Mostly great, with a few bad sequences that significantly harm the film

Rating: 8/10 (29 May 2006)

I'm not especially familiar with all aspects of the Kennedy assassination (it was well before my time), but one thing's for sure: the Warren Commission's final word is more than a little incredible. I don't know how much of Oliver Stone's film is provable fact, how much of it is loony conjecture, or how much he just plain made up (he says none, but others have denied that). What I do know is that the film, even though it runs at 3 and a half hours, is engaging, exciting, gripping and suspenseful. I'm not a big fan of movies that follow investigations, but it's great here. And I especially hate courtroom dramas, but the final sequences of the movie represent an extremely tight tour-de-force. The film is at its best when it's exploring the mystery, and, confoundingly, at its very worst when it takes time to develop its characters. There are two scenes particularly when Jim Garrison's wife (played by Sissy Spacek at her very worst) accosts him for not spending enough time with his family. I'm thinking, "HELLO! Most important investigation in American history going on here!" I think his kids would forgive him in the future for being a bit inattentive at the time. The second of these scenes, where Costner explains to his kids that he won't be leaving their mommy, almost had me throwing stuff at the screen it was so sappy. Kevin Costner isn't very interesting, and, besides, from what I've read Stone really softened the character of Jim Garrison, so any character development on that front is dishonest. Most of the best acting comes from the massive supporting cast, where almost anybody is liable to show up. I was quite happy when John Larroquette showed up, and even happier when Donald Sutherland appeared. And Brian Doyle Murray as Jack Ruby? Awesome. My favorite performance by far was Kevin Bacon. I always feel bad for the guy, because he's spent such a long career acting in middling roles. He really is a fine actor, which he gets to prove every so often. He only has five or six minutes in this film, but he's great.