Sony Pictures | 1985 | 315 mins. | NR
Adapted from Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.’s biography of the same name, the 1985 mini-series, Robert Kennedy and His Times is one of many tele-films made about the Kennedy’s or a specific member of the clan. This one, produced just seventeen years after Robert’s death, was shown to an audience still widely impacted by the assassinations of both John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Robert in 1968. More than forty years later, the Kennedy’s are becoming more of a sad footnote in American history rather than a personal memory. It is through films based on firsthand accounts such as Schlesinger’s that people will begin to form their opinions.
The seven-hour mini-series is a solid one in that it dramatizes Robert Kennedy’s life without burying him in sentimentality. At the same time, Robert is put at the center of things from the start. Obviously, this wasn’t the case; his brother John was President, so Bobby was on the periphery of things, at least until that horrible day in Dallas, November, 1963.
Nevertheless, Brad Davis (who actually looks and sounds a lot like Bobby), does a very good job in the lead role. If there’s one major flaw in the production, it’s that he is portrayed as so morally superior at times it’s hard to believe—this guy never did anything wrong. There’s also some guessing on the part of director Marvin J. Chomsky and screenwriter Walon Green. In a fairly early scene, Bobby then 26 years old, meets Nehru in India. It is 1951. ”You must start demanding change and stop fearing it,” Nehru says, laying out the action the United States must take concerning Indochina. Mr. Kennedy sits quietly. Moments later, Robert and John Kennedy (Cliff De Young), then a Congressman, are in Saigon. John Kennedy is on a fact-finding tour; Robert is his aide. Robert Kennedy disputes a French colonel. It is clear he finds colonialism repugnant.
The message seems pretty clear: had Bobby lived and become President, he would have rejected colonialism, therefore enabling peace in Vietnam with honor. Of course, this is all conjecture, because Bobby didn’t live long enough to attain the greatness that Schlesinger and the filmmakers felt he would have. It is worth noting, that the mini-series completely ignores the Bay of Pigs, which everyone agrees was an unmitigated disaster, but also a huge part of the Kennedy Administration and Bobby’s life, since he was Attorney General of the United States.
The mini-series does do a good job of outlining Bobby’s anguish over what to do with his life as a youngster. It seems if given the choice, he would have avoided politics. While he did what he was supposed to do and studied law, he was considering a career in business. However, with his overbearing father Joe (Jack Warden) in the picture, not going into government service wasn’t an option.
Other famous politicos of the time dip in and out. Joe Pantoliano plays Roy Cohn, lawyer for Senator Joseph McCarthy. Wound tighter then a drum, Cohn is portrayed as a bundle of nerves; Bobby and he almost come to blows in a cloak room. G.D. Spradlin’s Lyndon Johnson is far less assertive then the actual man, Ned Beatty’s J. Edgar Hoover seems timid. Beatrice Straight’s Rose Kennedy is loving, supportive, and wise.
Bobby and Ethel Kennedy (Veronica Cartwright) are portrayed as having a wonderful marriage. She is supportive of every decision he makes, be it becoming Attorney General, running for Senate or the presidency. One oddity though—she was pregnant eleven times during their marriage, not once is she seen in that state. There is simply the announcement of another baby, and poof, another baby appears…odd.
While Robert Kennedy and His Times has some historical holes and does some guessing as to what might have been, it still serves as a good primer about one of the most important political families in 20th century America.
Spread over two discs, the widescreen presentation, while nothing special, looks good for its age. There is no noticeable debris, but you will notice some grain. Clarity is also not quite as good as newer titles, but that is to be expected. The Dolby 2.0 track recreates audio sufficiently.
There are no special features.
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