The Kennedys

There have been many television documentaries and specials in recent days to mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, on November the 22nd 1963. As part of these broadcast proceedings, BBC2 has been repeating a series first aired in 2011, the miniseries titled The Kennedys. Whether or not you hold a lot of historical interest in a president whose life and death is still controversial today, I do believe as a piece of television this series is certainly worth watching.

When it was aired, The Kennedys split the critics, some saying it was little more than an awful soap opera, whilst some declaring it quite a triumph. Yet general viewing figures were fairly high and audience opinion was broadly positive. I suppose for me the case is split two ways too, though perhaps not so drastically as others make out. To my mind a lot of "historically based" drama series' or films, whether American, British or otherwise, tend to either get too caught up trying to be historically accurate without making enough effort to hold an audience, or else try and produce too many liberal interpretations and Hollywood-style plot devices. The Kennedys to me seems to be a rare instance of a nice balance between the two. The historical events covered, despite being done so in sometimes confusing time jumps between years and decades, are presented well and I think the show tries to stick to what actually happened. Saying that there is also enough drama, grit and plot to keep you following the show. I feel this has a lot to do in no small part to the cast of the Kennedys.

The Hollywood figures come in the form of Greg Kinnear who plays JFK in a charming, measured way that for me makes the character watchable throughout. By the time his assassination is covered, despite knowing what's coming, you do feel the loss due to the slow but steady development Kinnear provides. Katie Holmes is his leading lady playing the iconic Jackie Kennedy. Her performance, whilst maybe leaning towards the cheesy on occasion, is still beautiful and fragile and well placed most of the time. The relatively unheard of Canadian actor Barry Pepper is the one I cannot really wrap my head around, in his portrayal of Robert "Bobby" Kennedy. He was nominated along with Greg Kinnear for an Emmy award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie, along with other awards, and Pepper won. Most of the time I would say that this, and any other praise and accolades given are deserved, and that broadly speaking his Bobby Kennedy is incredibly authentic and subtle, yet powerful if needs be. Yet there are moments throughout the series, at least one per episode, when he just seems to teeter over the top, as if you get the sense he is trying far too hard, and all the depth and emotion previously built and established is shattered and we are left with a very one-dimensional attempt. However as I say by and large, I think Barry Pepper's performance deserves to be marked.

We also see a few seasoned mature actors to balance the Kennedys; transatlantic acting royalty Tom Wilkinson who plays Joseph Patrick Kennedy Sr, the aging yet ambitious don of the Kennedy family, and his wife Diana Hardcastle who plays his on-screen wife and mother of the Kennedys, Rose. 

For me, though she was heavily praised, Diana Hardcastle's Rose, whilst portraying some level of emotion and character, tragically falls short of blowing us away. I feel this is a real shame because out of all the cast I believe we can truly see the effort she puts into becoming Rose Kennedy, but whether due to her fault or that of the writers, by the end of the series I did get very tired of seeing her appear, preach about God and Mass, look at her husband witheringly then stare stricken into the middle distance.

I do agree with most of the critics that Tom Wilkinson's performance was a definite stand out. He very subtly and slyly edges Joe Kennedy Sr toward the path of a hated villain whilst still keeping us emotionally invested with him all the way through. We see Joe Kennedy go from the height of glory, to behind the scenes mastermind, to struggling dictator, to broken cripple, all served to us masterfully by Tom Wilkinson. 

I feel the Kennedys worked as much at its original conception as it does now in the midst of the anniversary of JFK's death. I thank the BBC for giving me and others the chance to revisit a series which I feel was broadly a success.