The Kennedy Assassination: 24 Hours After (2009 TV Movie) User Reviews

Good Documentary

[Michael_Elliott · 27 November 2009]

Kennedy Assassination: 24 Hours Later (2009)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Another good documentary in the never ending lines of looks at the assassination of John F. Kennedy. This one here takes a look at the first twenty-four hours after the assassination and points the spotlight on Lyndon Johnson who was forced to take off as the country was, as it seemed then, falling apart. This is an extremely well-made documentary that has plenty of talking heads on board but they also offer up some voice re-creations of people who were in Dallas and around Kennedy and Johnson as all of this was going on. The documentary does ask a lot of questions like why was it that Johnson didn't know what was going on with Kennedy even though he was staying only a few feet from where the dead President's body was. The documentary really focuses in on Johnson and how no one was telling him anything even though he was technically the President. The second half of the film deals with a lot of the heated debate that would come up between Johnson and Robert Kennedy who felt that the new President was moving too fast to get into office. This is a good companion piece to JFK: 3 SHOTS THAT CHANGED America because this lets us see this history from the man who was right there getting something he really wanted but under very bad circumstances. I loved the way the documentary tried to show what a bad situation he was in because he was so scared of the Kennedy name and family, fearing that they might try to destroy him, which many would feel that they'd later do. I do take a few issues with how bad they make Johnson look but at the same time I think the film is just as hard on Robert Kennedy who really comes off in a bad light. Mrs. Kennedy is shown in the grace that she always is and the stories of what happened on board Air Force One between her and the new President were quite harrowing.

Good quality documentary

[floff123 · 9/10 · 5 July 2011]

First things first, this is NOT a film that focuses at all on 'Who shot JKF?'. There are no mad conspiracy theories, no discussion of 'magic bullets' or whether Jack Ruby was a secret mafia/KGB/Cuban/CIA/whatever agent.

This film does exactly what it says on the tin, focusing on the immediate aftermath of the Kennedy assassination, with particular emphasis on the Johnson's handling of the transfer of power and his relationship with Robert Kennedy during this difficult time.

Particularly fascinating is the confrontation in the corridor of Dallas hospital between the Secret Service and the local Texas police over the President's body, and where the autopsy should be held.

All in all, an excellent factual documentary shedding new light on an area of history too often the domain of fantasy films masquerading as history.

A Johnson Puff Piece

[okcfk · 3/10 · 24 December 2023]

An hour and a half of trying their best to get the general public to everyone who watches this documentary to think of Lyndon Johnson as a caring and sympathetic and thoughtful human being. He was anything but that. Read up on Lyndon Johnson and his full political career and see how he used, abused and stepped on people to get what he wanted and felt like he deserved. This documentary was a waste of time. Plus at the beginning it gives the impression all of the Kennedy files have been released. I watched this documentary 14 years after it was made and all of the files still have not been released.

Adds some details, narrator adds too much dialogue for others

[jpc-19 · 5/10 · 22 November 2020]

The details dont add a hill of a beans about the assassination, much better documentaries which add more motives and secret meetings. The overzealous narrator adds about what other people feel, which is just undue dramatics he would not know about and makes the whole thing a waste of time from the few details it added. The narrator speaks of what the different players wanted as though his psychic