JFK (Greenwood), his brother Bobby (Culp) and his special assistant, Kenny O'Donnell (Costner), live out their powerful political lives in an idyllic, West Wing sort of manner.

The American Dream is coming along nicely and Kenny's son's sub-standard school report is the only problem on his mind.

His idyllic existence is shattered when spy plane surveillance photos taken over Cuba show a stash of medium-range missiles which, if fired, could kill up to 80 million Americans.

With the Pentagon pushing for military action, and his advisers proposing diplomatic efforts to avert disaster, Kennedy turns to his closest comrades in the toughest test he's faced since arriving at the White House.

This tense thriller follows the emergency war cabinet meetings that led the American administration to make decisions which at first harmed their international standing but ultimately saved the lives of potentially millions.

Seen from a purely American perspective, any film about the Cuban missile crisis which does not feature Castro for a nano-second cannot be relied upon for its complete historical accuracy.

But the black-and-white interludes, the fluent and atmospheric score and the sharp dialogue combine to create a gripping thriller, absorbing in its portrayal of the tensions behind the major decision makers of our world.

Natalie Stone