Executive Action

 

 

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The first film to challenge the Warren Commission's "lone gunman" theory about the Kennedy assassination, EXECUTIVE ACTION, although overlooked and overshadowed by Oliver Stone's later 1991 epic JFK, is an equally substantive film about how people in high places can destroy a man of peace and help to wreck a nation with their obsessions with war and murder.

Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, and Will Geer portray a cabal of right-wing businessmen clearly concerned about what Kennedy might do with respect to the Cold War and our involvement in Vietnam if he is re-elected in 1964. The film concerns itself with the assassination teams that these men manage to assemble that will end up being at that appointed place of destiny, Dealey Plaza in Dallas at 12:30 PM Central Time on November 22, 1963.

Though much less flashy than Stone's film, EXECUTIVE ACTION, directed by David Miller (LONELY ARE THE BRAVE), and scripted by former blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo from Mark Lane's book "Rush To Judgement", has its own style of credibility. Lancaster and Ryan (the latter in one of his final films), known for their liberal politics, give extremely convincing and low-key portrayals of the right-wing businessmen at the center of this film's conspiracy theory. Talk about the chilling banality of evil.

EXECUTIVE ACTION is not a very easy film to find; and like JFK, it blows holes big enough into the Warren Commission report to drive a truck through and make apologists like Gerald Posner absolutely apoplectic. If you can find it, however, it makes for an extremely worthy film, both on its own and in tandem with JFK.

Although plenty hefty and made years before the general public even heard of Oliver Stone, this highly plausible assassination plot scenario seems comparatively easier to follow and spares us any unecessary histrionics such that one is left with the impression that it could very well have happened just the way this story tells, even if they never specify exactly who was responsible but rather still give a good general idea what kind of people might have been motivated to carry out a world shaking agenda from somewhere behind the scenes.

Executive Action is a stark, low budget docudrama about the assasination of John F. Kennedy. We watch as a cabal of old, rich white man plot the death of JFK and, in a starkly matter-of-fact way, the film details how they pulled it off. As opposed to Oliver Stone's later JFK, Executive Action goes to great pains to remain a rather cold recreation. Though this makes the film far more somber than Stone's, it also makes for a far more persuasive case. By not sensationalizing or resorting to emotional trickey, Executive Action forces you to consider the evidence for a conspiracy and, even if you're a skeptic like me, by the end of this film, you have to admit that there is a great deal of credible, if circumstancial, evidence to support the idea of a conspiracy. The conspirators, themselves, are deliberately kept obscure. We learn little about their backgrounds or individual personalities and, while some might complain that Executive Action doesn't contain any performances as crazed as say Joe Pesci in Stone's film, it actually works to help Executive Action avoid the hysterically paranoid feeling that Stone wallowed in. Whereas I think JFK ultimately caused more people to dismiss the idea of a conspiracy than accept it, Executive Action is powerfully persuasive. Every effort has been made to maintain a sense of realism. As well, Executive Action features the final performance of the great Robert Ryan. Though, unlike co-star Burt Lancaster, Ryan's become somewhat forgotten today, he was one of the braver movie actors working in the Hollywood of the '40s and '50s. He was a committed activist who was willing to take chances with his films if he believed in the message. Its obvious that this was a project that both he and Lancaster felt very deeply about and there's something gratifying in the fact that both of these very missed actors managed to create a message movie that actually manages to persuasively argue for its message. Lancaster and Ryan were represenatives of a courage that doesn't seem to have survived in today's Hollywood and, whether you agree with them or not, its hard not to respect the body of work they fought so hard to create.

I have to admit that I've never been a big believer in conspiracy theories. I've never believed there were aliens hidden away in government hangars, never feared the Trialateral Commission, and I've always thought that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. Call me a skeptic but I've always felt that conspiracy theories draw their strength from people being too frightened to accept that on the whole, we're all at the mercy of random fate. That being said, let me also admit that if any film could convince me to reexamine my disbelief, it would have to be Executive Action.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Chillingly On Target!
"Executive Action" is about the conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy. The title refers to covert organizations' euphemism for selected killings. Read more

Published on Jun 24 2004 by Mcgivern Owen L

5.0 out of 5 stars Revealing
I'm glad to see this film getting a positive response on the internet, which suggests also among the public in general. Read more

Published on Jun 10 2001

3.0 out of 5 stars Solid film, but JFK is BETTER
As a student of the lone assassin theory(I have read Garrison's memoirs, Marr's book, Posner's, Lambert's, Epstein's, and Lane's Rush to Judgement)I watch movies like this and JFK... Read more

Published on Feb 24 2001 by brent been

5.0 out of 5 stars Anti-Warren Report
This was the first commercial film to present a "parallax view" of the assassination of JFK just a decade after the event. Read more

Published on Jan 23 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars What Motivates Man to Murder
This film drama about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy takes you into the grip of a low level intensity that burns throughout the picture. Read more

Published on Sep 12 2000 by John Lease

4.0 out of 5 stars A classic
Never mind Maltin's comments above, this is a skillfully crafted film, with fine understated performances and a brilliant, haunting score. Read more

Published on May 16 2000

3.0 out of 5 stars Maltin bombed on this one
I almost didn't watch this movie when I saw Leonard Maltin had rated it a "Bomb," but I'm glad I did. Read more

Published on May 11 2000 by Dan

5.0 out of 5 stars More than a movie!
This "Movie" is much more than a look at Burt Lancaster in one of his many roles. This is a look into the probable cause of JFK's death, long before the much tauted... Read more

Published on Dec 15 1999 by Gary Mayo

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, Makes You Think. Well-Made And Acted.
Before Oliver Stone's masterpiece, "JFK," there was this small film named "Executive Action" which also makes a case for shadowy forces behind the... Read more

Published on Oct 13 1999 by Michael Kropotkin

4.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking early JFK Assassination film
This movie is about thirty years old, but was pretty insightful into the events of 11/22/63. I enjoyed the film and was glad to find it on video. Read more

Published on May 9 1999 by hogey2@aol.com

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