JFK (1991)

Director:

Oliver Stone

Writers (WGA):

Jim Marrs (book)
Jim Garrison (book)

Release Date:

20 December 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | History | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

The Story That Won't Go Away

Plot:

A New Orleans DA discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.

Plot Keywords:

Witness | Investigation | President | Fight The System | Confrontation

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 20 nominations

Cast

Kevin Costner	...	Jim Garrison
Tommy Lee Jones	...	Clay Shaw / Clay Bertrand
Kevin Bacon	...	Willie O'Keefe
Gary Oldman	...	Lee Harvey Oswald
Michael Rooker	...	Bill Broussard
Jack Lemmon	...	Jack Martin
Laurie Metcalf	...	Susie Cox
Sissy Spacek	...	Liz Garrison
Joe Pesci	...	David Ferrie
John Candy	...	Dean Andrews
Pruitt Taylor Vince	...	Lee Bowers
Jay O. Sanders	...	Lou Ivon
Walter Matthau	...	Senator Russell Long
Sally Kirkland	...	Rose Cheramie
Donald Sutherland	...	X

Also Known As:

JFK (France)
JFK - Affaire non classée (France) (poster title)
Project X (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language. (also 1992 edited version)

Runtime:

189 min | USA:206 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA | France

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White | Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Brazil:16 | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Finland:K-12 | Iceland:12 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-11 (DVD rating) | Germany:12 (bw) | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, USA

Company:

Alcor Films

Trivia:

The characters "Janet and Bill Williams" are based on Michael and Ruth Paine who, like in the movie, take in Marina Oswald into their home. It was actually Ruth Paine who got Lee the job at the Texas School Book Depository.

Goofs:

Continuity: Gary Carter, the actor who played Bill Williams, is listed twice in the closing credits.

Quotes:

Jim Garrison: Of course, when he had realized that something had gone wrong, and that the President had been killed, he knew there was a problem. He may have even known he was the Patsy. An intuition, maybe. The President killed in spite of his warning. The phone call that never came. Perhaps fear now came to Oswald for the very first time.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'World Trade Center' (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

Small Dark Clouds

A Stunningly Well Planned and Articulated Film

Oliver Stone is undoubtedly one of the most controversial directors of all time, his work has included horrifyingly real stories of Vietnam, stories of the corruption of politics and a much-despised account of Jim Morrison's life. No matter the subject matter, Stone always gives it his all and sometimes the world's response is positive and sometimes it's negative. With JFK we are faced with one of his films that was probably one of his most successful (next to Platoon of 1986). This is a rare instance in which the public loved the concept of conspiracy in their own country, and took special interest in the debates that it caused amongst the government upon release. The best thing about this film is that it is and was treated as so much more than a film. My honest opinion is that this response was created not because of a more plausible theory but because of Stone's fantastic and unique job putting the story together.

The film opens on a surprisingly suspenseful scene of the murder of John F. Kennedy. The chopped style of the scene lets you know that something is not right, dramatic black and white shots spliced with the blurry grain shots of the home video taken by a witness (it won Academy Awards for Best Film Editing and Best Cinematography). This, accompanied by John Williams' excellent original score helped do an excellent job of creating a mood, just for this very first scene. Often times a director will stop after this, give it his all for style and then stop after the first scene, but Stone doesn't do this. He makes the film so much more than a boring investigation; he takes you in to each of the puzzle pieces (indeed, it feels like you're with Kevin Costner "digging" through hundreds of events.) For 90% of these clips that lace the film's concepts together, the camera is not kept steady, it is, indeed, like you are there witnessing it. The human eye doesn't only look at what is important, and a situation of trauma can make everything seem broken, confused. Oliver Stone doesn't try to make sure you understand what's going on. Some frown upon this, but it's realistic and that's what counts.

Kevin Costner plays Jim Garrison, the district attorney of New Orleans who investigates the murder of John Kennedy. Sometimes you are expected to disagree (at first) with some of Garrison's presumptuous statements, and when you do there is always at least one character around who will agree with you. Stone realizes most viewers aren't devoted enough to believe everything Garrison says no matter what it is throughout the film. Stone has said that he wants people to "rethink history" and that this film is not guaranteed fact, but an "alternate myth" to the myth that has been presented before. The story is not solid because very few ideas or people or events in life are. What I mean to say is that Garrison's comments are not necessarily ridiculous, it's just a matter of how hard he tries to support them. The focus constantly changes -- yes, Costner will smile a bit when he makes a ridiculous remark that everyone rolls their eyes at, yes, even at the end of the film some clips will be left unchecked, and yes, you will see that there is no way that the question "who killed JFK" is answered as simply, solidly, and, dare I say it, Hollywood-esquely as a one man killing. If you watch this movie looking for real life, without dramatization and without guaranteed entertainment and fun, you will be impressed. This is not a popcorn movie.

And finally a word should be said about the actors' enhancement of the realism of the film. Most notable are Joe Pesci as the frantic David Ferrie who pretends to be a victim but truly (we see) had much more to do with it than he pretends (although convincingly was not an assassin -- he blows the whole thing out of proportion "this is too f*cking big for you, you know that?") and Tommy Lee Jones as the wry ring leader Claw Shaw, who seems to be a pompous upscale member of society that has been doing the dark business of conspiracy behind closed doors. The fact that these characters can appear real to us and not just appear as familiar actors taking on a role (as you might feel in Ocean's Eleven) truly does the film justice in driving it forward.

This is in fact one of my top three favorite movies, but I tend to refrain from mentioning it as just this to my friends-- I'm sooner to mention Memento or Fight Club. The reason for this is that the movie is almost an acquired taste, and certainly not normal entertainment for a teenager. It's honestly written for a generation above me, but everything that makes it (up to and including the "kings are killed" and other political themes) are intriguing to me, and for me anything intriguing grows to be a favorite. Even if the subject is not something that ever really impacted me, I take themes to heart, and I always love a good "enigma wrapped in a riddle."

NOTES: -Maybe a point off for being inconsistent in goal. Though as admirable in a movie as any other characteristic, I found this to be the most restricting on ability to follow along. -Also notable is the fact that it's very release sparked opening of sealed governmental records on the subject.

OVERALL: A+