Reviewer's Rating 3 out of 5
JFK (1991)
15

Dallas, November 22nd 1963, and President John F Kennedy is assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald. Three years after the incident, which affected the entire world, new evidence has come to light and Jim Garrison, the District Attorney, decides to conduct an in-depth investigation into the President's murder, which lasts from 1966 to 1969, and unearths numerous theories on the events that occurred.

Oliver Stone has created a maelstrom of images here. Seamlessly blending real black and white footage of Kennedy's murder with his own re-staged scenes, and working the two together results in a film that can't decide which way to go. While obviously a supporter of the conspiracy theories (at least eight are mentioned, including the CIA, the Mafia, and weapons manufacturers) the film has an inability to settle on one concept and concentrate on it.

At almost three hours in length even the all-star cast, which includes Jack Lemmon, Tommy Lee Jones, and Joe Pesci (who all give solid, yet unsurprising performances), cannot rescue this film from dragging on, and Kevin Costner as the District Attorney is distinctly bland and strangely lacking in passion.

Stone has taken genuine historical characters such as Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) to recreate a vision of history that has been altered to allow for as many theories as possible. When queried about his factual reconstruction Stone has stated that he was simply creating "counter myth". While viewing the film you will no doubt believe there should have been more investigation, you will probably be none the wiser as to what direction it should have taken.

End Credits

Director: Oliver Stone

Writer: Jim Garrison, Jim Marrs

Stars: Kevin Costner, Kevin Bacon, Gary Oldman, Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Laurie Metcalf, Jack Lemmon, Donald Sutherland, Joe Pesci, Wayne Knight, Vincent D'Onofrio, Michael Rooker, Walter Matheau

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Length: 181 minutes

Cinema: 1991

DVD: 23 August 1999

VHS: 15 February 1999

Country: USA

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