Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Admirable film.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I love this mini-series because it shows young people today a small snap shot of this famous America family. I realize it is not totally historically accurate - that is what documentaries are for, but for the most part it is very accurate. And hopefully viewers will be inspired to watch historical documentaries on each of these characters and historical events that spark their interest as a result of watching the mini series. For me, I loved how this shows the emotions, relationships, and personalities of the these amazing people. I wish it had been permitted to air on a more prominent network so that it would be exposed to more viewers. As a teacher, I plan on using a small clip from the protest scenes at Ole Miss, to show my students what life was like in the south back then for people of color; and how the President had to send in the National Guard to assist that young man to get into college. And then point out that same presidents daughter, Caroline, was with Barrack Obama in 2008 to celebrate when the first black man was elected to President of the United States.

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.

This miniseries was disappointing. It wasn't as good as it could have been. Firstly the good points. There are some things included that were quite fascinating to watch eg the physical ailments of JFK, the Mob connection to Joe, Dr Feelgood's giving drugs to the first couple, Joe Jr's death although they could have included Kathleen's death. The womanizing was handled quite deftly. So were the civil rights issues. There are 2 major faults. Firstly the screenplay. The jumping back and forth in time is unnecessary and breaks the momentum. Also there were long moments wasted on inconsequential dialog and boring bedroom and domestic scenes. If they wanted to show intimacy they didn't need to show such insignificant moments with such banal dialog. If they had cut these out they might have expanded the time period and characters covered. The Cuban Missile Crisis took too much time. The assassination wasn't handled that well. Focus was a bit too much on Bobby's reaction than Jackie's. The casting for some roles was pretty bad. Katie Holmes was a mistake. Although she looked a bit like Jackie from some angles did a bad job of acting as Jackie. Her voice was strange. Her twitching was distracting and her crooked mouth made her look a bit like she had a stroke. Very bad choice. Barry Pepper with his small mouth didn't look like Bobby at all why he won an award beats me. Charlotte Sullivan as Monroe was a strange choice. She is pretty but didn't look or act like MM at all. With so many actresses they could have chosen why on earth her? Greg Kinnear alone looks the person he was supposed to play - JFK but his face seemed frozen at times like he didn't want to lose that special angle. The Ethel actress didn't have her demeanor or look.

"Your name is Kennedy & Kennedy's never come second." The controversial mini-series passed on by the History Channel that shows the highlights of the life of JFK (Kinnear) and RFK (Pepper). Beginning with the family preparing for election night and following them, with flashbacks, until the assassination of Bobby. Being a huge history buff, and more specifically a Kennedy buff I was very much interested in this. When I saw Greg Kinnear and Barry Pepper playing the roles of Jack and Bobby I was excited to see them in this. I was not disappointed at all. While some of the events were not exactly as they happened (Joe finding out about the assassination for one) this is still a very good account of the life of the men. Being a mini series and so much to cover almost all of the events are glossed over quickly, (the Cuban Missle Crisis is begun and finished in 42 minutes) but the important aspects are in this. The acting is fantastic from everyone, and the casting is perfect, much like Jaoquin Phoenix in "Walk The Line" no make up (besides the hair) was used and you swear that Kinnear is actually JFK. I can see why the History Channel did pass on this series though in the fact that it's not 100% accurate, but this is very much worth watching. This can easily stand up to (and in my opinion surpasses) the "John Adams" series. Overall, a fantastic award worthy series. Both for the series and the acting. Biggest problem with awards will be who to give supporting award to...Pepper or Wilkinson. Watch this! I give it an A.Would I watch again? - I will buy this.*Also try - Thirteen Days