Was there anyone who was not involved in the conspiracy?

Rating: 7/10 (25 June 2013)

"JFK" is a brilliant film, particularly in the way it continually feeds us "evidence" and broadens the scope of the "conspiracy" to assassinate the president. For those of us who lived through those times, the movie also vividly captures the prevailing mood, including rabid anti-communists who thought JFK was a sellout to the reds and were glad he was shot. Having Garrison as a passive TV viewer while three assassinations took place--JFK, Dr. King, and RFK--was a vivid reminder to me of the bad old days.
There were also two really wonderful performances--Joe Pesci as David Ferrie and Tommy Lee Jones as Clay Shaw--and good work too by Kevin Bacon. I found Kevin Costner to be wooden in the lead performance. Sissy Spacek had a thankless role as Garrison's wife, causing the film to stop dead while they had marital arguments.
The big problem with the movie is the proliferation of conspirators. They keep piling up as the movie moves along, until, during Garrison's summation, I understood the judge's reaction--slumping in his chair and rolling his eyes. Everyone, it seems, was suspect--the CIA, the FBI, the military, war profiteeers, the Mafia, anti-Castro activists, the media, possibly even LBJ.
Some conspiracy. Where did all these people hold their meetings? Why wasn't I invited? Seems like everyone else in America was.
But the assassination of JFK is nothing to joke about. At the time, one of the most painful facts about the event for many of us was that our president, and a fine man he was, could be taken down by a lone-wolf creep like Oswald. It would have been such a relief if we could have believed in some vast conspiracy instead. At least the killing would have made some sense.