- Film Review
- Reviewed By Joanna Berry
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4 out of 5
The Cuban Missile Crisis - a key event in the Kennedy presidency - is brought to life in this fascinating drama starring Kevin Costner and directed by Roger Donaldson (who also collaborated on the thriller No Way Out). In October 1962, President John F Kennedy (a mesmerising performance by Canadian actor Bruce Greenwood) was faced with the prospect of a nuclear showdown, following the discovery of Soviet missile bases in Cuba. Costner, who played district attorney Jim Garrison in JFK, is superb as Kenny O'Donnell, a real-life adviser to the President. Part history lesson and part political drama, Donaldson's film is surprisingly gripping and powerful, despite the essentially static nature of the story. Although the outcome of the crisis isn't in doubt, this is mesmerising viewing, featuring superb performances from an ensemble cast that also includes Steven Culp as attorney general Robert Kennedy.
Plot Summary
Historical drama starring Kevin Costner. October 1962: a US spy plane gathers intelligence of Russian missiles based in Cuba, just 90 miles off the Florida coast. When the photos are given to President John F Kennedy, he and his advisers are forced into a course of action that will bring the world perilously close to the brink of war.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Kenny O'Donnell
- Kevin Costner
- John F Kennedy
- Bruce Greenwood
- Robert F Kennedy
- Steven Culp
- Robert McNamara
- Dylan Baker
- Adlai Stevenson
- Michael Fairman
- Dean Rusk
- Henry Strozier
- McGeorge Bundy
- Frank Wood
- General Curtis LeMay
- Kevin Conway
- Ted Sorensen
- Tim Kelleher
- Dean Acheson
- Len Cariou
Crew
- Director
- Roger Donaldson
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