Oliver Stone - Brave filmaker or paranoid conspiracy theorist?

Rating: 10/10 (14 July 2003)

Well, I believe the former; it's a widely-known, but little believed fact that there was a conspiracy to kill John F. Kennedy on that fateful day back on November 22, 1963. Kennedy may very well have been one of this country's greatest presidents, but as Donald Sutherland's character states, "all of that vanished on that day back in 1963."
Oliver Stone is undoubtedly one of the bravest filmakers of the last 25 years and seemed to have reached the height of his controversy with 1991's "JFK". As you know, the story basically follows New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison's (Kevin Costner in an Oscar-worthy performance) investigation into the Kennedy assassination. He risked his life and his career in pursuit of one thing: the truth. With that said, why is the government so keen to keep the public from viewing records that could possibly offer some insight to the assassination?
I have never read any of the books that inspired "JFK" (though I plan to soon), but the Abraham Zapruder film should be enough to prove to any free-thinking person that Lee Harvey Oswald COULD NOT have done the shooting. The physics of the "Magic Bullet Theory" should also put a lot of doubt into the Warren Commission's claim of a lone assassin.

Oliver Stone is one of today's truly great filmakers and I respect his views (mostly) but this one hits the nail on the head.