JFK

Rating:
Summary: Back and to the left: A weapon of mass instruction?
Review: Although there's a jumble of competing theories out there, Stone's screenplay uses Jim Garrison's 1967 botched attempt to bring conspiracy charges against the CIA as a springboard to compile and present the most glaring glitches in the official lone nut scenario. Stone doesn't advance any one of the many theories; the purpose of this film was to disseminate a "counter-myth to the Warren Report", as he puts it. In order to keep the film's running time down, some of the characters are composites, and events are conflated and rearranged chronologically. It is not strictly factual with regard to details, particularly the people Garrison tried to gather as witnesses for his trial (some other reviews here go into detail about the changes). But, given Stone's aim, the details are not the crucial issue; his purpose is to get people thinking about the military-industrial complex's overweening power in our democracy (as it hinged upon the "coup d'etat", as Garrison put it, of 11/22/63) and the film is a masterpiece of counter-propaganda. Stone finds a perfect balance between Garrison's obsession with the assassination, his turbulent relationship with a staff led into unprecedented territory, and his upset family life. The concluding trial scene is both devastating and moving. And technically, "JFK" has the most effective and (for once) appropriate use of the kitchen-sink editing techniques you'll ever see: hand-held camera, jittery jump-cuts, switching from black and white...The acting is uniformly excellent (except perhaps for a few of Costner's moments at home with his family), particularly Gary Oldman's high-strung Oswald and Sutherland's mysterious General X.

Rating:
Summary: JFK is just a great epic
Review: One thing about this film is that the dialouge is just fantastic, the cast was phenominal. After watching this movie you differently realize that there was a conspiracy of the assination of JFK, I mean really the Warren Commissions facts are theatrical, you'd have to be a great fool to believe that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone & only fired 3 shots. My favorite line in the movie "let justice be done, though the heavens fall." That's just a priceless dialougue. I don't have the DVD DC yet, but I will soon, and it'll truley be one of the great DVDs I have, ranking up there with the Godfather Collection & T2

Rating:
Summary: the best movie about jfk assassination
Review: This movie must be seen, it's very complete. it explains us what really happened on November 22 1963. the murder is not lee Harvey Oswald but the CIA and Lyndon Johnson. They killed him because he wants to stop Vietnam war and stop the cold war. Johnson was just a slack.
In the beginning there is a short biography and we can see young JFK.
Read the book too !
It will explain you how great JFK was.
5 stars is not enough.
Thank Oliver stone and Jim garrison.

Rating:
Summary: Essential Oliver Stone
Review: This film is capable of far more than simply entertaining it's viewers for a few hours. For me, this film evoked one of the strongest emotional reactions I've ever had to a movie. This film will leave you in a cognitive, and perhaps even betrayed, state of mind.

First, I would like to point out that I am fully aware that this film is not entirely factual. I understand that some liberties were taken with the way that the historical events actually unfolded, but that doesn't mean that it's completely false. While this movie is a work of fiction, there is a great deal of true information that accompanies the aforementioned fiction. From what I understand, Stone did not intend this film to be taken as entirely factual, but instead for the viewer to get the overall message that it's important not to believe everything the government tells you just because it's what the government tells you. As the character Jim Garrison says in the movie (I'm paraphrasing here), all it takes is a few corrupt individuals with power to perpetuate a massive lie. I think that this is something that all would do well to remember for the next time the government, or any one else for that matter, proposes a questionable story, such as the non sense one shooter/magic bullet theory.

Now that the history vs. fiction aspect is out of the way, onto the movie itself. I can honestly say that this is one of the most solid movies I've ever seen. From direction, to acting, to writing, to editing, this movie is absolutely remarkable. I personally believe it to be Oliver Stone's finest cinematic offering to date, with Natural Born Killers coming in at an extremely close second.

The film features an ensemble cast who all turn in fantastic performances, especially Gary Oldman and Kevin Costner. Costner's portrayal of Jim Garrison is entertaining and wholly believable. Gary Oldman also gives a fantastic performance as Lee Harvey Oswald, he truly manages to capture the character. The rest of the cast is also very good. Micheal Rooker, John Candy, Sissy Spacek, Joe Pesci, and Donald Sutherland all provide great supporting performances. Donald Sutherland is terrific as Garrison's CIA insider source. His speech he gives while walking in the park is one of the finest points in the movies. I also liked John Candy's performance as Jim's friend from law school who had been asked to be Oswald's attorney. He was one character I don't think we saw enough of.

Stone's direction here is also incredible. He does a marvelous job at depicting society's reaction to the assassination of JFK. Many are saddened by the loss while others are thrilled by the idea of removing a "Castro sympathizer" from the highest office in the country. Stone is also very adept at 'taking the viewer along for the ride', for lack of a better phrase. The deeper into the conspiracy Garrison goes, the deeper you go and I at least felt as though I were there every step of the way, until the final courtroom seen where the viewer is put more in the position of the jury than in the position Garrison.

The editing in this film is remarkable as well. Splicing of black and white footage into the film as well as the use of 35 mm footage is genious. I can't imagine the amount of time and work that must've gone into the editing process of this movie. I think that's it's probably the best I've ever seen.

The writing is also phenomenal. The script is very well researched and the dialog is very absorbing. The conversations are informational, but not to the point that they become boring. I think the writers managed to strike a nice balance in that respect.

But even with all that aside, even without the great editing, directing, and writing, the film still works on a personal level. The JFK era may be well before my time, but I can still identify with Garrison's quest for justice and truth. I think that Garrison's desire for honesty is the real universal message hear, and I think that it's something all viewers will be able to identify with. The need for truth is something that humanity will always have, and I think that through that need this film will live on for a very long time.

Rating:
Summary: Great Fiction
Review: I was a little to young to really remember the effect this movie had on the American public, but I have read a lot of articles concerning its impact. The polls showed that the majority of Americans were convinced that the story of the movie was true, that a vast conspiracy of the CIA/FBI/Military/Mafia/Cuban exiles carried out the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, 1963. Lee Harvey Oswald was a patsy, and LBJ wanted Kennedy out of the picture so he could push his own war agenda forward. Amazing allegations, but this movie makes them so believable. However, the merits of the movie itself far outweigh its actual factual basis.

JFK tells the story of James Garrison, the real life DA of New Orleans who initiated a court case against one Clay Shaw, a New Orleans businessman. The movie, taken as fiction, is great. The story is engrossing as it rolls along, unfolding in all sorts of intriguing directions. Kevin Costner does a great job portraying the embattled DA, fighting against a tide of government lies and threats to find the truth about what happened that day. He and his team of investigators have to dig deep into the past, a past that has been erased by murder and threatening actions. However, the plot begins to reveal a dangerous and far reaching alliance of government officials who sought to destroy the President's agenda by taking the man out himself. Garrison is told of secret meetings between the military and LBJ, where the opportunities were discussed. Cuban rebels, angry with Kennedy for his non-support of the Bay of Pigs, want to take Kennedy out. Garrison never stops his crusade, even as his own family falls apart. The movie does an absolutely wonderful job of splicing documentary footage, recreated black and white shots, and the live action film, giving the whole things a wonderful air of official intrigue and paranoia. The courtroom scene is stirring and powerful.

So this is a great movie, but, again, it is a movie. The problems with the movie's actual proposed explanation is that it is rife with holes and inconsistencies. I will not go in depth on them here, but I would point out a few things. One, as a prior reviewer pointed out, this book is supposedly based on Garrison's book, but it clearly exaggerates some of the things actually in the book. Second, it also credits the work of Jim Marrs, who, speaking frankly, is certifiably insane. As a last point, I would point out that none of these conspiracy theorists can refute the points laid out in Gary Posner's master work, Case Closed, in which he blows holes through the story portrayed in the movie. So, take it as a great movie, but a documentary it is not.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Finest (if not THE finest) films ever made
Review: This Oliver Stone epic blows me away every single time that I sit down to watch it. The direction is brilliant, the acting is stellar and the script is so well researched (I know, I own the documented script), so sharp, so thoughtful and so intriguing. Every aspect of the movie comes together perfectly, keeping you hooked throughout the entire film.

The movie takes on the hefty approach of an inner-governmental conspiracy brought to light by the unpopular new Orleans DA Jim garrison. Many people thought he was a flake, a radical, and completely insane for pursuing what seemed to be an unanswerable mystery surrounding the assassination of Presidnet Kennedy. In the film, Stone has used documents, historical facts and leads from Garrison and co.'s investigation. According to the film, Oswald was most likely exactly what he had claimed...a patsy.

I won't, under good conscience, ruin any more of the plot for any potential first-time viewers, but I will say this: this is a landmark film for american cinema. Oliver Stone has given us a film that is daring, shocking and completely convincing. Lone gunman my rear-end!...

Rating:
Summary: There's a reason this isn't a "documentary"
Review: A decent movie with some well acting and some interesting questions arisen. Hence my three star review, for the quality of the film. However, one of Oliver Stone's goals seems to be for the everyday American to question the word of his/her government. It is never Stone's intention for anyone to turn their inquisitiveness unto what Stone himself utters as gospel. This movie was supposedly "based on" Jim Garrison's book "On the Trail of the Assassins". I read the book, and the movie doesn't represent much of it. It misrepresents several other parts.

For example, Garrison's office did indeed receive a phone call from a frenzied Dave Ferrie in which he says he's a "dead man". The movie follows this up with a meeting between Ferrie and the DA's office in which he spills his guts about CIA involvement in the Kennedy assassination. In the book there was no such meeting. In the book, Garrison doesn't even really question whether or not Ferrie's suicide was actually a murder, as the movie claims he does.

Another twisted piece of history is Garrison's meeting with "X". In the movie, "X" is presented as a calm, intelligent ex-military black-operations coordinator. A colonel, of course. "X" strolls with Garrison through the park and conveniently spills his guts as well about the all-reaching hand of U.S. military intelligence into the assassination, and tells Garrison more of exactly what he wants to hear. Once again, however, the "X" described in Garrison's book is nowhere near the "X" that Stone wants us to see. Garrison himself describes "X" as a nervous, paranoid, almost frantic contact who meets Garrison for a very brief period and rants on for awhile about military intelligence and other matters. Far from the cool, collected "X" in the movie, Garrison describes the "X" he meets as a man he's not even sure is mentally capable to have his story even considered.

Other characters in the movie who Stone portrays as saints come across from Garrison himself as people of average or questionable credibility. Garrison certainly gives no glowing descriptions of the all-American, apple pie baking, country housewives and conscientious objecting veterans that Stone fills every role of an honest witness with. Other scenes are simply part of Stone's fantasy world as well, such as the heated argument which leads one of Garrison's ADA's to quit.

I'm not saying this isn't a good movie, but don't buy everything you see just because Oliver Stone says it is so. Stone has made some good movies and tackled some important issues, but it's clear his movies are tainted with his own ferocious hatred for the U.S. government, among other institutions. This movie, like "Bowling for Columbine" isn't a truth-exposing eye-opener, as it should be. Stone goes beyond the expected Hollywood sensationalism and blatantly changes the words of the very author himself.

Quite a few grains of salt needed.

Rating:
Summary: Riveting!
Review: A riveting drama of Jim Garrison & his pursuit for the truth in the Kennedy assassination. Kevin Costner plays the role superbly, with Tommy Lee Jones as Clay Shaw. Sissy Spacek plays Mrs. Garrison who feels her husband is spending too much time on the case and not enough time with his family. This movie will make you stop and think...was it a conspiracy?

Rating:
Summary: "A Tissue Of Lies" said Walter Cronkite
Review: The movie "JFK" was described by the most trusted man in America Walter Cronkite as "a tissue of lies". Director Oliver Stone now calls this film "an alternative myth" such is the misinformation and inaccuracies in this movie. The line "let the truth be known or the Heavens fall" is from a Hollywood writer and was never stated. In actual fact,Garrison wasn't even at the courts at the time of the court's decision. He was in his office at the time. Indeed,there is little truth in this film as a lot of the witnesses and their fates were made up for this fictional movie.

Rating:
Summary: A Whole Lot Of Speculation Going On
Review: This is an extremely entertaining film, but should not be considered a historically accurate docudrama. It assumes a certain set of events, then adds speculation in order to present underlying stories behind those events coupled with actual occurrences; one example is combining Lee Oswald's actual New Orleans political activities with an assumed relationship involving Davie Ferrie, Clay Shaw et al.

Some of us have read so much about the JFK assassination that we can convincingly argue for or against any point of view related to it -- lone nut theory, conspiracy theory, wound alteration, military-insustrial complex plot, mafia plot, you name it. Readers of "Conspiracy of One" can even cite an account of experiments which demonstrate how a human head can snap backward (as Kennedy's did) upon being struck by a bullet from the rear. Oliver Stone's "JFK" was merely an interesting addition to the large volume of stories about this crime. The bottom line is, we are never going know the truth about that event.