Winter Kills

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Winter Kills ★★★ 1979 (R)

Distinctive political black comedy suffers a hilariously paranoid version of American public life. Nick Kegan (Bridges) has been drifting through life ever since his older brother, a U.S. president, was assassinated 15 years earlier. His eccentric father (Huston) wants to draw Nick back into the family by claiming a conspiracy, but as Nick begins to dig into the past, he does uncover political machinations. Uneven, but well worth seeing; flopped at the boxoffice, but was re-edited (with the original ending restored) and re-released in 1983. Elizabeth Taylor (as Lola Comante) went unbilled. Based on the novel by Richard Condon. 97m/C VHS, DVD . Jeff Bridges, John Huston, Anthony Perkins, Richard Boone, Sterling Hayden, Eli Wallach, Ralph Meeker, Belinda Bauer, Dorothy Malone, Toshiro Mifune, Elizabeth Taylor, Donald Moffat, Tisa Farrow, Brad Dexter, Joe Spinell; D: William Richert; W: William Richert; C: Vilmos Zsigmond; M: Maurice Jarre.