This is How Movies Should Be Made

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

"American royalty" may not be technically correct, but such a qualifier is not wholly inappropriate when it invokes not only the notoriety but also the fascination and scrutiny to which every aspect of the lives of Joe and Rose Kennedy and their descendants have been subject. The passions they arouse are also very telling: evaluations of the Kennedys tend to fall somewhere on the scale between glorifications of a latter-day Camelot, and cynical exasperation with a band of hypocritical, womanizing, calculating "Massachusetts liberals." For all their very deep flaws, however, the Kennedy's Darwinian and cultural success does command very deep respect: there must be SOME virtuous sensibilities down there."The Kennedys of Massachusetts" portrays this integral picture quite well, incorporating the various strains and experiences that made Joe and Rose and their family into who they were. Central to the story is their Roman Catholic identity, to which they were both fervently attached and which they determined (and managed) to pass to their children. But the tension between Catholicism as expressed through Rose's more purely ultramontanist social, psychological and cultural mindset - which she transmitted to none of her children (Eunice a possible, partial exception) - and the ambitions of Joe to rise in WASP society. The film does not condemn Rose's staunch, sometimes brittle approach to her faith nor castigate Joe for his shirking of its finer points or of his numerous betrayals of the matrimonial covenant, but simply lays out the facts for what they are.All the way, the grace and glamor of Old vs. New World is undeniable. The major points in the marriage of Joe and Rose and the evolution of their children are chronicled very cohesively and convincingly. William Petersen and Annette O'Toole play their roles very well and have good chemistry; nevertheless, the scenes between O'Toole and Charles Durning (as John "Honey" Fitzgerald) steal the show, and his cynical recapping of Rose's religious and intellectual path early on turns out to a harbinger for the whole Kennedy political project. We are left at once admiring of the great accomplishments of Joe and the earnest if naïve and not wholly adroit quest for beauty on the part of Rose, if perhaps regretful that he could not have listened to her earlier: "You're a very successful and wealthy man at a young age; isn't that enough?" and spared his family so much of the agony that came as the price of their admission into Anglo-Protestant high society. (An uncharitable cynic might add, spare the U.S. of an incompetent president and an alcoholic road-unworthy senator. I'll let my readers judge for themselves.)All the same, one ends the mini-series wanting to do something, wanting to beatify one's life. If entertainment can so inspire, perhaps it is not so indispensable as we sometimes suppose.

I was an extra on one scene in this film. The staging area was the Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Cross in the South End of Boston. The scene was filmed in a bar on Shawmut Ave around the corner (I don't remember the name of the bar).The scene is where JFK enters the bar with a campaign aide who introduces him as "This is John Kennedy who's running for congress in the eleventh district." A guy at the bar says " Yeah, you and eight other guys." I'm the bartender who smiles and laughs in the background.Prior to that I was an extra on "Dragnet" (the 1987 version with Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks and on "Hanoi Hilton" (I've posted a comment on Hanoi Hilton on this site).The casting agency called me back for other productions but I had found other work which worked out well and now I'm retired and living in the Caribbean.Working as an extra on three productions was a fascinating experience.

I was one of the featured Chauffeurs in this ABC Mini Series. I live in Rhode Island and was chosen because I was driving for the company that had most of the antiques used for the film. I have a copy of the original poster also. Lots of fun filming with Annette O'Toole, Charles Durning, William Peterson, Steven Weber, Tracy Pollan, etc. Great cast.....and got to drive some nice cars. Featured in the 40's driving the Silver 1940 Buick limousine. Also drove a 1926 Hudson to the set from time to time. I have a copy on VHS that I made while watching on the premier nights on television back in 1990, edited most of the commercials, and just made a DVD copy as well. You can write me, ShadoVTwin@yahoo.com.RJ in Rhode Island

I have seen this Mini at least three times and have been impressed with its ambition. It attempts to cover almost the entire marriage of Rose and Joe Kennedy and does so with minimal confusion and clutter. While I had some trouble the first night following the action the rest seemed to be cohesive and entertaining.William Peterson and Annette O'Toole are outstanding as Joe and Rose. Peterson's performance gives Joe Kennedy an evil undertone that is almost too hard to deal with. You lose respect for him as time goes on, particularly when it comes to the way in which he treats the women.Charles Durning is fabulous as Rose's father "Honey Fitz", and there are also some interesting performances among the younger members of the cast, particularly Tracey Polan as Kick and Campbell Scott as Joe, Jr.