Review of JFK (1991) by Stuart K — 27 Apr 2014

Directed by Oliver Stone, here he made a film very close to his heart. The assassination of John F. Kennedy, here adapted from On the Trail of the Assassins by Jim Garrison and Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy by Jim Marrs.

Stone opened a massive can of worms by effectively proving that nothing was what it seemed when Kennedy was assassinated, and it makes for a gripping political thriller. When Kennedy was assassinated on November 22nd 1963, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) learns about the links the assassination had to New Orleans, and that the accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald (Gary Oldman) had several co-conspirators, including pilot David Ferrie (Joe Pesci), male prostitute Willie O'Keefe (Kevin Bacon) and, most crucially the flamboyant Clay Shaw (Tommy Lee Jones).

But, as Garrison delves deeper into this case, he discovers a web of political lies and skulduggery, cover-ups and corruption, and he learns a lot of shocking home truths from the mysterious X (Donald Sutherland).

It's a film which got America and the rest of the world talking again. Stone weaves a compelling and shocking history lesson as a suspenseful thriller, and his arguments are shocking and believable.

Plus, he gets a brilliant performance out of Costner, whose Garrison will not stop fighting and looking for the truth.