Winter Kills

Lamentably uneven film roughly paralleling the Kennedy killing. By the finish, it's hard to tell if the intent is to parody an assassination conspiracy or to offer up food for thought. Of course, the two can be combined, but if so, the results here are sloppy, more head-scratching than suggestive. Much time is spent with Nick (Bridges) chasing shadows, that amount to conspiracies behind conspiracies. Okay, shadows can make for fascinating progression, not knowing who's involved and who isn't. This sense of dislocation was probably best conveyed in 1974's chilling The Parallax View. But here, such suggestive moments are undercut by exaggerations, such as the incredible shooting of the three men in the car, or the ragged development of who Yvette actually is. To me, the only explanation for the frequent piling on of events is that someone was reaching for an element of parody, despite the seemingly dead serious parts. Now I can well understand why the production here wanted to raise questions about the Lone Assassin official theory. It certainly hasn't withstood the test of time, as even a few key frames of the Zapruder film show. Moreover, 1978's House Committee on Assassinations found upon reviewing the evidence that Kennedy "was probably assassinated as the result of a conspiracy". But then the whole matter was dropped without follow-up. Ironically, I can also understand why officials don't want to pursue the matter. After all, who knows where it might lead or what crises an honest investigation might produce. Anyway, Bridges turns in a riveting and energetic turn as the beleaguered president's brother. If spoof was the movie's intent, Bridges should have been informed since he plays it absolutely straight throughout. Also, veteran director and actor Huston towers as the shady and mysterious patriarch of the clan. Note too, how many veteran Hollywood names settle for brief appearances in an independent production, even super-star Elizabeth Taylor. Perhaps they too were unhappy with the Warren Commission Report and wanted to help boost critics who were gathering steam at that time. Of course, the movie debunkings would culminate in 1991's JFK. Though this 90-minutes has its moments, entertaining and suggestive, it's too uneven and inconsistent to really register as either parody or expose.

With an absolutely amazing cast and crew, this might have been a classic. Instead it is a repetitive paraphrasing of all the conspiracy theories extant in 1979 about the JFK assassination grafted, rather pointlessly, on to a vaguely incoherent plot about the murder of fictitious president Kegan in 1960. Many superb character actors are wasted as they are either not given enough to do - Sterling Hayden or Eli Wallach, for instance, or they are asked to go rather luridly over the top - John Huston. Jeff Bridges and Anthony Perkins do manage to acquit themselves very well, in their very different ways, though. The photography is gorgeous, but does not justify an hour and a half of your life, or the price of the DVD purchase.

I must admit, I don't know how this film has received such a high rating on this site. A good cast? Yes, but a wasted cast. This is basically the Kennedy assassination on Quaaludes. It's a film that simply doesn't hold up well through the years. Stiff direction and substandard cinematography reduce the look to that of a "B" movie. While it's always fun to watch John Huston, he cannot carry this movie alone. Bridges, who has consistently been one of my favorite actors, is wooden here, certainly nowhere near the caliber of his performance in "Rancho Deluxe", made a few years earlier. In short, it tries to be a comedy, drama and a parody all at the same time, and fails on all fronts. Want to watch good political filmmaking? Opt for 3 Days of the Condor for drama, Dr. Strangelove for satire/parody, and Being There for comedy.

Nineteen years after JFK was killed (by whom?) and five years after Watergate, this one puts the whole conspiracy theory industry in its place. One of the funniest films I have seen for a very long time - anyone who still thinks that Americans don't do irony (always a stupid claim but one which is made time and again) should see this. But it's bone-dry and very subtle, and I can understand how many people were puzzled and bemused by this when it was first released and that it did not do well commercially. Performances are universally excellent, tho' Jeff Bridge as the starry-eyed son trying to discover who killed his half-brother, the US president, and John Huston as the paterfamilias and caricature mega capitalist are treat. The plot is nonsensical, but then that is the whole point of a film which sends up conspiracy films something rotten and then some. Buy the video, because this really does bear watching again and again.

Winter Kills is an enormously intriguing film, whose entertainment quotient depends largely upon how early on the viewer catches on that this is an extremely black comedy about politics, paranoia, and the sacred cow Kennedy family. This is what you would get if Irwin Allen produced a really wry comic version of The Parallax View -- no longer a hackneyed political thriller like its source material, William Richert has transformed it into social satire with an all-star cast. His touch was so gentle with regard to the satirical elements, that few critics recognized the film as any kind of comedy upon its initial theatrical release. Winter Kills is not a cinema classic -- ie, its not The Manchurian Candidate -- but it is an engaging, ahead-of-its-time film featuring an unforgettable performance by John Huston as the Joe Kennedy type. (The most unforgettable part -- or is it the bit hardest to get out of one's mind? -- is the sight of Mr. Huston in red jockey shorts!) Highly recommended to all fans of 1970s cinema, and especially political paranoia movies like The Parallax View, The Conversation and Capricorn One. Next time you're thinking about popping some drivel like Enemy Of The State in the old VCR, I beg you, reconsider and treat yourself to a little festival of this film and Parallax View or even Three Days Of The Condor.

A wily, labyrinthine political satire that is saved from being over the top by the brilliant performances of its cast. The movie takes the paranoid storytelling style of the Cold War thriller, but applies it to American domestic politics instead. It is very much like "Three Days of the Condor" in that respect. However, "Winter Kills" has a much more sophisticated point of view on American politics than the latter film, and does a great job of showing how the interconnected corruptions of family, culture, technology and politics all intersect in the most surprising, and horrifying ways. The movie was way ahead of its time in this respect, and is just as relevant to day as it was when it was made - perhaps more so.

Winter Kills once was available on videotape; no longer. That's a pity because it's a stylish, fun-packed phantasmagoria about American power as expressed through American politics. (Since the source material was written by Richard Condon -- of Manchurian Candidate and Prizzi's Honor fame -- the points are not subtle; merely irresistible.) Based loosely on the Kennedy saga (as what isn't these days: look at Dominick Dunne's oeuvre), the film casts Jeff Bridges, at his most young and vital, as the baby brother of a slain president. Trying to track down clues to the assassination, he embarks on one of those labyrinthine quests undertaken by the likes of the poisoned protagonist in D.O.A. or Mike Hammer in Kiss Me Deadly. Of course, the clues boomerang back, leading him into the viperish nest of his own family, especially his father, a randy old psycho played to the hilt by John Huston. But even this filthy rich patriarch doesn't work the strings anymore; they've gone corporate, become systemic, and are pulled by a bland bureaucrat played by Anthony Perkins. This movie is a mad midway ride, overflowing with cameos that pop up like death's-heads in the funhouse. Watch for Liz Taylor, as a fabled madame, silently mouthing a profanity.

From 1976-78, the House Select Committee on Assassinations was the second government inquest into the death of President John F. Kennedy. The committee concluded the JFK was probably killed as the result of a conspiracy. But Robert Blakey, the Chief Counsel for the committee, subsequently began to float the unsubstantiated theory that organized crime was behind the death of President Kennedy. The 1979 film "Winter Kills" basically builds on that premise. The film is a stylistic mess with some nearly farcical moments and scenes. For example, Sterling Hayden's character is a virtual reprise of his famous general of "Doctor Strangelove," a character loosely based on Curtis LeMay. But "Winter Kills" is nonetheless presented to the viewer as a political and allegorical thriller with the premise of Jeff Bridges character seeking to discover the truth about the death of his older brother, the president modeled on JFK. The plot is enormously contrived with a series of meetings of Bridges with mafia dons, plus a Mati Hari like femme fatale, who may herself have been involved in the president's death. The most ludicrous character portrayal is that of the family patriarch played by John Huston. SPOILER ALERT FOLLOWS: The film absurdly suggests that Huston's father was involved in a kind of Oedipal struggle with his son and that he participated in the killing his son. In the final analysis, "Winter Kills" sheds no light on the JFK assassination, and the film plays more like a made-for-television movie, as opposed to a thoughtful feature film.

Nineteen years after JFK was killed (by whom?) and five years after Watergate, this one puts the whole conspiracy theory industry in its place. One of the funniest films I have seen for a very long time - anyone who still thinks that Americans don't do irony (always a stupid claim but one which is made time and again) should see this. But it's bone-dry and very subtle, and I can understand how many people were puzzled and bemused by this when it was first released and that it did not do well commercially. Performances are universally excellent, tho' Jeff Bridge as the starry-eyed son trying to discover who killed his half-brother, the US president, and John Hustion as the paterfamilias and caricature mega capitalist are treat. The plot is nonsensical, but then that is the whole point of a film which sends up conspiracy films something rotten and then some. Buy the video, because this really does bear watching again and again.

Ah WINTER KILLS , based on the novel by Richard Condon which deals with a conspiracy that killed the president of the United States 20 years ago . I knew Condon also wrote THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE which dealt with a similar theme and was looking forward to seeing an intelligent thriller WINTER KILLS left me cold . It's not a thriller - It's a piece of worthless crap , possibly the worst movie I've seen this month and boy have I seen a lot of bad movies in June . The problem lies in both the direction and the script and seeing as William Richert was responsible for both then he should be blamed entirely for this unfunny farce There's two things wrong with this movie . First off is the way everything is presented in a totally over the top manner . It's not as OTT as say something like that James Bond movie with David Niven and Peter Sellers but everything has a farcial edge to it with actors completely mugging their performances . This might have been justified if there was entertainment value to the movie but there's none . As a satire it's very silly , so silly that it becomes almost unwatchable . Secondly the scenes seem to have been cut so much that they're rendered senseless . Take for example a scene where the hero is confronting a loopy militia leader called Dawson . Dawson tells the hero he has 30 seconds start then it cuts to the hero being on board a plane . The scenes begin and end with no rhyme nor reason A dire movie that's an ordeal to sit through