Trash

Rating: 2/10 (17 May 2002)

A mediocre movie at best, made worse by Stone's terrible direction. I have two major problems with this film:
1. JFK is a vehicle of pure propaganda, promoting Jim Garrison's flawed and poorly developed theories of a conspiracy to kill the president. Stone would have better served the viewing public by taking the time to develop his own theories rather than depending on the reactionary witch-hunt that Garrison perpetrated. In the world of Garrison there is a rifle-wielding assassin over every grassy knoll. I'm not suggesting that there is no evidence of a conspiracy to kill the president; I'm saying that Garrison's research into JFK's assassination was sloppy, lazy, and relied too much on conjecture... just like the investigation of the Warren Commission.
2. Stone's direction on the cinematography is horrendous. It's the equivalent of giving a 3 year old a camera and letting him film the movie. Stone's style is more subdued in this movie than in U-Turn or Natural Born Killers, but it's still annoying as hell. I would blame cinematographer Robert Richardson, but he has shown the ability to do reasonable cinematography in "Snow Falling on Cedars" and "Wag the Dog". Stone is the one responsible for the epileptic camera style.
All in all, JFK is a substandard "historical" movie. Stone sank even lower on Nixon four years later. 3/10.