Thoroughly Convincing Interpretation of the JFK Assassination that Packs a Punch Over Two Decades After its Release

Rating: 8/10 (15 December 2013)

JFK is one of those films whose impact never diminishes, even after two decades since its initial release. In the wake of the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination, Oliver Stone's claim that the whole event was deliberately engineered by an unholy alliance of the government, the CIA, FBI and other institutions, cannot be readily dismissed. In terms of filmmaking, JFK is cleverly structured as a quest-narrative, with Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) gradually discovering more and more details about the assassination, and the various cover-ups that followed, while being continually frustrated in his task by obstructive institutions and/or individuals. It is a testament to his tenacity that he does not give up. In the final sequence he offers a tour de force in court as he presents his evidence at the trial of Clay Shaw (Tommy Lee Jones), whom he suspects of being a CIA agent. We already know the outcome of the trial, but Garrison's case is convincing nonetheless. Director Oliver Stone skillfully blends archive footage, black-and-white re-enactments of important events and color film to create a narrative which, although over two and a half hours in length, never fails to hold our attention. He is helped out by a clutch of excellent performances, notably from Costner (easily his finest hour in the cinema), Jones, Joe Pesci, Sissy Spacek and - in cameo roles - Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Definitely a film to look at again and again.