Gary
The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.
Raymond Sierra
The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
Staci Frederick
Blistering performances.
Robert J. Maxwell
There is a touch of Richard Condon's dark humor in this exceedingly complex story of a conspiracy to assassinate a Kennedy-like president. The story is confusing enough that I lost track of it before it was half over. In a way, it resembled the detective stories of Raymond Chandler who was fine with his characters and slapdash with his plots. (Who DID kill the chauffeur?) Jeff Bridges plays the Philip Marlowe part and goes from one oddball character to another, bouncing along comically but playing it straight. John Huston as Bridges' ultra-rich father commands the screen whenever he's on it, even if dressed only in crimson briefs and a flowing white kimono. A number of familiar faces crop up in lesser parts, including Richard Boone and, briefly, Elizabeth Taylor who has no lines.It's for specialized tastes. Condon was a hilarious novelist. His prose was thick with impossible lists of, oh, the courses of one of Alfred Hitchcock's meals or the attendants at a funeral. The movie, for the most part, is unable to capture that excess. And, really, it couldn't, because what's amusing in print doesn't always translate well to the screen. If, in the novel, someone's hand is caught in a door that slams, she may "scream like a lunch whistle." How do you transpose that simile to the cinema? You can't.There are amusing moments but Jeff Bridges' mournful presence keeps dragging us back to the serious side of the movie. I couldn't say whether the movie was more enjoyable than not. That judgment is up to the viewer.
bkoganbing
Winter Kills is one of the strangest films I've ever watched. But if you like to feast on ham acting than this is the film you've been waiting for all your life. The story has young Jeff Bridges hearing the deathbed confession of a man who says he was the unknown second gunman who killed Bridges's brother, the President of the United States 19 years earlier. Which would roughly be the gap in age between John F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy in real life, a bit less for the Kennedys.But Bridges has never had any interest in politics, in fact hasn't had much interest in anything, but has enough money to indulge his idleness, courtesy of father John Huston. This confession does renew his interest and he pursues his own investigation with Huston's backing somewhat.After this as Bridges continues his quest you will see some of the best acting talent around all try to outdo the others. Huston tops them because he has more screen time, but Sterling Hayden as the crazed rightwing millionaire and Eli Wallach as the gay nightclub owner who shoots the arrested assassin like Jack Ruby in real life really earn some honorable mention. You usually have to see a horror film to find this much over the top thespianism.Winter Kills treads ever so gently into satire, but only tiptoeing because the film seems unsure of itself. It's like the director and writers didn't know what direction to take and decided to let the players figure it out for themselves. This is not a great film, but if not taken too seriously can be enjoyed on some levels.
whpratt1
This is a very interesting film about a president that was assassinated and nineteen years later the killer admits to this killing in front of his brother Nick Kegan,(Jeff Bridges). Nick also learns where the weapon that killed his brother was hidden and goes to Philadelphia, Pa to locate this rifle. Nick then proceeds to tell his father, Pa Kegan,(John Huston) about his findings, and he then instructs his son to investigate this new evidence and seek out different people to learn more about who planned this plot against his son Timothy Kegan. It seems that Nick gets the run-around wherever he goes and runs into all kinds of people, namely: Richard Boone, Sterling Hayden and Anthony Perkins who all give outstanding supporting roles. If you look real close, you will even see Elizabeth Taylor as a cameo. There is plenty of nudity and foul language and some torrid sex scenes. It was also a big surprise to see Dorothy Malone playing the role of Jeff Bridges mother, who was out of her mind in this film.
pfgpowell
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.
