Don't stop here. . .

Rating: 5/10 (1 October 2011)

The thing about this movie, after having seen it in my 20's, is in it's construction. It is brilliantly acted with an amazing cast. The construction and presentation are flawless. The problems with it are in the details. When I first saw this movie, like many others, I bought everything presented hook, like and sinker. I didn't really research the subject, read anything or watch documentaries on the assassination. For years I walked around bubble-headed believing the theories in the movie. Well, I now put that down to being young and stupid. I just want to say that if you are interested in the assassination, don't stop with researching the information by simply watching JFK.
After seeing documentaries and doing a little reading, I discovered that this movie contains outright lies. Even conspiracy theories should be based on available facts. This movie bases theories on theories. For instance, the "magic bullet theory" is an idea that is based on recreating the shooting of JFK and Connelly but it is based on positioning the two incorrectly in the vehicle. When recreating the shooting by positioning them correctly, there is not a "magic" zigzagging bullet. It went straight through the both of them. The movie claims that Oswald couldn't have acquired the shots that killed Kennedy, but in seeing documentaries that recreate the shots and the injuries sustained, it has been proved that he could very easily have succeeded even with the cumbersome weapon he chose. The movie not only makes up information, it even makes up people who didn't exist to tell it. The woman lawyer who is shown working on Jim Garrison's staff did not exist and was created to give Garrison the image of being progressive in hiring a female lawyer when his entire staff was actually male. If you are going to present conspiracy theories, at least stick to the way events actually happened. In watching a documentary about Lyndon Johnson, I discovered that there is no way he was involved. After the shooting, he was just as discombobulated, grieving and upset about it as everyone else and was desperately trying very hard to handle the situation in a way that the broken American public could feel secure. He may have screwed up in various ways as president (Vietnam comes to mind) but did not kill Kennedy. It's ridiculous.
Another thing I came to realize is that even if there is a possibility of a conspiracy, the chance that all of these people and factions that the movie claims is responsible are working in tandem is as far fetched as it can get. I went from believing every line of this movie, to simply believing that maybe one of these factions were involved and finally (after doing much more research on the subject) came to believe that Oswald alone killed JFK. I can see that I'm not the only one that has made this mistake as there are many people writing reviews and talking on the board as if this is the "bible" of conspiracy theories and somehow proves those theories when on closer inspection it is a house of cards. "The problem that I and most historians would have with Oliver Stone, is not his talent--he's a wonderful filmmaker--but that he's used this to put certain myths into the American bloodstream that abide to this day." Michael Beschloss, ABC News Consultant. Yes this movie is brilliantly put together but it is inundated with lies.
Whatever you believe, please do not use this movie as the only yardstick in determining the truth for yourself.