People are voting emotionally.

Just so...so bad

Am I Missing Something?

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

This political thriller purports to provide an alternative to the Warren Commission's report that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Directed by David Miller, it features a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo that was based on the story by Donald Freed and Mark Lane's novel Rush to Judgment.It stars Burt Lancaster and Robert Ryan (among others) as wealthy conspirators that want to eliminate the POTUS before he and the rest of the Kennedy clan - they foresee the White House being occupied by JFK, then Robert followed by Teddy through 1984 - can implement their agenda, which would change the United States of America into an intolerable country for them.Actual newsreel footage is used to chronicle the President's steps: a nuclear disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union, the promise of equal rights for Negroes (Kennedy's words), and military withdrawal from Vietnam, which the conspirators fear would allow the Communists to take over Asia.The actions finally convince a Southerner (played by Will Geer) to fund the assassination plot which, according to the film, included three gunmen (one behind a fence on a grassy knoll), and making a patsy out of Oswald, who was merely a Texas School Book Depository employee when the shots rang out near Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas at half past noon on that fateful day.After Jack Ruby kills Oswald, the film's denouement includes Ryan receiving a phone call that Lancaster's character has died, then pictures of several other eyewitnesses (who were reportedly killed or died mysteriously in subsequent years) are shown.A conspiracy theorist's delight!

If it's a given that infamous international events - like the assassination of President John F. Kennedy - which have never been fully satisfactorily explained are fair game for conspiracy theorists then Executive Action has as much right as any other to its moment in the sun. The first obligation of any film expounding a conspiracy is plausibility and the movie asserts nothing that is beyond the capabilities of a well- to-highly organised group of like-minded people with virtually unlimited funds and access to a network of highly-skilled professional assassins. in saying this I may have underlined just a fraction of the difficulties faced by any group of fanatics who have no use for a democratic form of government. If we put this to one side we are left with some excellent performances. If Robert Ryan is the best actor overall by a country mile - and here I'm basing judgment on a lifetime career - then Burt Lancaster and Will Geer are certainly fit to be mentioned in the same breath. All in all a provocative and entertaining film.

Ten Years After the Fact, this Film Combines Fact and Speculation on the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, and is one of the First in the "Conspiracy Wave" beginning in the Early Seventies, not just on the Assassination but other Important Things as well. It is a Low-Budget Precursor to Oliver Stone's "JFK" (1991).Hitting a number of "Points" that have been Regurgitated Endlessly since, it must be Credited for its Big Screen Recreation of the Anti-Warren Commission Theorists. The Movie, as were said "Theorists" (at the time), considered Absolute Bunk and Anti-American.The Movie was not received favorably among the Public and Critics and Obviously the Power Elite were Not Pleased. Long Forgotten, Little Seen Movie with Two Mega Stars, Burt Lancaster and Robert Ryan is Now Considered a Cold Tempered, Cold War, Minimalist Movie that is to the point and Endlessly Engaging, especially if one is Not of a Single and Closed Mind on the Subject.The Tone is Bleak fitting the Story at hand and makes its Case with a Calculated Effort using Real Newsreels and Ominous, Rogue Elements of Corporations and Government. Must See Viewing for Anyone Interested in Informed Speculation, Misinformation, Disinformation, and the News Beneath the Headlines.

As a film this may not be very gripping to an audience who only knows about the assassination of JFK through history. I have read many theories about the assassination and have dismissed most but I don't believe in the lone gunman theory. I also was 19 when it happened, was in fact on board a U.S. naval ship tied up to a dock in VA and was on deck watch at the time. I discovered shockingly that many of the crew on board was actually pleased when it happened while the other half were of course stunned and dismayed. In any case, I found the most compelling parts of the film to be the original footage that is spliced into it. To this day it is the first time that I have seen some of it. I found of course that with two terrific actors like Lancaster and Ryan (at the end of his career) could make the conspiracy more believable than not. Yes the pacing is slower than even I would like. But I would say don't watch this film for entertainment. Watch it because it provides a slant on history that you won't read about in high school and perhaps may wet your appetite to look into this further. Spending our time being merely entertained is just wasting time. And history is always written by the victors.