One of the Best of the 1990's

Rating: 9/10 (15 February 2004)

It was with 1991's JFK that director Oliver Stone began to show us his true directing style. Whereas Platoon and even Born on the 4th of July were mainstream-by-the-unwritten-rules kind of filmmaking, JFK began to show both a directing and editing style that would become his benchmark years later. With dramatic moments intercut with images such as racehorse hoofs churning up dirt or close-ups of coffee swilling in a cup, Stone began offering films that were a jolt to the senses.	JFK was also the first of the Presidential entries into his filmography (Nixon and the executive produced The Day Reagan Was Shot), and follows the investigation of New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison and the suspicious circumstances surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas 1963.
Garrison is played by Kevin Costner, a year removed from his breakout directorial debut, Dances With Wolves, and follows the DA as he re-opens the case questioning the findings of the Warren Commission three years later. Leading a team that includes actors Laurie Metcalf, Michael Rooker, Wayne Knight and Jay O. Sanders, Garrison tracks down old eye-witnesses and follows leads left behind by the F.B.I., in hopes of finding the conspiracy that he feels so passionately has been covered up. Along his odyssey, Garrison meets various degrees of opposition and soon fears for the safety of his team and family in hopes of uncovering the truth.

JFK was filmed at the height of Stone's popularity and that can be seen on how many famous faces lined up for a role  no matter how small or trivial  in this 3 hour epic. Just glancing at the cast listing and you will see names like Kevin Bacon, Ed Asner, Gary Oldman, Jack Lemmon, John Candy, Donald Sutherland and Tommy Lee Jones just to name a handful. They are paraded out in rapid fire style and range from quick cameos to larger plot point characters. Stone does well to manage the various egos that were involved and keep the story on track, undistracted from the ever present star power.
The screenplay for JFK was taken from various sources including Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy by Jim Marrs and On The Trail Of The Assassins by Jim Garrison. Coupled with various liberties by screenwriters Oliver Stone and Zachery Sklar, the film ventures down various possibilities as to the mastermind behind the plot including the C.I.A., Cubans & even the Vice President. With all the assumptions and suggestions put forth by the director, Stone achieves the goal of leaving the audience with a notion that there were too many possibilities as to believe that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone and was nothing more than the patsy' he professed.

The courtroom scenes near the conclusion of the film are riveting entertainment and offer edge of your seat conclusions as the facts pour into the audiences lap for interpretation. Stone flashes between actual footage and court scene descriptions to fill the final 45 minutes with a recap of the information obtained by their various sources. Not until A Few Good Men did a courtroom scene offer such drama and tension.
JFK was also a political statement for Stone. Vocal through the late 80's and early 90's on the government and the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, you can tell by watching JFK that Stone would believe anything but the fact the government's findings may be correct. This however does not take away from the impact of JFK, but does lead to some interesting discussion at the end of the film. Labeled by many as one of the best films of the 1990's, JFK is a treat for film goers, conspiracy theorists and even  to some extent  historians, and should not be missed. Being nominated for 8 Academy Awards and winning two is a testament to this masterpiece.