Very good at what it sets out to do and well worth seeing

Rating: Null/10 (4 January 2007)

October 1962. An American spy plane picks up signs of nuclear missiles inside Cuba with the ability to strike the US. With the missiles not yet able to be used, President Kennedy and his staff are forced to decide a course of action against the Russians, all the time with the knowledge that being too weak or too strong in their actions could tip the standoff into catastrophe. As the decision is taken to use the US Navy to blockade Cuba all movement is read as messages between the two nations and the world holds its breath as the crisis deepens.
Drawn from The Kennedy Tapes, this film looks back at the two-week Cuban Missile Crisis from the perspective of those involved in the White House. Some viewers have bemoaned this and claimed that it is nothing more than a one-sided love story to the Kennedy's and ignores the views of others outside of the administration. While there is an element of truth in this opinion, the film didn't really go that far for me and rather the enclosed view acts to increase the tension within the story. By experiencing it only from one sided it is possible to forget that you know the outcome as you get caught up in the blind judgements and the high-stakes game being played. Very few viewers (if any) will be unaware of the eventual outcome but it is to the film's credit that it still grips throughout.
True, the film does rather worship the Kennedy brothers and there is nary a bad thing about them here but I forgave it of this because it was not really a character study so much as a summary of an intense political period in recent history. With this in mind the weakest parts of the film are moments away from the crisis itself; specifically I referring to the scenes involving O'Donnell's family  mostly they are unnecessary and stick out like a sore thumb. Costner plays his part well and leads the film with strength even if his character isn't the main one. Greenwood is good as Kennedy even if the material does push him to playing JFK like he was the messiah. Culp is almost as good and the three men work well together  although again there are perhaps a couple too many scenes of them being "close" and they weren't all needed. Support is strong across the rest of the cast, with key roles in the story picked up by Baker, Fairman, Smitrovich, Mason and others.
Overall then an engaging and enjoyable real-life thriller. Although it focuses on the US side of things, it is better for it as it is tense and convincing in how it depicts the pressure on those involved. Not as factual as a detailed documentary or as character-driven as a film looking at JFK in detail but very good at what it sets out to do and well worth seeing.