Anthony Perkins, Belinda Bauer, Dorothy Malone

This exhilarating kaleidoscope of a movie, from a surreally layered novel by Richard Condon (The Manchurian Candidate), combines post-Watergate paranoia, gallows humor, political sci-fi, dazz...( read more  read more... )ling suspense set pieces, something we might call postmodern historical burlesque, and gonzo performances by a truly all-star cast. It's held together by Jeff Bridges as the surviving scion of a Kennedy-like dynasty who reluctantly sets out to solve his brother's assassination. John Huston's own dynastic credentials and rough-hewn aristocracy make him perfect casting as the family patriarch, a simultaneously genial and appalling American monster. Writer-director William Richert, a virtual unknown, somehow corraled an amazing ensemble, including an unbilled Liz Taylor, North by Northwest production designer Robert Boyle (who also contributes a delicious cameo), composer Maurice Jarre, and the great cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond. The widescreen camerawork and zesty primary-color palette demand DVD, which may finally do right by this quintessential '70s film that the '70s just weren't ready for. --Richard T. Jameson

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48% liked it

715 ratings

Critics

88% liked it

8 critics

R, 1 hr. 37 min.

Directed by: William Richert

Release Date: January 1, 1977

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DVD Release Date: March 18, 2003

Stats: 36 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (36)


  • October 9, 2008
    A veiled take on the Kennedys, this has a great sick twist at the end.
  • March 4, 2009
    John Huston is great in this and it's very funny in certain places too. However, it does gets dull in a lot of places.
  • February 10, 2008
    Solid suspense/dark comedy trying to make sense of the Kennedy assassination, this time with Jeff Bridges as the president's half-brother following a convoluted trail of conspiracy. I wouldn't have liked it as much (the story was a little slow and a little confusing at times), b...( read more)ut the cast was really fun to watch. Jeff Bridges is one of my favorite actors, but the real treats here were John Huston as his egomaniacal father (seeing Huston walking around in bikini briefs is not something I ever really needed to see), Anthony Perkins as an egomaniacal man behind the curtain, and Sterling Hayden as just plain maniacal.
  • November 21, 2007
    Interesting take on the JFK assassination with all the puzzles thrown in. The fun is figuring out who the fictional characters portrayed in real-life... Superb acting and a wonderful John Huston doing a wonderful James Coburn impersonation! Wonderful...(read more) cameos too. You...( read more)'ll enjoy this take on the Kennedy's
  • May 10, 2007
    killer conspiracy flick

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