A Dishonest Movie

Rating: 4/10 (5 December 2004)

In the end, this is a fundamentally dishonest film. Oliver Stone makes up facts, twists testimony, and fabricates much of the "evidence" in this film. Some have argued that this is okay because Stone is after a "larger truth" or because he is only creating a work of fiction and we should grant him some artistic license. Artistic license is fine up to a point, but artistic license is not without its limits. This is a film about truth. In the closing quote over the end credits, Stone tells us how we need to seek after the truth. Yet, Stone who meticulously researched so many aspects of this story, must have known that the "facts" he was presented were false and deliberately false.
A talented director can make a great propaganda film, but in the end it is still propaganda. For Stone then to get on his soapbox and imply that he is the one seeking after the truth while he drags the truth through the gutter only cheapens this film. Like sausages you may enjoy this film as long as you don't look too closely into how it was made.
4/10