Gripping Story Of A World On The Brink Of War

Rating: 9/10 (12 January 2002)

I'm not sure exactly why, but I tuned into this movie almost wanting not to like it. But there's very little to criticize in this extremely exciting story of the Kennedy Administration's response to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
The movie revolves around the relationship between Kenny O'Donnell (Kevin Costner), special assistant to President Kennedy (Bruce Greenwood) and the President himself. Also central to the story is Robert Kennedy (played by Steven Culp.) We get the impression that here are three men who may have dreamed of governing America, but who never expected to be in the middle of decisions as momentous as these. O'Donnell largely watches as Kennedy locks horns with a military that is willing to risk nuclear war by bombing the Cuban missile sites but also realizes that he has to develop a response that doesn't appear weak. There's an impression here of a military out of control, doing things without seeking the President's permission, not listening (or at least not responding) to the President's wishes. Finally, as a consensus develops around establishing a "quarantine" of Cuba, we face the suspense of Soviet ships looming on the horizon, and - even though history tells us how this turned out - there is real suspense.
There's not much wrong with this. Perhaps one could criticize the accents used by Costner and Greenwood. Costner's fake New England accent was distracting to me and Greenwood just didn't sound like President Kennedy (in fact - I'll need to watch this again to confirm it - but at one point in the movie I thought President Kennedy spoke a few lines with a distinct Southern accent!) But that's really nitpicking. The end I thought was a bit anti-climatic, but aside from those minor points, this was a great movie, and everyone interested in the Cuban Missile Crisis or the Cold War in general must watch it.
9/10.