Stone's Masterpiece

Rating: 9/10 (26 November 2006)

Controversies aside, this is one amazing piece of cinema. One of my top ten films, I have watched it dozens of times, and I always find something new to ponder over.
Visually and thematically, this is Stone's most ambitious movie, and we will probably never see its kind again: an epic story that forces the people that watch it to consider the possibilities of the director's argument. I have never met someone who has seen JFK and not had an opinion about it, one way or the other. The impact that this movie had before and after its release can still be seen today. Just Google "Oliver Stone JFK" and take a look at what various "experts" have to say about it!
My only true gripe with JFK is the way that Stone chose to display what he considers the evidence. He took all the theories, fed them through a spaghetti maker, and looped the pieces back together to try to make a visually stunning statement. The end result is indeed beautiful to look at, but it leaves those who don't know a thing about the JFK assassination feeling overwhelmed. For example, two characters in the film (played by Kevin Bacon and Donald Sutherland) were actually composites made up of different people at some point mired in the real Garrison investigation. In real life, there was no X (Sutherland), and there was no Willie O'Keefe (Bacon). Also, the movie is edited to a manic pace, leaving uninformed viewers confused at the landslide of theories that come tumbling their way. I feel that Stone did a great disservice to the true evidence by presenting the movie in such a way.
I am a firm believer that there was no magic bullet, Oswald was framed, and that there was a grand conspiracy to kill Kennedy. It seems to me that those who criticize the movie (especially some of the reviews I've seen on IMDb) have failed to grasp the facts of the case, and honestly, anyone who gets all their information about the JFK assassination from distorted and incomplete manuals such as the Warren Report or books such as Case Closed (by Gerald Posner, a obfuscating hack who has been proved wrong numerous times) will never understand the facts anyway. It's too bad that the movie does not show the theories in a more cohesive format.
That said, JFK is one of the most powerful movies ever made. Everything about it is intense, from the acting (especially Kevin Costner and Joe Pesci, who should've gotten an Academy award nomination for his portrayal of David Ferrie) to the editing, lighting, colors, and pacing. I can only hope that one day Oliver Stone decides to start making daring, controversial movies again!