One of the best films-period

Rating: Null/10 (29 June 1999)

I've got to say that this is truly my second favorite movie of all time (with the first being Silence of the Lambs). I was initially attracted to it because it is a "period film"-typical of Oliver Stone-and because I am a fan of his other work (Loved Born of the Fourth of July also) I was not disappointed in any way-this film was brilliant. The characters are very three-dimensional. Even if you aren't a "conspiracy buff", this is a very, very believable movie.
Are some of the conclusions far-fetched? Is the story a bit one-sided? Perhaps. Stone is famous for that. This was one assassination-I don't believe that the Mob, LBJ, the anti-Communists, and the pro-Vietnam people could have all have Kennedy snuffed out. But you have to admit that this movie makes you THINK, which is kind of rare these days.
The events are told in a very effective method-the beginning with Walter Cronkite is great. Costner is superb as Garrison, and I absolutely loved all the "cameos"-Jack Lemmon, Ed Asner,Kevin Bacon-geez, I could probably make a shorter list of who is NOT in this movie. My favorites are Joe Pesci's character and Donald Sutherland, who is always good as mysterious-too bad that Fletcher Prouty (the supposed "real" Mr. X) couldn't have shed some more light on the role of this character in the whole "conspiracy theory" in his book. Hats off as well to Gary Oldman-no one else could have done Oswald and gotten away with it like he did.
After watching this for the first time (in the theater), I have read almost all of the books that Stone used to make this film. Although most of the story is written from Garrison's "On the Trail of the Assassins" and Jim Marrs'book, you can definitely see that Stone did his homework on this one.
I think that every American should see this film at least once. This is an absolutely facinating movie-you will not be the same after seeing it, I guarantee. Like I said before, whether you believe the story or not, it makes you think.