Review of JFK (1991) by Ben L — 18 Sep 2016

I remember liking JFK more than I did this time around. It's still a good movie and it has some brilliant actors (actually it feels like 50% of the actors in Hollywood show up in this film,) but there is something sadly missing. The story tells about the only legal case ever brought to trial in relation to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I think a more emotionally effective film would have spent more time on Jim Garrison, and his struggle to get this day in court. They try in a few brief scenes to point out the difficult family situation Garrison is experiencing, but the movie never came across as being about him. Instead it was all about the case. There is some fascinating stuff in this film, but it feels so scattershot that I sometimes grew confused over how it would tie together. The movie is long and it all seems to be pointing towards that final scene where Garrison gets his day in court and can present his big closing argument.

While watching this big climax suddenly it hit me. This isn't a film about Jim Garrison and his passion to get the truth out there, this is a film about Oliver Stone's passion to get the truth out there! It's a 3-hour-long "closing argument" that spells out for the audience all that has been found in the many studies of JFK's assassination. Stone even conveniently connect the dots for us, making the assumptions so we don't have to ourselves. There's nothing wrong with this film, and certainly if even half of the things presented as facts in the movie are accurate then it's worth getting the truth out there to general audiences. I applaud the idea, but didn't adore the execution. In many ways it felt like the movie was just throwing as many pieces of damning evidence they could find in an effort to make a point. Sadly the point they make is "We don't have any idea what happened, but it wasn't what the Warren Commission said." I think this movie could inspire someone to look deeper into the truth of things, and to question what we are told, but I don't know how well it holds up as a cohesive story.