Flawed but intriguing rumination on political events

Rating: 5/10 (20 December 2007)

No one could ever expect a cinematic representation of historical events to be completely objective - film is an indisputably subjective medium, and the 'voice' of the director and producers are bound to always shine through. But objectivity is one thing, and Oliver Stone is its polar opposite. Instead of Stone's powerhouse film-making style and fierce political convictions adding substance and energy to JFK, his take on the infamous assassination and its aftermath, it is Stone's self-righteous and self-indulgent hammering of the material that inhibit the film from being the intelligent and compelling political investigation piece it could have been. As it is, while JFK could be considered a solid thesis on Stone's perspective on the events, as a film it struggles to hold up amidst the torrent of its own flaws.
Stone may never have had the pretense of disguising his perception of the events of the JFK assassination and the alleged ensuing conspiracy as cold hard fact, but he certainly seems determined to beat his audience over the head with his side of the story to the point of bewildered acceptance. Stone's incredibly forceful portrayal of his own perspective, pitching his film directly to heartfelt American sentiment (even going so far as to have Costner directly address the camera when speaking of American liberty) has the final outcome emerge as just a shade away from propaganda. Stone's work tends to attract a "love it or hate it" reaction, but with a film this shamelessly self-congratulating and painfully biased, it is distinctly hard to love it, plaudits or not.
Apart from Stone's own stance on the material, speaking strictly in film-making terms, JFK also finds itself lacking. Excruciatingly long and unreasonably "talky" (especially near the film's climax, where Kevin Costner talks for literally half an hour straight... no joke) and making use of an abundance of unreasonably clichéd patriotic sequences enough to make one's stomach queasy, Stone's film is far too self-indulgent to make its proper effect. Seldom arises the complaint that a director needs to simplify their work, but given the relatively simple plot ensuing, Stone sure manages to complicate the hell out of it, clarified with a series of incredibly contrived play-by-plays by Garrison and his team. While it is abundantly clear that Stone has done his research on the case, and it is easy to get swept up in the story to a degree, one can't help but wish that he had not found it necessary to include every last scrap of information regarding it - as such, the film feels like it is overflowing at the seams with factual information, often thrust so rapid fire into the audience's face that they have no time to process or internalize it. It is a shame indeed that the content of the film is so disappointingly brought to life, as JFK's technical work is laudable indeed, making use of terrific cinematography and editing (although the initially effective montage sequences, complimented with real historical footage do grow tiresome after being steadily overused as the film progresses) even if the normally reliable John Williams' score overloads on patriotic musical clichés to a nauseating extent.
The astonishing array of talented actors substantially raise the quality of the film as a whole. While Kevin Costner as patriotic American everyman DA Jim Garrison is bland at best, painfully trite at worst and unquestionably given far too much screen time, the wonderful supporting cast are more than enough to carry the dead weight of the film's lead. Tommy Lee Jones, in a distinctly different role from his usual casting is electrifying as ominous influential businessman Clay Shaw, with a cold menace simmering beneath his character's flamboyant exterior. Gary Oldman of course effortlessly steals the show as alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald - seen mostly in flashbacks, Oldman's meticulous dedication in fully inhabiting his characters is used to chilling and compelling effect. Backed by dynamic performances from Joe Pesci, Donald Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, Jack Lemmon, John Candy and Walter Matthau, all superb when given their moment to shine, the film's supporting cast raises the bar in terms of quality considerably. Unfortunately, Sissy Spacek is wasted in a banal subplot as Garrison's wife, adding a nauseatingly by the numbers "obsession endangers family life" theme to an already overlong film. As Stone dollops on the sap and Spacek overacts to her heart's content, backed up by absurdly untalented child actors as their children, the family sequences are among the film's most painful and unnecessary.
Keeping in mind that appreciation of Oliver Stone's films does tend to be just as subjective as his own cinematic stance, it becomes difficult to dispute JFK being far too overlong, overstuffed with dialogue and bombarded by offensively clichéd sequences to be anywhere near as effective as it ought to have been. While intriguing in its presentation of a distinctly one sided rumination on the events following the assassination and complimented with brilliant technical work and impressive performances from its supporting cast, Stone's distinctive slant is what drags the film down from being the taut political work it could have been, resulting in a fact bloated, lopsided and self-indulgent portrayal of American history.
-5/10