I just HAD to chime in on this movie. Besides having lived through this period of history, I read so many books and articles about the Kennedys in particular and much about film and show biz history as well as the sixties.
But before I get into that, let's review the movie and its stars. Ray Liotta as Sinatra is so awful , I'm embarrassed for him, frankly. (No pun intended, but you have to admit it is a good one.) It made me wonder how this man got into the acting profession let alone this movie. He is basically, from my point of view, doing a redo of his character from "Goodfellas" and without the great direction and supporting cast of that film.
Joe Mategna as Dino is very good even though he only bears a passing resemblance to Dean Martin, but captures much of his laid-back charm. I only wish he had more of the smiling Dino I saw so many hours on TV and in films. (Don't get me started on those awful Matt Helm movies. I still haven;t completely forgiven this late crooner for those.) Don Cheadle is a standout as Sammy Davis Jr. and I would wear out my typing fingers if I went on. I just could have done without that imaginary scene with the giant "N" word as he dances around the letters. Anyway, suffice it to say that Cheadle earned the award and accolades.
Also amazing was the actor Angus Macfadyen as Peter Lawford who also did a great job in yet another biopic about Richard Burton and Liz Taylor. He is dead-on right here. Although I am not so sure that Lawford ws such a loser.
As for William Petersen as JFK, here's where I have more than a few problems. The man CAN ACT. and he even does an OK job as our 34th President, but he follows in a succession of vague resembling actors with varying degrees of charisma and acting talent. Here is where the facts get in the way. Instead of going for the truth, the writer and filmmaker rely solely, it seems, on tabloid gossip and negative and unsubstantiated accounts in some revisionist books on the subject of his life. Kennedy had a very bad back from his early football days at Harvard and further aggravated by his part in the whole PT-109 adventure. The man wore a corset for it and also used the famed rocking chair in the White House so it is entirely unlikely at this point in his life that he had a lot of sexual conquests. But people want to believe the scurrilous fabrications that persist in film and literature.
Getting back to the movie, the singing of the songs by people who should have let the original recordings stand on their own. They are (and I'm being polite here) damned awful. Nuff said there.
So folks, do your homework and read as much as you can about the whole period. Just don't relegate it solely to the revisionist junk that's out there. You will thank me later.
All in all, this film is slightly entertaining but an insult to all that were the actual participants in this story.
I give it a generous 4 out of 10.
But before I get into that, let's review the movie and its stars. Ray Liotta as Sinatra is so awful , I'm embarrassed for him, frankly. (No pun intended, but you have to admit it is a good one.) It made me wonder how this man got into the acting profession let alone this movie. He is basically, from my point of view, doing a redo of his character from "Goodfellas" and without the great direction and supporting cast of that film.
Joe Mategna as Dino is very good even though he only bears a passing resemblance to Dean Martin, but captures much of his laid-back charm. I only wish he had more of the smiling Dino I saw so many hours on TV and in films. (Don't get me started on those awful Matt Helm movies. I still haven;t completely forgiven this late crooner for those.) Don Cheadle is a standout as Sammy Davis Jr. and I would wear out my typing fingers if I went on. I just could have done without that imaginary scene with the giant "N" word as he dances around the letters. Anyway, suffice it to say that Cheadle earned the award and accolades.
Also amazing was the actor Angus Macfadyen as Peter Lawford who also did a great job in yet another biopic about Richard Burton and Liz Taylor. He is dead-on right here. Although I am not so sure that Lawford ws such a loser.
As for William Petersen as JFK, here's where I have more than a few problems. The man CAN ACT. and he even does an OK job as our 34th President, but he follows in a succession of vague resembling actors with varying degrees of charisma and acting talent. Here is where the facts get in the way. Instead of going for the truth, the writer and filmmaker rely solely, it seems, on tabloid gossip and negative and unsubstantiated accounts in some revisionist books on the subject of his life. Kennedy had a very bad back from his early football days at Harvard and further aggravated by his part in the whole PT-109 adventure. The man wore a corset for it and also used the famed rocking chair in the White House so it is entirely unlikely at this point in his life that he had a lot of sexual conquests. But people want to believe the scurrilous fabrications that persist in film and literature.
Getting back to the movie, the singing of the songs by people who should have let the original recordings stand on their own. They are (and I'm being polite here) damned awful. Nuff said there.
So folks, do your homework and read as much as you can about the whole period. Just don't relegate it solely to the revisionist junk that's out there. You will thank me later.
All in all, this film is slightly entertaining but an insult to all that were the actual participants in this story.
I give it a generous 4 out of 10.