JFK

JFKdirector Oliver Stone


1991 - USA - Political Thriller/Ensemble Film/Paranoid Thriller
Reviewed by Vincent Canby




Distributor:
Warner Brothers
Starring Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Oldman, Joe Pesci, Sissy Spacek. Directed by Oliver Stone. (THREE HOURS AND TEN minutes).

The November 22, 1963, assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy shocked the nation and the world,. The brisk investigation of that murder conducted under the guidance of Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren distressed many observers, even though subsequent careful investigations have been unable to find much fault with the conclusions his commission drew, the central one of which was that the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, acted alone. Instead of satisfying the public, one result of the Warren Commission Report was that an unimaginable number of plausible conspiracy theories were bruited about, and these have supported a sizeable publishing mini-industry ever since. In making this movie, director Oliver Stone had his pick of supposed or real investigative flaws to draw from and has constructed what some reviewers felt was one of the most compelling (and controversial) political detective thrillers ever to emerge from American cinema. Long before filming was completed, Stone was fending off heated accusations of artistic and historical irresponsibility, and these only intensified after the film was released. In the story, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) is convinced that there are some big flaws in the investigation of Oswald (Gary Oldman), and he sets out to recreate the events leading up to the assassination. Along the way, he stumbles across evidence that a great many people had reason to want to see the president killed, and he is convinced that some of them worked in concert to frame Oswald as the killer. Among the suspects are Lyndon Baines Johnson (the next president), the CIA, J. Edgar Hoover, and the Mafia. Over the course of gathering what he believes to be evidence of a conspiracy, Garrison unveils some of the grittier aspects of New Orleans society, focusing on the shady activities of local businessman Clay Shaw (Tommy Lee Jones). Garrison's investigations culminate in his conducting a show trial that he knows he will lose and which he is sure will ruin his career in order to get his evidence into the public record where it can't be buried again. This movie won two of the many Academy Awards it was nominated for: one for best photography (Robert Richardson) and the other for editing (Joe Hutshing). ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide




One of the most compelling (and controversial) political detective
thrillers ever to emerge from American cinema. Long before filming
was completed, Stone was fending off heated accusations of artistic and historical irresponsibility, and these only intensified
after the film was released. In the story, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) is convinced that there are
some big flaws in the investigation of Oswald (Gary Oldman), and he sets out to recreate the events leading up to the assassination.
Along the way, he stumbles across evidence that a great many people had reason to want to see the president killed, and he is convinced
that some of them worked in concert to frame Oswald as the killer. ..

Kevin Costner - Jim Garrison
Sissy Spacek - Liz Garrison
Joe Pesci - David Ferrie
Tommy Lee Jones - Clay Shaw
Gary Oldman - Lee Harvey Oswald
Michael Rooker - Bill Broussard
Jay O. Sanders - Lou Ivon
Laurie Metcalf - Suzie Cox
Donald Sutherland - X
Gary Grubbs - Al Oser
John Candy - Dean Andrews
Jack Lemmon - Jack Martin
Walter Matthau - Sen. Russell Long
Ed Asner - Guy Bannister
Kevin Bacon - Willie O'Keefe
Brian Doyle-Murray - Jack Ruby

Sally Kirkland - Rose Cheramie
Beata Pozniak - Marina Oswald
Vincent D'Onofrio - Bill Newman
Tomas Milian - Leopoldo
Jim Garrison - Earl Warren
John S. Davies - Hobo #2
Wayne Tippet - FBI Agent Frank
Bob Gunton - TV Newsman #3
Tom Howard - L.B.J.
Risa Bramon Garcia
Billy Hopkins
Stanley White - B Team Shooter