Directed by:
Oliver StoneCinematography:
Robert RichardsonComposer:
John WilliamsCast:
Kevin Costner, Kevin Bacon, Tommy Lee Jones, Laurie Metcalf, Gary Oldman, John Larroquette, Beata Poźniak Daniels, Michael Rooker, Ron Rifkin, Jay O. Sanders (more)Plots(1)
Oliver Stone's detailed examination of possible answers to unsolved mysteries surrounding John F. Kennedy's assassination. Kevin Costner plays New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, who remained unconvinced by the Warren Commission Report and launched his own investigation. This film was released on a wave of controversy and led to calls for Congress to re-open government records from the 1977 House Select Committee on the assassination. Stone weaves actual archive footage with historical reconstruction and conjecture to present his argument that Kennedy was killed by the CIA due to his desire to withdraw troops from Vietnam. (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)
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Reviews (10)
An impressive Kevin Costner and stickler for detail, Oliver Stone. An excellent reconstruction, but if we ask the question: “What has this actually done to change anything?" the answer is just a shrug. We’ll have to wait a couple more years for the final and official version of this review, but I’m sure it’s drawing near (I’m sure that they are hard at work on it right now). P.S.: The part with Donald Sutherland is perfect.
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If I were to add an adjective to JFK, it definitely wouldn't be the best Stone film. But it might deserve the adjective that it is the most personal film. Oliver Stone simply fulfilled his dream and made a film about a topic that interests him the most in modern American history. The film is made with obvious enthusiasm, passionately, and even obsessively. And I don't think it's a good thing. Stone lacks distance and falls into paranoid constructions. In the early 90s, I studied the assassination of Kennedy and read everything that was available in our country. It's like this - if you don't care about seriousness in America, you deal with conspiracy theories about Area 51 and ufology, from which Spielberg himself drew inspiration for his popular culture blockbusters, and if you want to appear serious, you deal with the Kennedy assassination and construct the craziest conspiracies. Oliver Stone understandably chose only the materials that support his theories from a vast amount of material. However, there are just as many clues that break down his idea. I dare not say that I know how everything happened, but in the end, the idea that Oswald acted alone seems more likely than any other version. If anything is really true, it is that the US government administration showed itself in a really bad light, whether it's the security measures before the assassination or the course of the investigation itself. But searching for a devilish conspiracy in all of this reeks of purposefulness. If any myth deserves to be ruthlessly shattered, it is primarily the idea of the "president of truth" that Stone works with. The popular sitcom Red Dwarf provocatively works with the idea in one of its episodes that the assassination will be thwarted and it leads to a disaster because Kennedy, weakened by constant social scandals from numerous love affairs and ties to the mafia, will not be able to steer America. Of course, it is a comedic exaggeration, but with a real basis. With the passage of time, it can be said that Kennedy was not different from his presidential colleagues and had more than enough scandals on his hands. For me, the film is unbearable in terms of length and especially its conspiratorial paranoid character. In JFK, I see the beginning of the pollution of the public space with the most stupid conspiracy theories imaginable. The mechanism that Stone used has only been recycled since then. Overall impression: 60%.
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A quality film. Oliver Stone with another one of his burning topics of American history and again well executed. A good screenplay, great camera work (the black and white the authentic footage are fantastic and enhance the overall authenticity of the film), excellent editing, and quality acting performances.
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The prime suspect in the Kennedy assassination? Oliver Stone!:-) I didn't know much about the incident in question, I never doubted the rottenness of the American government, and yet the film managed to captivate and appeal to me to such an extent that I look forward to 2029 to see the revelation of all the information by the CIA, even though I’ll be fifteen years older and bald by then. Anyway, with this film, Stone not only reaffirmed to me that he is an extravagant who has no problem with three hours full of dialogue, but with his offensive speech he put in my head a rather clear view of American democracy, defined solely by the malice of the powerful (and the gay:-)) and the vision of self-interest. Also, fitting perfectly among all this "crap" are the loving husband and tenacious detective Kevin Costner, the smarmy villain Gary Oldman, the male-loving Tommy Lee Jones and the usual suspect Joe Pesci, whose great performances only add to the quality and historical value of JFK. 95%
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It makes absolutely no difference whether what is presented here is actually true or just one of many conspiracy theories. The way everything is presented, the way the performances are strong - Sissy Spacek has never been more beautiful - you still get a strong impression from it, especially about the fact that we're just puppets. Oliver Stone at his best.
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Gallery (78)
Photo © Warner Bros. Pictures
![JFK - Photos](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/166/225/166225114_17e54d.jpg)
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