Entertaining, but true?

Rating: Null/10 (26 July 1999)

When I first saw this movie, I was amazed. The case that Garrison presented seemed incredible and very well done. His argument seemed to leave no question as to whether there was a conspiracy in the assassination of JFK.

Then, I did some research. I read about Clay Shaw, Guy Banister, and Fletcher Prouty (Mr. X). A lot of what Stone presents as fact is completely false. The address on Oswald's pamphlets did lead to an address adjacent to Guy Banister's detective agency, but the entrance listed did not lead into Guy Banister's office, they are completely different offices, completely unconnected. Thus the connection between Banister and Oswald is not valid. Also, Kevin Bacon's character was not a real person but combination of three different personalities, and this character never had any evidence which linked Oswald, Ferrie, or Clay Shaw. These inaccuracies are pretty significant when we relate them to Garrison's case.
We all have heard about the Grassy Knoll, and the "puff of smoke" that was seen from it. Stone recreated this shot and we see the smoke rising from the rifle, the smoke that Lee Bowers claims to have seen from his train tower. However, automatic rifles do not give off smoke, that is fact. This is another significant discrepancy in the investigation.
I do not support the single bullet theory, I do not feel strongly about whether or not there was a conspiracy, I just want to know what happened. I really enjoyed JFK and I am glad to have seen it because it inspired me to do some research on the subject. I think it did raise some great points about Oswald such as the fact that he was not a great shot, and he also would have had better aim had he fired before Kennedy's car made the turn by the Depository. I think there are still a lot of questions to be answered. For example, the shots were taken over 8 to 9 seconds (Warren Commission). That's a lot of time. Why couldn't Kennedy have been saved in this time, before the fatal head shot?