Brinksmanship American style

Rating: Null/10 (5 May 2001)

Once again we have the American President as American Hero  the sound stages of Hollywood must be littered with reproductions of the Oval Office. This time however we have a story based on a real event, the `Cuban missile crisis' of October 1962, when the Soviet Union commenced installing medium range nuclear missiles on sites in Cuba. President John F Kennedy imposed a naval blockade of Cuba and prepared U S forces to invade, but the Soviet Union backed down and agreed to remove the missiles in return for the U S secretly removing some obsolete missiles from Turkey some months later.

For those of us around at the time, they were exciting times, and Kennedy received high praise for his cool handling of the crisis. While not quite hagiography, this film puts the Kennedy brothers in a favourable light, Jack not giving in to military pressure for a pre-emptive strike and Bobby doing a fine piece of negotiation with the Soviet ambassador. Most of the other civilians involved come out well  Stevenson the U S ambassador to the United Nations who suggests the Turkey deal, Mcnamara, the Defense secretary, Rusk the secretary of State and Mc George Bundy, the national security adviser - all play positive roles in ending the crisis. Only the CIA's McClone offered negative spook paranoia. On the other hand, the portrayal of the military top brass, in particular the Air Force chief of staff, Curtis LeMay (a fine performance by Kevin Conway) , made one thankful that their political masters were strong enough to control them. Otherwise there would indeed have been a nuclear armageddon.
The story is told through a minor character, Kenny O'Donnell, the president's `special adviser,' in reality his appointments secretary, played by Kevin Costner (also one of the producers). O'Donnell certainly did have access to the president, having an adjacent office, but I suspect most of his role is fictional  he is more like an external projection of some of the thoughts going through Jack Kennedy's own mind as he grapples with the crisis. He is shown as having a crucial role, yet at the same time its not really his story and it would have been just as absorbing without him. The real interest is in the relationship between Jack and Bobby, and their struggle to marry geopolitical and domestic political priorities without triggering a nuclear holocaust. Bruce Greenwood doesn't closely resemble Jack Kennedy, but gives an earnest, if not particularly warm portrait. Stephen Culp as Bobby not only looks like him, but conveys exactly that almost desperate boyish enthusiasm and ambition Bobby Kennedy exuded.
We see a bit of the military hardware in action (there was a lot of sabre-rattling during the crisis but apparently only one death as a result) but the real focus is the discussions in the Oval office and the Cabinet room. It was a closerun thing  more than once Jack Kennedy nearly caved into pressure from the military for instant action.
This is a worthy effort from Roger Donaldson, who once made warm cuddly New Zealand movies (eg `Smash Palace' 1981). It holds the viewers's attention for all of its 140 or so minutes, but it would be nice to know a little more about what was going on in the Kremlin. After all their records are now accessible. The ultimate irony of course is that the reviled Fidel Castro is 38 years later still in power in Cuba, having outlasted both the Soviet Union and 8 American Presidents. A Hollywood feature on Fidel, however, is not a likely prospect.