A wordy but engrossing conspiracy feature as New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison unearths more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.
The November 1963 assassination of American president John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas and the official version of events do not sit well with, among others, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner). The assassin Lee Harvey Oswald (Gary Oldman) and his killer, Jack Ruby (Brian Doyle-Murray), were reported as acting alone in their respective crimes. But things just do not add up.
So begins several years of investigations as, identifying a New Orleans connection, Garrison assembles a team to unearth what happened: the official investigation by the Warren Commission is seen as nothing more than a whitewash. Inevitably, Garrison and his team are confronted by powerful government and political figures. Corruption, political ideologies, corporate profits are exposed: Kennedy’s refusal to go to war over Cuba along with plans to withdraw from Vietnam are the mainstay of the conspiracy theory as Garrison takes Cuban American businessman Clay Shaw (Tommy Lee Jones) to court.
JFK as written and directed by Oliver Stone is a thrillingly moody bombast of a feature with a running time in excess of three hours. Evidence is compiled, witnesses interviewed as the team create a visual of events leading up to the event disproving so much of the so-called evidence. Eyewitnesses disappear, turning up dead: Garrison’s wife (Sissy Spacek) pleads and threatens: team members storm out fearful. Yet the DA continues. Passionate and electrifying.
Nominated for 8 Oscars in 1992 including best film, director, actor in supporting role (Tommy Lee Jones), adapted script, original score – won 2 for cinematography (Robert Richardson) and film editing
Rating: 80%
Director: Oliver Stone (Born on the Fourth of July, Savages)
Writer: Oliver Stone (Born on the Fourth of July, Savages), Zachary Sklar (La fiesta del Chivo, Almayer’s Folly) based the books by Jim Garrison and Jim Marrs
Main cast: Kevin Costner (Dances With Wolves, Molly’s Game), Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour, Mank), Sissy Spacek (Coal Miner’s Daughter, The Help)
An Opinion or Two 