The story behind Beauty and Power, culled from the dubious recollections of alleged Kennedy mistress and mob connection Judith Exner, is certainly tawdry and scandalous enough to be an entertaining TV movie, but the film lacks the wit and vitality of good pulp. Director Susan Seidelman is saddled with a flat, cliché-ridden script. For example, Exner (Natasha Henstridge) describes Frank Sinatra (John Ralston) as having "something magical about him," and says of Jack Kennedy (Kevin Anderson), "The man was like a magnet." This may be the type of dialogue one should expect from the screenwriters behind Deadly Invasion: The Killer Bee Nightmare, but it doesn't make for an evening of scintillating viewing. Anderson delivers a strong performance in what is perhaps the sleaziest characterization of Kennedy ever seen onscreen, and Peter Friedman is also good as a surprisingly warmhearted Sam Giancana, but the cast is generally lackluster. In the lead role, Henstridge is disappointingly bloodless as the inappropriately haughty adulteress and mafia hanger-on. The film doesn't have the kind of tabloid energy that would have allowed it to overcome its lack of believability. Considering the incendiary nature of the source material, it's astounding how tediously it all plays out.