Well as it turns out I've been inspired to write a couple of reviews over the last day or two so I can continue my 90s catch-up season. Though as Gunslinger said, right now it's just films I'm really liking/loving that I'm finding easy to write about. Films I don't like, think are just pretty good or that did nothing for me either way I'm struggling with just now. And I'm guessing HK should be pretty happy with this one.
Year of release
1991
1991
Directed by
Oliver Stone
Oliver Stone
Written by
Zachary Sklar
Oliver Stone
Zachary Sklar
Oliver Stone
Starring
Kevin Costner
Tommy Lee Jones
Gary Oldman
Kevin Bacon
Joe Pesci
Sissy Spacek
Kevin Costner
Tommy Lee Jones
Gary Oldman
Kevin Bacon
Joe Pesci
Sissy Spacek
JFK
Plot - November 22nd 1963. United States president John F. Kennedy is shot and killed in Dallas, Texas. Shortly thereafter Lee Harvey Oswald is caught and arrested for his murder. While in police custody however Oswald is himself shot and killed by Jack Ruby. With JFK's killer dead the case is closed. Except that it wasn't. Questions about the assassination lingered and were not even put to rest with the release of the Warren report into the incident. This film details the efforts of New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison to uncover the true story behind Kennedy's death.
Man I love me a good conspiracy theory! Aliens at Roswell. The moon landing being faked. 9/11. Pearl Harbour. Elvis is still alive etc. I love a mystery and the various theories that get spouted out in their wake. Even when I don't believe whatsoever in the theories being put forward I still find them to be very interesting and a lot of fun. And of all the conspiracy theories out there, arguably none is larger than the assassination of John F. Kennedy. It's a doozy. It's been 50 years since it happened and still huge questions hang over it. Was Lee Harvey Oswald really the man responsible? And if not was it the mob? The CIA? The FBI? Castro? Sadly we don't know for sure. And about the only thing that most people agree on is that they don't believe the story of a lone gunman that their own government has put out as gospel. This film explores the inconsistencies in the story and focuses on some of the theories about what really did happen.
As a film JFK is actually quite a strange, unique exercise in terms of its structure, its story and its characters. It doesn't follow the established template for a movie whatsoever. It doesn't really have a classic three-act structure. There's little to no characterisation or character arcs to be found, and hardly anything in the way of relationships between characters. And we know going in that at the end of the film Garrison is doomed to failure with his cause. And it's whole set-up doesn't sound like it should be all that interesting. The film is almost continuous dialogue for its entire running time. What you basically have is 180 minutes of exposition. And yet with all of this going against it, I still found it to be one of the most engaging and engrossing films I've watched in a long time. While the story and the theories that provide the film's foundation obviously help a lot, great credit must also be paid to both Oliver Stone and the fantastic ensemble that he assembled.
Film Trivia - Unsurprisingly the film generated quite a lot of controversy upon its release. Even before its release actually. After George Lardner, national security correspondent for the Washington Post, showed up during shooting he wrote a scathing article attacking the film. He did so after reading the first draft of the script. Many other major newspapers followed his example when the movie did hit cinemas, attacking Stone for playing fast and loose with the facts. Even those who were just fans of the film had a tough time. Pat Dowell, veteran movie critic for The Washingtonian, had her 34 word capsule review rejected by its editor, John Limpert. Limpert was a known opponent of the film, which he considered treacherous. Dowell resigned in protest. Even a legend like Roger Ebert wasn't safe. After his rave review and four star rating for the film, Walter Cronkie berated Ebert for praising it, with Cronkite adamant that there was not a shred of truth to the whole film. In response to the many attacks about him fabricating the facts, Stone published an annotated version of the script, in which he justified every claim made in the film.
Garrison's team are made up of a series of very talented character actors including Michael Rooker, Wayne Knight and Jay O. Sanders. Most of whom all get a moment or two to shine and prove capable of grabbing it. Outside of these more straight-laced characters, there are a series of supporting characters who provide a great deal of colour and life to the film, mostly in the form of potential witnesses. Joe Pesci as the ridiculously eyebrowed David Ferrie, Kevin Bacon as male prostitute Willie O'Keefe, John Candy as an eccentric lawyer and Donald Sutherland as Mr. X, a Washington insider who tantalises Garrison with a slew of information, all make an impact. I thought that Kevin Bacon in particular was pretty damn great. The absolute stand-out however amongst these supporting characters would have to be Tommy Lee Jones as Clay Shaw, aka Clay Bertrand. He is terrifically sleezy as the shadowy Clay, extremely haughty and condescending; well worth his Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor.
For a film where at least 90% of its running time is dedicated to characters either standing or sitting around just talking, you would imagine that Oliver Stone may not have much opportunity to really make a mark on the film in a visual sense. And for that 90% you may be right. However when it comes to presenting recreations of the events that happened in the lead up to and on that fateful day, Stone certainly does put his stamp on the film. Presented in black and white and frequently edited in a maniacally frenetic fashion they are vivid and invigorating flashes that integrate archival footage, recreated sequences and hypothetical scenes. Stone also makes great use of the genuine, shocking video footage and photos that exist of the actual incident and its aftermath.
Film Trivia Snippets - In Bull Durham, released three years earlier, Kevin Costner's character has a large monologue about what he believes in, and actually states that “I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone”; the exact opposite stance taken by his character in JFK. /// Originally Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford were Oliver Stone's first two choices for the role of Jim Garrison. Jeff Bridges and Nick Nolte also came into consideration but were rejected; Bridges for not being a major draw at the box-office, and Nolte for being deemed too old. While Don Johnson petitioned very hard for the role, but was turned down by Stone and the producers as they felt Johnson's own public image would make him a hard sell as Garrison. /// To alter Dealey Plaza so that it mirrored how it looked in 1963 took $4 million to accomplish.
The only problem with a great conspiracy theory or mystery is how desperate I become for answers. I want to know what happened to Amelia Earhart. I want to know where Jimmy Hoffa is. I want to know if the Royal Family are really lizards. And I want to know what really happened to JFK. I always hope for some answers to be found, with deathbed confessions and truths outed by ill health always being a prime source, as in the cast of Deep Throat, whose identity was finally revealed a few years back. So perhaps one day we will find out the truth about the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy; until then we have this terrific film which presents a counter argument to the Warren report; an argument that is both enticing and worryingly believable.
Conclusion - Whatever you think of Stone and the fashion in which he tackled the story of Kennedy's assassination I don't think there's any denying that he assembled a fantastic jigsaw puzzle of a film with JFK. It's a great technical showpiece of editing, writing, photography etc which is splendidly played by its enormous cast. Even if you don't buy into what Stone is selling, or any of the conspiracy talk whatsoever, this can still be enjoyed as an intelligent, high class thriller. As someone who does believe that something fishy went on that day however, JFK acts as a great call to arms to search out the truth.
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JayDee's Movie Musings (Reviews - Frailty / Total Recall / Lone Ranger / Nightcrawler / Whiplash / Imitation Game / Birdman / Avengers: Age of Ultron / Mad Max: Fury Road)