An Unfortunate Episode in US National and Political Affairs

Rating: 7/10 (14 July 2013)

JFK is based on two books – On the Trail of the Assassins by Jim Garrison and Crossfire: The Plot that Killed Kennedy by Jim Marrs. JFK sets the scene by showing an historical account of Kennedy's Presidency, from the Bay of Pigs invasion, through to the Cuban missile crisis and finally Kennedy's assassination. The film then covers the background leading to the assassination including the planning of a second Cuban invasion by a group of ex-Cubans, Lee Harvey Oswald and his defection to Russia and return to the USA and his relationship to the ex-Cubans and Guy Bannister – ex FBI agent and investigator. The film then follows Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner), the New Orleans District Attorney who in 1966 disagreed with the Warren Commission's finding of a lone assassin, and re-opens the Kennedy assassination and attempts to convict Clay Shaw (Tommy Lee Jones) of involvement. The film shows Garrison's attempts to reconstruct the assassination, his interviews with witnesses and his personal life. Garrison also has a meeting with a Government official (Mr X) who explains the big picture of a conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy and encourages Garrison to keep digging. Garrison uses the trial, via his summing up speech, as a vehicle to attack the findings of the Warren Commission, alleging a cover-up, including asserting that there were multiple gunmen and alleging a conspiracy of the military-industrial complex.
As a film, I found it too long, a little slow initially and the use of quick cuts and low camera angles, a little excessive. The film is notable for attracting a star studded cast, including several cameo appearances. Interestingly of all the A-list actor appearances, all but Gary Oldman are Democrat leaning.
However what cannot be overlooked is the film's statement, which is remarkable. The film attracted a lot of controversy, interestingly including from the press. The Warren Commission did make a lot of errors and while the film is an interpretation of the available facts and reasonable assumptions, with some modification for storytelling effect, it seems the true story may never be told. The film is perfectly valid in attempting to highlight the inconsistencies of the official account of Kennedy's assassination with assumptions/facts.
We now know that the CIA at the time was involved in destabilising a number of other countries leadership in the name of the cold war. Kennedy did try and remove covert activities from the CIA and transfer them to the US military. There were also many suspicious deaths of witnesses of the Kennedy assassination, probably to prevent Garrison's use in his court case. And there also was the assassination of Bobby Kennedy after he nominated for President and outlined that he would follow in his brother's footsteps.
On the balance of probabilities, it is very likely that there was a cover-up of Kennedy's assassination. To this day, the true killers have not been brought to justice. Does it matter. America won the Cold War, and even Democrat Presidents now endorse the tactics of the CIA and the Pentagon (eg the drone killings and the recent revelations by Edward Snowden about the US spying on its own citizens and other countries – both presided over by Obama). So perhaps Kennedy was naive and was wrong to try and tame the CIA. It is in the least, an unfortunate episode in US national and political affairs.