David A. Welch Movies

The date of November 22, 1963, will forever be engraved in the hearts and minds of all Americans, but the events of that horrible day speak to a broader underlying question in light of the controversy to follow: had he lived and been reelected in 1964, how would John F. Kennedy have handled foreign policy in Vietnam? Americans will never have a definitive answer, of course, but in the documentary Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived, director Koji Masutani re-introduces this question and explores potential outcomes in light of counterfactuals, what-ifs, and proposed scenarios. Masutani draws heavily from the events that did transpire in Kennedy's presidency to hone in on a pattern of decision-making evident throughout his career, via his responses to such events as East Berlin and the Cuban Missile Crisis, and uses this to make predictions about Kennedy's response to Vietnam. On many levels, Masutani directed this film as a very deliberate choice at the time of the American Iraqi War (on the eve of the 2008 presidential election) to demonstrate that a nation's commander in chief will dramatically influence the direction and general well-being of a country's future. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide