JFK Movie Review

JFK (1991)

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Written by: Jim Garrison (based on the book "On the Trail of the Assassins" by), Jim Marrs (based on the book "Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy" by), Oliver Stone & Zachary Sklar (screenplay by)
Directed by: Oliver Stone
Starring: Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Kevin Bacon, Tommy Lee Jones, Laurie Metcalf, Michael Rooker, Jay O. Sanders, Sissy Spacek, Joe Pesci, Donald Sutherland, Ed Asner, John Candy, Wayne Knight, Vincent D'Onofrio
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.

Verdict
It's an entertaining movie, but it isn't history. This takes the assassination and characters, fabricating a narrative around it that this movie deems as true. It's an intriguing movie precisely because it presents an alternative what-if scenario, a conspiracy and an answer as to why a senseless act occurred. It's a mystery and detective blockbuster with a sensational topic and huge ensemble cast. You've got to watch it, especially at the time, because can you believe what this posits happened to JFK? It's a very good movie, but the way it presents the story too many people will take it as fact.
Watch It.

Review
We get a voice over to prime us about America, Kennedy's election, and Kennedy's assassination. The real story is about prosecutor Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) obsessed with the JFK case and finding information that just doesn't add up. He's determined to get justice despite the opposition.

Everything about Oswald (Gary Oldman) is contradictory. Garrison starts to believe this was some kind of inside operation. Every clue Garrison uncovers only strengthens that belief. He wonders about peoples' motivations and why they accused Oswald. Everyone seems to be coerced in some way, and nothing is quite what it seems.

Kevin Costner, Donald Sutherland play Jim Garrison, Mr. X

The ingenious aspect about this movie is how it makes another JFK movie, but manages to differentiate it by making it a mystery about why and how the assassination happened. The assassination in this movie is the inciting event, not the focus.

I did wonder how Garrison can pursue this case. Doesn't he have a job to do? It seems he's investigating the assassination while on the job. I would guess he's neglecting that. His family becomes upset about his increasingly frequent absences.

Michael Rooker, Kevin Costner, play Bill Broussard, Jim Garrison

This culminates in a court case where Garrison hopes to reveal the truth and convict someone. This is the culmination of all his research where he asserts his theories of a conspiracy. A court room often adds a fun element to a movie due to the high stakes. This is also the part of the movie spoofed most often.

This movie pushes conspiracy theories about what could have happened. The sensationalism of the ideas is the draw for this movie. That's also what makes it fun to spoof. People enjoy a good conspiracy, but this movie is fiction other than the overarching event. There's a propensity for a big event, certainly and untimely murder, to create theories and ideas about why it couldn't or shouldn't have happened. This movie buys into the conspiracies, and makes them seem like truth which is the unfortunate side of this. Using a true story is what makes this so intriguing.