“JFK” is a political thriller film about New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison’s investigation into the assassination of President John Kennedy. Director Oliver Stone (“Born on the Fourth of July” 1989), who co-wrote the screenplay with Zachary Sklar, based the film on two books, 1988’s “On the Trail of the Assassins” by Garrison and 1989’s “Crossfire” by Jim Marrs. The film is largely from Garrison’s point of view and is heavily conspiracy theory-oriented. The movie’s production values are of high quality, so we cannot fault Stone on that angle. But the continual reliance on conspiracies does wears thin as the three hour-plus running time goes on.
The tireless performers include Kevin Costner as Garrison, Tommy Lee Jones as Clay Shaw, Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald, Beata Pozniak as Marina Oswald Porter, Walter Matthau as Sen. Russell Long, Brian Doyle-Murray as Jack Ruby, and Jim Garrison as Earl Warren. Co-stars include Kevin Bacon, Laurie Metcalf, Sissy Spacek, Joe Pesci, Jack Lemmon, Donald Sutherland, Ed Asner, John Candy, Sally Kirkland, Wayne Knight, Vincent D’Onofrio, Lolita Davidovich, John Larroquette, Ron Rifkin, Bob Gunton, Jay O. Sanders, and Martin Sheen as the narrator.
The watchable, yet also at times tedious, “JFK” was a hit at the box office for producer Oliver Stone, Le Studio Canal+, Regency Enterprises, Alcor Films, Ixtlan Corporation, and Warner Bros. Pictures. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning two: Best Cinematography (Robert Richardson) and Best Film Editing. The non-winners were Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Jones), Best Screenplay, Best Sound, and Best Original Score (John Williams).
JFK (1991)
cinema
My Review
“JFK” is a political thriller film about New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison’s investigation into the assassination of President John Kennedy. Director Oliver Stone (“Born on the Fourth of July” 1989), who co-wrote the screenplay with Zachary Sklar, based the film on two books, 1988’s “On the Trail of the Assassins” by Garrison and 1989’s “Crossfire” by Jim Marrs. The film is largely from Garrison’s point of view and is heavily conspiracy theory-oriented. The movie’s production values are of high quality, so we cannot fault Stone on that angle. But the continual reliance on conspiracies does wears thin as the three hour-plus running time goes on.
The tireless performers include Kevin Costner as Garrison, Tommy Lee Jones as Clay Shaw, Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald, Beata Pozniak as Marina Oswald Porter, Walter Matthau as Sen. Russell Long, Brian Doyle-Murray as Jack Ruby, and Jim Garrison as Earl Warren. Co-stars include Kevin Bacon, Laurie Metcalf, Sissy Spacek, Joe Pesci, Jack Lemmon, Donald Sutherland, Ed Asner, John Candy, Sally Kirkland, Wayne Knight, Vincent D’Onofrio, Lolita Davidovich, John Larroquette, Ron Rifkin, Bob Gunton, Jay O. Sanders, and Martin Sheen as the narrator.
The watchable, yet also at times tedious, “JFK” was a hit at the box office for producer Oliver Stone, Le Studio Canal+, Regency Enterprises, Alcor Films, Ixtlan Corporation, and Warner Bros. Pictures. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning two: Best Cinematography (Robert Richardson) and Best Film Editing. The non-winners were Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Jones), Best Screenplay, Best Sound, and Best Original Score (John Williams).