JFK

In the film "JFK", Kevin Costner plays Jim Garrison, the New Orleans District Attorney who so far is the only man ever to bring a case of the JFK Assassination to trial, however perhaps a more accurate account would be Costner plays the mouthpiece for the people who believe there was a conspiracy.

When "JFK" was released in 1991, it was a controversial potboiler. Many critics denounced the film for being outlandish and for skewering the truth behind the JFK assassination. Time has now simmered the once notorious film, and while revisiting it I found it to be extremely entertaining and engrossing.

In the film, Costner's Jim Garrison begins his search for the truth behind the assassination of JFK. After the apprehension of lone assassin Lee Harvey Oswald (Played here uncannily by Gary Oldman), Garrison becomes convinced Oswald couldn't have acted alone. His investigation leads to Clay Shaw (Tommy Lee Jones), a legitimate businessman in New Orleans who has been linked to Oswald. Garrison has gathered enough evidence to at least bring Shaw to trial, although one might say that it's mostly circumstantial or here say. Most of his witnesses are not reliable, and it becomes clear, Garrison's case doesn't have a leg to stand on, but it wasn't really a case to convict Clay Shaw, but a case to show there was indeed a conspiracy and for that it was a success.

"JFK" is a film about conspiracies, but it's also about the injustice of feeling lied to by the government. The film was directed by Oliver Stone, a man who is at his best when he seems to be dealing with his own lost generation. With "JFK", Stone seems to be trying to get a few things off his chest not just about the cover up, but about how America in general became shaken by the assassination. There are many times when Garrison says he's in over his head and he can't believe how far the conspiracy goes. The thought of governments lying to the country was nothing new to Oliver Stone, he seems to revel in corruption, it sparks something inside of him that makes him inspired. He has rallied against Vietnam, Richard Nixon, and George W. Bush to name a few.

With "JFK", Stone is unloading on his audience a certain injustice, the conspiracies act as sort of a collage throughout the film, they all meld together. Sometimes it's difficult to remember all the events or all the people connected with the assassination, but it all doesn't seem to matter in the end. This is just Stone's way of creating some sort of dialogue, he's trying to show that sometimes atrocious was covered up in America's history and his angry about it.

But "JFK" works as just a wonderfully entertaining piece of filmmaking, it's a potboiler, sort of like a more sensationalistic approach to "All the President's Men". It gets to the point where Garrison gets in too deep where he fears for his own safety and is paranoid about who's watching him. The investigation itself just seems fascinating, and Stone seems so passionate about his subject, the film can probably be accused with feeling over stuffed, and with a running time of nearly three and half hours, it's not hard to think that way.

There are moments where Stone's sincerity gets in the way of his story telling, Garrison's impassioned speech to the jury at the end of the film is overlong and wrought with sentimental cliches it doesn't ring true. There is also the half-hearted subplot of Garrison's home life, where we get too many obligatory scenes with him arguing with his wife about how he hasn't spent enough time with his family.

But despite those set back, the big picture works beautifully, Stone keeps things moving, and he gets some great performances from his all star cast. Tommy Lee Jones in particular is effective as Shaw, the main villain of the piece, as is Joe Pesci who play Dave Ferrie a man who is connected with both Shaw and Oswald. Then there is Donald Sutherland as the mysterious man only known as X. Sutherland has a long winded scene with Costner where he seems to spew out every government conspiracy in the record books. Sutherland has that sort of voice you listen to, even if you can't fully comprehend what exactly he's saying, in a way there's an undertow of humour in his performance I appreciated.

For his part, Costner is ideally cast as Garrison, where his role is mostly to listen and react to the information. Costner is a stand in for the audience, he takes it all in, and must make a moral choice to stand up for the truth. In the end, "JFK" is about the righteous search for the truth, I respected its sincere convictions even though they seemed rather naive. It has as much to do about John F. Kennedy as it does about the feelings of Oliver Stone; he wanted to make clear how he felt about being lied to. In my opinion, Stone does seem to have simplistic political views, he is a man with an agenda. He seems to succeed when he's able to get you on his side, "JFK" does so by shear passion and style.

The assassination of John F. Kennedy was a great tragedy for America, I'm not sure there has been a film yet to be made that has actually dealt with it in a true and honest nature. "JFK" is still a work of fiction, it's a collage of "what ifs", it's cathartic for people who have been searching for the truth, and haven't been given any straight answers. It's one man's obsession taken to the extreme in hopes of at least communicating his frustrations with trying to solve a puzzle that can't seem to be solved.