11.22.63 (2016)

Based on the Stephen King novel of the same, Hulu's 11.22.63 is a time travel thriller about a teacher trying to stop JFK from getting killed on that fateful day in Dallas. James Franco stars as Jake Epping, a divorced teacher from Maine who discovers that his dying buddy Al (Chris Cooper) secretly has a timeslip to 1960 in the back of his diner. Al's lung cancer is about to take him out (probably all that smoking they did in the 60's), so he confides to Jake that he's been jumping back and forth in time and had been planning to stop the JFK assassination before he got sick. Convinced Al's idea was a good one and that if JFK didn't die the world would have been a better place, Jake collects Al's intel, takes the gig, and sends himself back to 1960 where he plans to lie low, make some winning bets on a few boxing matches, and track down Lee Harvey Oswald (Daniel Webber) before he takes the shot. In the 60's, Jake will hook up with a lady named Sadie (Sarah Gadon) and enlist a kid named Bill (George MacKay) to help him save the president, but since this is the JFK assassination we're talking about, of course, he's going to find that there was a bit more to Oswald than his history books told him. And since this is time-travel we're dealing with, of course there's going to be ramifications he couldn't have anticipated and other travelers he didn't realize were out there time-traveling, too. While the subject can get heavy, the hair, the cars, the old-timey reel-to-reel recording devices are all great. But best of all are all the magnificent men in their sexy sixties suits. The hair, the hats, the gentlemanly behavior, taking a walk down memory lane can be pleasant for all the senses! Unfortunately, the show must think it's still the sixties with the lack of skin! James Franco lies in bed with his girl in just a pair of boxers, which lets us see that his abs have aged quite well since the Spider-Man (2002) days. But better than that is the scene where George MacKay hops out of bed in a pair of whitey tighties. Mr. Man will be hiding on the grassy knoll shooting a huge load to that body! The assasination stuff is great. If only there was more ass in 11.22.63.