- Network: HBO
- Series Premiere Date: Oct 18, 2012
Critic Reviews
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A loving portrait of a lady--but who probably would be just as happy not to have this or any portrait at all.
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This intimate biopic of a Kennedy matriarch is quite charming.
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Ethel is a moving, highly enjoyable, thoroughly absorbing portrait.
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People who think the Kennedy cake has been overfrosted surely won't fall for it, even though the film is undeniably moving. No one in the film tells all, certainly not Ethel.
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While often touching, it's a lightweight addition to HBO's schedule.
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Even with its air-brushing and reticent title subject, Ethel is a watchable, oft-affecting film.
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You will come away from the film understanding a great deal about an extraordinary woman who played much more than just a supporting role in a significant period in our history. Perhaps more important, you will get a better sense of that historic period as well.
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Though Ethel can't possibly be construed as a tell-all, much less the work of an impartial observer, it's great that someone finally got her to talk at all.
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Again and again, Ethel insists she doesn't like to "talk about" her self, doesn't like to be introspective. And so the film offers images for the rest of us to parse, public performances that may or may not reveal what we want to see.
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As it is, Kennedy buffs will enjoy Ethel enormously. Others likely will think it's about half an hour too long.
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Ethel comes off as a lovely family heirloom, something future generations of Kennedys can cherish. For the rest of us, it's a little less compelling.
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Ethel is tone-deaf and maddeningly incomplete.
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