Killing Kennedy
National Geographic | Release Date: November 10, 2013
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
6
Negative:
2

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardNov 7, 2013
Season 1 Review: The pace and the performances carry the film. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesLori RacklNov 4, 2013
Season 1 Review: Rob Lowe does a respectable turn as JFK... [But] It’s the lesser-known story of Lee Harvey Oswald, expertly played with simmering anger by Will Rothhaar, that’s most interesting. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyJeff JensenNov 4, 2013
Season 1 Review: [A] solidly watchable, quickly forgettable dramatic snapshot of indelible history. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf SmithNov 8, 2013
Season 1 Review: Like the book on which it is based, Killing Kennedy sticks pretty much to knowable facts. While this means some suspicions are not ruled out, Oswald is depicted as acting on his own--and seems able to get off several shots quickly--so there is no grassy knoll, etc. Think of it as a Cliffs Notes version of the Warren Commission. Read full review
67
Uncle BarkyEd BarkNov 8, 2013
Season 1 Review: Killing Kennedy easily could have been twice its length, the better to add both nuance and context. Instead it’s a watchable film with many missing parts, a broadly drawn Classics Illustrated version of what happened and why. Read full review
60
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen GrayNov 6, 2013
Season 1 Review: It's hardly groundbreaking, but if you are documentary-challenged, or don't know much about Lee Harvey Oswald (Will Rothhaar) and his Russia-born wife, Marina (Michelle Trachtenberg), you might learn something. Also: Lowe's Kennedy hair is truly amazing. Read full review
58
NewsdayVerne GayNov 8, 2013
Season 1 Review: We already know too much and paradoxically too little about the JFK assassination. A TV movie needed to tell us something we don't know. No dice here. Read full review
50
Sioux City JournalBruce MillerNov 14, 2013
Season 1 Review: The attempt to make this a story about two men grates. It’s as if someone wanted to elevate Oswald in order to humanize Kennedy. It doesn’t work--nor does the Oswald funeral scene. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandNov 7, 2013
Season 1 Review: You won't come away from it with any new answers, but it's a useful reminder of why the drama of that day has transfixed Americans for half a century. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubZack HandlenNov 8, 2013
Season 1 Review: There’s no real attempt at authenticity or immediacy, but the clarity of simple A to B to C storytelling offers some satisfaction. On the whole, it’s an unengaged affair. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleyNov 7, 2013
Season 1 Review: There’s nothing terribly wrong with Killing Kennedy. We just don’t need the splashes of Hollywood in a story we already know way too well. Read full review
30
Washington PostHank StueverNov 8, 2013
Season 1 Review: Instead of moving on, Killing Kennedy is an exercise in standing so stiffly that you’ll wonder if it was produced by Madame Tussauds. Read full review
30
VarietyBrian LowryNov 6, 2013
Season 1 Review: Killing Kennedy is so earnest and episodic as to sap any dramatic life from the movie, which weaves in selected news footage to enhance its sense of authenticity. Virtually all the dialogue is stiff and on the nose.... The entire cast is about as animated as the figures in Disney World’s Hall of Presidents. Read full review
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