK became more and more impressed with her as a woman and realized how important she was to him. It's said that when he died, clippings about her were found in the top drawer of his desk.Bobby Kennedy comes off as extremely aggressive, loyal, hardworking, a loving husband, and a family man. He was one who, in a way, had greatness thrust upon him and came to a tragic end as a result. Not mentioned is how much Ethel came to resent Jackie because after JFK died, she was calling Bobby for every little thing. One does see her doing this in the miniseries, though.JFK's portrait is that of a thoughtful man who listened carefully to advice and didn't cave into the military, who wanted him to blow Cuba to kingdom come. The focus here is on the pain he endured from Addison's disease and various infidelities. We do not see a lot of his tremendous charm, his humor, and his great charisma.The acting is uniformly excellent. I had some problems with Barry Pepper's accent, which I felt in the beginning wasn't organic but really put on. Greg Kinnear was amazing -- as usual, his performances are surprising and he's underrated as a result. If he doesn't sparkle enough as JFK, it's probably because it wasn't in the script.The most brilliant performance is that of Tom Wilkinson as Joe, a powerful, controlling, ruthless man who let nothing stand in his way to get what he wanted. Wilkinson's real-life wife, Diana Hardcastle, is a marvelous Rose Kennedy.Katie Holmes does a good job as Jackie, though she resembles Mary Tyler Moore a little more than the First Lady. She is nevertheless lovely and a sympathetic character. We're not really able to see her courage, but we can see what she went through in the White House. We also see that she was an amazing woman, classy and sophisticated, and a wonderful mother without it being beat over our heads. The assassination was well-handled with real documentary footage and no emphasis on gore.Some of this film is verbatim from real events - Kennedy's speech in Dallas at the Chamber of Commerce, his televised report to America about the Cuban missile crisis, Bobby's speech in Los Angeles, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of the White house meetings were verbatim as well, since those transcripts exist and were used in "Thirteen Days." All in all, I thought this was very good; I read an expert's list of inaccuracies, and it was fairly short, having to do with whether or not Bobby and Jack discussed their sex lives with one another; whether Joe was pro-Hitler; and whether Joe kissed his secretary in front of Rose. The expert had that incorrect. In the film, Joe is kissing his secretary when Rose enters the room. It wasn't deliberate. Also the expert didn't know if Joe actually did have an affair with his secretary. Not that it would surprise me if he did. I do believe he had a great deal of respect for his wife, however, and would not have done anything to embarrass her.I highly recommend this series. If the miniseries comes off like a soap opera, let's face it, the lives of the Kennedys were just that. Unfortunately their lives were all too real, and most of them paid a high price for their fame and ambition.
Desertman84 "The Kennedys" is an eight-part miniseries that chronicles the lives,triumphs and tragedies of the Kennedy family.The cast includes Greg Kinnear, Barry Pepper, Katie Holmes, and Tom Wilkinson together with Diana Hardcastle,Kristin Booth,Chris Diamantopoulos,Charlotte Sullivan and Serge Houde.This historical drama was written by Stephen Kronish and directed by Jon Cassar.The series was centered during the 1960's and how Joseph Kennedy, Sr. shaped his sons John and Robert to become two of the most influential men during the decade.The focus of personal stories was the relationship between the brothers as well as their respective relationship with their father.The political events during that decade also fell into the background such as the Cuban Missile Crisis,Bay Of Pigs and the Civil Rights Movements as well as their extramarital affairs particularly John and Marilyn Monroe as well as that of Robert and Marilyn Monroe.Added to that is also recalls the scandals that the most fabled political family that were involved in.While it was said to be an exhaustive research of the Kennedy family,the absence of many members were both controversial and intriguing.The stories of Edward,Kathleen, Eunice, and Jean were definitely missing.But nevertheless,the viewer is treated to a great stories of the members featured especially as we get to know how the role of Joseph Sr as a father of to his sons which has yet to be told in many films and TV miniseries featuring the Kennedy family.Aside from that,we are treated to a lot of strong performances from the cast especially Wilkinson and Pepper.Overall,it is an outstanding mini-series that one would surely enjoy.
mcpasztori At first, this looked as a thorough portrayal of the Kennedys and their historical impact. Unfortunately, it merely looked – due perhaps also to the History logo during the pilot episode. It disappeared later – and rightly so. Without trying to be political in my assessment, it is obvious that the producers were keen to show the negative side of the Kennedys, giving credit to every infamous rumour about them (both founded and unfounded), including JFK, yet failing to ascribe him/them actions or achievements which influenced later events and human history in general. I was surprised by the total omission of a key moment, i.e. when Allen Dulles, the almighty director of the CIA was deservedly fired by JFK after the Bay of Pigs fiasco, together with CIA deputy director, general Charles P. Cabell. Given the numerous trivial events presented, this omission can hardly be a mere mistake: both Dulles and Cabell bore plenty of grudge against JFK for the destruction of their careers to have a good motive to act against him. Instead, we are led to believe that only the Chicago mobster Sam Giancana may have fostered hatred towards the Kennedy administration. And lo, the mayor of Dallas on 22 November 1963 was Earle Cabell, the general's brother, whilst Allen Dulles was called to be a member (!) of the Warren Commission to "investigate" the murder of the man he had hated most. We are still served the "lone gunman" myth, revived again by Vincent Bugliosi. By the way, folks: I actually read the complete Warren Report and all the 26 volumes of the Warren Commission Hearings, as well as Gerald Posner's Case Closed and Bugliosi's Reclaiming History. Actually, these two authors convinced me – much contrary to their intent – that there was a conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy. Since the series was not about solving the assassination, they should have omitted the images with Lee Harvey Oswald and portray the event e.g. from the viewpoint of those sitting in the presidential limousine. It is simply ridiculous to see LHO drinking a Coke before the shooting, when he was seen buying one just a couple of minutes after it – only one example of a sloppy work of historical research. The people have had enough biased media-propaganda concerning these painful events. Other crucial occasions which should have been presented to give us a fair depiction of who Jack and Jackie were and what they meant to the world: no mention of their truly triumphant travel to Europe, no real credit for Jackie's total conquest in France, her restoration of the White House to a glory it never knew before and since (although some of it was hinted at in passing), her tour in India and Pakistan, her exceptional language skills, humour, majestic behaviour and personal impact in key moments, including e.g. her speech in Spanish to console the anti-Castro Cubans released from Castro's prisons after the Bay of Pigs. As an Eastern-European citizen who had first-hand experience of what communism really was about, I could not believe that they actually omitted JFK's tremendously inspiring speech in Berlin, his famous comparison between the ancient pride of "civis Romanus sum" (I am a Roman citizen) and the contemporary pride "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a citizen of Berlin) – a still resounding message after half a century. My parents were clinging to these words for decades in our part of the world – how can filmmakers simply avoid such a magnificent moment?There is hardly any mention of JFK's increasing support for Martin Luther King, although his backing of the civil rights movement is acknowledged. No mention of his stance against the moral lowliness of U.S. Steel to increase prices during a very delicate time for US economy. JFK, as most great men, had big flaws, but great achievements also, worthy of being remembered. Interestingly, most of the above events were masterfully presented in the "Kennedy" mini-series of 1983.The acting was mostly all right, with Tom Wilkinson doing an excellent job as Joseph P. Kennedy. He is better than E. G. Marshall in the 1983 version, partly because of the differing portrayals of J.P. Kennedy in the two productions. I would almost say that Greg Kinnear was radiant in the role of JFK – if I had not seen and heard (!) Martin Sheen, who had set such a high standard regarding the Boston accent (!), pronunciation, speech pauses, movements and gestures of JFK, that it shall require a superhuman effort from any actor to at least equal his performance. The same goes for the comparison between Katie Holmes and Blair Brown: in the light of Jacqueline Kennedy's media appearances as well as her recently released audio tapes, Brown's performance was far closer to her real personality. John Shea was also far better playing RFK than Barry Pepper, although the latter's effort is laudable. And in 1983 they knew there was a Ted in the family! One last, and indeed painful comparison: do not watch Enrico Colantoni in the role of J. Edgar Hoover if you have seen Vincent Gardenia doing it in 1983! In all honesty, apart from Tom Wilkinson, every actor in this new series fell far behind their peers of 1983. It makes you wonder: did these producers actually watch that one? All in all, if I had not seen the 1983 "Kennedy" series, which focused only upon JFK's time in office, I would consider rating this one with 5. Even so, by comparison, this new one, including historical accuracy, acting and directing, cannot make it higher than 3.5 – and I am being generous, the more so since these producers have shown elsewhere that they can do so much better. As a complete addict of "24", I would rather have preferred Jon Cassar and Joel Surnow to give us another 24 hours of Jack Bauer's fight against injustice than this average melodrama.