Entertaining and instructive

Rating: 8/10 (30 April 2001)

This is an engrossing, thrilling movie, that sucks you in from the start. It is clearly of great interest to those of us old enough to remember the Cuban Missile Crisis, the fear while it lasted, the relief when it was over. But the recent spat between the US and China over the spy plane gives the film added relevance for the younger audience; we can be sure that there are much the same arguments between Hawks and Doves in the White House and Pentagon today as in 1962.
The film rings most true in showing how few certainties there are when it comes to engaging in or avoiding conflict. Peace prevails eventually, but as much by luck as by judgment; some of President Kennedy's wisest decisions are when he acts indecisively. Bruce Greenwood graphically portrays the President's confusion and exasperation when faced with conflicting advice, and his mental torment as he contemplates starting a war that would kill millions, while trying not to appear weak. Some find the movie over-reverential to the Kennedies; but this may be because its makers realise more than most the debt owed to the President, his brother and others in "Camelot" for striving to avoid war during this crisis.
At the same time, whether accidentally or intentionally, the film also demonstrates the difficulty the US often has in seeing itself as others see it, an attitude which the rest of the world finds amusing at best, and scary at worst. How could the American Government not have realised all along that its missiles based in Turkey would be as much of an affront to the USSR, as the potential Cuban missiles were an affront to the USA? In the discussion of a possible pre-emptive strike on Cuba, there is a glaring absence of any reference to the Cuban civilian casualties that would ensue, or to the negative impact on America's reputation abroad.
On the acting and technical sides the movie is excellent, with great performances by the whole ensemble (but especially Steven Culp as Bobby Kennedy); and with exciting air and sea action sequences interspersing the inevitable long stretches of talk. Often criticised Kevin Costner is more than effective as Presidential Aide, Kenny O'Donnell, particularly in the domestic scenes with his family.
However, the need to keep Costner at the centre of the movie perhaps led to a couple of flaws. Close as O'Donnell might have been to John Kennedy in younger days, would he really have had such free and easy access to the President, and such a casual relationship with him? Even harder to accept is the role the film gives O'Donnell in persuading airforce pilots to play down any encounters they had with Cuban anti-aircraft fire. Would highly trained and disciplined servicemen have taken much notice of an unknown voice on the 'phone, claiming to be a White House official?

Such niggles aside, this is a great movie, containing important lessons, and is a credit to Hollyood. Now, how about a Russian movie, telling the story as seen from Moscow?