This is How Movies Should Be Made

Boring

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Blistering performances.

There is no way a totally balanced documentary of JFK can be presented. JFK was too complex and complicated for that to be done. I mean, there are more legends and hoaxes about JFK to present him properly in any possible way.For example, the film P.T. 109 tells a story that represents that the PT boat being hit by a Japanese War Ship and cut in half caused his famous back problem. Years later, it has been found out that the real cause of his back is a child hood disease that was treated with steroids, years before medicine knew anything about these drugs side effects, degraded his back before the war, permanently and for life.Yet other legends are out there about him with this bad back being some kind of sex machine, with women who were not even born yet claiming to been beded by JFK. Some of the affairs he had might be true, but it is doubtful they all are.What this documentary does do is present documents and evidence about what he was trying to accomplish, and what he did accomplish. The film does a good job of keeping public opinions of JFK out of the script. For this they deserve a lot of credit. They present to document evidence about getting out of Vietnam, not the opinion of whether he would have. They present documents about meetings about nuke war. They present documents about meetings that were policy JFK Initiated. This ends very strongly with the evidence of a meeting on November 22, 1963 that when he was shot, his representative was meeting with Fidel Castro about opening normal relations with Cuba. If JFK had lived that day, it is very possible the anti-Castro Cubans might have killed him later for even starting such meetings. As it is, the complex questions around the complex person JFK was still remain. There are still sealed records about JFK the government will not reveal in 2018. Why does this "ghost" still haunt our officials? Maybe we should ask the folks since who with "Free Trade" have endangered our existance by screwing up our environment even more than 2 World Wars, Korea, & Vietnam did, and are still trying to prevent free trade from going away because they do not give a damn about people?Man made climate change has sped up because of free trade. Free Trade has fundamentally weakened the US by destroying our labor force, causing a baby bust in the US, and all the current real statistics on drop outs, drug addiction, and many other measures have gotten worse than when free trade started 30 plus years ago. The policy has endangered the government and social security as well. All so some International Corporations CEO's could profit, at the expense of the entire world.This documentary proves that there is a path leading to our current problems, and it started here. Amazingly it could have ended in the 1960's too, but somehow we muddled through. We are still muddling.

JFK is one of those people from near history that have attained an aura beyond their true standing. He was not betrayed, stabbed by the senate in the Roman sense or misled in any way by advisors. He was a glamour President, but President none the less, all events portrayed pertain to his final decision. Did he want peace, yes, but he was quite prepared to wage war by proxy. Bay of pigs and early Vietnam were his choice At the start he was a novice, sometimes a little naive in regard to Realpolitik, but he learned. His greatest hour will always be the Cuban missile crisis. But remember he was supported and advised at that time by many who this lopsided documentary suggest betrayed him. He had potential to be a great President, unfortunately he became a legend instead.

Far too much weight is given to JFK's "intentions". The perceived Camelot memorialized (literally) by the President's death carries far too much weight. JFK historically is a Rorschach Test for the power of celebrity on it's viewers, and this documentary of the subject's purity is poor history.There is no context provided for "our hero" with respect to his plots to assassinate foreign leaders, ties to mob leaders, his womanizing (including potential foreign agents), his dishonesty over his health, the possibility that he abetted election fraud in Illinois, the source of Kennedy wealth (crime),his "arranged" marriage. Should I go on? Yet, we are encouraged to believe that his soaring rhetoric was what would have translated into policy decisions. Where is the commentary on his willingness to circumvent the "advise and consent" process of government? It seems he was better at secrets than governing.His brief tenure was indeed very sad and left possibilities of accomplishment, but there is as much evidence that he could have overseen some disasters. In fact, I could make a pretty good case that he was Nixonian in many ways. Sadly, it was only his movie star good looks and tragic death that make him iconic. The "fanboy" treatment being perpetuated on new generations is disappointing at best and dishonest at worst.

This documentary, written and directed by Cory Taylor for Agora Productions, with narration by Morgan Freeman, is one that anyone with an interest in the presidency of John F. Kennedy or American history should see. It's nothing short of brilliant. With a declassified memorandum, top-flight experts commenting on the background of JFK's administration and the Cold War, and combined with memorable film clips, it makes a compelling argument that Kennedy's quest for world peace made him a target of enemies within our own government. Kennedy wanted to trust his gut and find ways to extend an olive branch to Russian premier Nikita Khrushchev, but received terrible advice from his hawkish colleagues. JFK: A President Betrayed will stand proudly among all other respectable and responsible journalism on the subject.