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Wick's Review

Summary - Good 3.0 click to collapse contents 

Killing Kennedy could easily be titled Kennedy’s Killer given its salutary focus on Lee Harvey Oswald. JFK we knew. It’s unfortunate then that Killing Kennedy spends time on the Leader of the Free World’s womanizing. Given 90 minutes of real runtime, bikinis take away from also understanding Jack Ruby, which is essential to knowing whether we can put this thing to bed. Not knowing caused a big crackup.

If Ruby killed Oswald of his own volition, per Killing Kennedy, JFK’s assassination wasn’t a conspiracy.

Oswald we barely knew, till now. Killing Kennedy’s best moment is Will Rothhaar’s Lee Harvey Oswald posing for a snapshot brandishing his rifle and two Communist newspapers, a signature moment in American history. If you’ve looked into the JFK assassination you’ve seen that picture. It even made the cover of LIFE. This movie brings it alive, perhaps for the first time, as teased in the poster above. Damn.

Oswald sought fame. He got the kind of infamy where untold millions now use his middle name – Harvey – a name he never used. He was Lee Oswald here in America, Alik Oswald as a defector in the Soviet Union. That’s where he met his Russian wife, Marina. Her’s was not a happy marriage.

Salient scenes abound.

  • Oswald gathered with Russians in Dallas to watch Kennedy’s Cuban Missile Crisis speech. Traitor.
  • He slept with Marina the night before the assassination, even though she’d previously kicked him out for beating her up and not providing for their family.
  • A radio reporter cites a “friendly crowd in downtown Dallas,” notwithstanding anti Kennedy sentiment. Bill O’Reilly is such an ace newsman, that’s no doubt accurate. However, it took Killing Kennedy’s craftsman to see it hiding in plain sight.
  • The movie tells JFK and Lee Harvey Oswald’s stories in parallel. It ends contrasting Oswald’s funeral with JFKs, which occurred on the very same day. Pow.

Killing Kennedy is compelling and essential viewing, even if inferior to Killing Lincoln. O’Reilly’s freshman effort wisely employed a narrator, and not just anyone – Tom Hanks, on-screen guidance being necessary when putting this much history into play. Rob Lowe’s terrific JFK almost makes up for it. Almost.

Acting - Very Good 3.5 click to expand contents 

Film - Good 3.0 click to expand contents 

Edge - Risqué 1.9 click to expand contents 

Reality - Natural 1.0 click to expand contents 

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