Review of JFK (1991) by Todd C — 07 Nov 2008

This is the first film that showed me what a powerful medium the cinema can be. Powerful, persuasive film-making from Oliver Stone, JFK wants you to question what you've been told. Tackling the US government's handling of the Kennedy assassination, and the discrepancies, inaccuracies and outright fabrications in the Warren Report.

Of course, this film is completely bias in it's viewpoint, but the evidence unearthed by New Orleans DA Jim Garrison is pretty overwhelming, and you are left with the feeling that Lee Harvey Oswald couldn't have acted alone.

This is obviously a subject close to Stone's heart, and it shows from the finished film and screenplay. Combining real footage, reconstructions, news clips, and photographs into a unique mixture, JFK looks like nothing you've ever seen before.

Add to that a truly superb performance from Kevin Costner, as well as every role, no matter how small, filled by a recognisable face (Tommy Lee Jones, Joe Pesci, Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek, Jack Lemmon, Waltger Matthau).

This helps keep track of proceedings actually, because so many characters are introduced over the course of the 3 hours+ of this film, so your doing well if you manage to follow everything. A masterpiece from Oliver Stone, powerful, provocative and controversial, while being constantly entertaining, while raising questions.

So much more than just a film.