JFK (1991)

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

Director:

Oliver Stone

Writers:

Oliver Stone (screenplay), Zachary Sklar (screenplay),

Stars:

Kevin Costner, Jack Lemmon, Gary Oldman

Won 2 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sally Kirkland	...	Rose Cheramie
Anthony Ramirez	...	Epileptic
Ray LePere	...	Zapruder
Steve Reed	...	John F. Kennedy - Double
Jodie Farber	...	Jackie Kennedy - Double (as Jodi Farber)
Columbia Dubose	...	Nellie Connally - Double
Randy Means	...	Gov. Connally - Double
Kevin Costner	...	Jim Garrison
Jay O. Sanders	...	Lou Ivon
E.J. Morris	...	Plaza Witness #1
Cheryl Penland	...	Plaza Witness #2
Jim Gough	...	Plaza Witness #3
Perry R. Russo	...	Angry Bar Patron
Mike Longman	...	TV Newsman #1
Edward Asner	...	Guy Bannister

Storyline

Details the actions of New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, who takes it upon himself to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, in 1963. Garrison is extremely suspicious of the official story presented by the FBI, and what he already knows and what he subsequently learns lead him to suspect that there is more to the story than the public is being told.

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Plot Keywords:

kennedy | president | jim garrison | assassination of president | conspiracy | 

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Taglines:

He's a District Attorney. He will risk his life, the lives of his family, everything he holds dear for the one thing he holds sacred... the truth.

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Genres:

Drama | History | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Country:

USA France

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

20 December 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Project X

Filming Locations:

Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$70,405,498 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Canal+, Regency Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

189 min 206 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The real Jean Hill filmed a cameo in which she played the stenographer during her own questioning. The shot was composed so that her face and the face of Ellen McElduff playing her would ironically be seen on split sides of the screen. But it didn't make the final cut. Her cameo can be seen as an outtake on the 2-disc special edition DVD.

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Goofs

At the end of the movie when the trial is going on, Lou Ivon's suit changes from one color to another then back again.

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Quotes

[first lines]
title card: "To sin by silence when we should protest makes cowards of men." - Ella Wheeler Wilcox
President Eisenhower: ...We have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. And to do this three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishement. We annually spend on military security alone...
Narrator: January, 1961. President Dwight D. Eisenhowers's Farewell Address to the Nation.
President Eisenhower: ...This conjunction of an immense military establishment and arms industry ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Opening quote: "To sin by silence when we should protest makes cowards out of men." --Ella Wheeler Wilcox

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Connections

Features The Bugs Bunny Show (1960)

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Soundtracks

"A Stranger on Earth"
Written by Sid Feller and Rick Ward
Performed by Dinah Washington
Courtesy of Capitol Records
By Arrangement with CEMA Special Markets

User Reviews

JFK The Movie and the Message Board: My Thesis

The movie JFK is in effect a who-done-it without telling you who-done-it. Oliver Stone gives us the story of New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison in his quest to convict businessman Clay Shaw of conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy in Dallas. However, Garrison's case against Shaw was never strong. Truth be told, I myself am not a believer that Mr. Shaw had anything to do with President Kennedy's death on November 22, 1963. With that said, there are other factors in the motion picture that do offer more than a few redeemable gems. Lee Oswald's very dubious movements in Russia, New Orleans, and Mexico for one. The hostility of the CIA toward the Kennedy White House, and the Agency's involvement with the Mafia to assassinate Cuba's Castro. The highly implausible saga of the Single Bullet Theory, and the strange behavior of Dr. Humes for burning the original autopsy draft. Factor's such as this, to name a few, have put a great strain on the Warren Commission's conclusion that Oswald did it - and did it alone. Criticisms toward the report have been around for years prior to the movie JFK. Yet it was this movie that brought these critical factors to the national stage and a new generation. History NEED NOT say that JFK be the definitive word for the killing of John Kennedy, but the Warren Commission CANNOT make that claim either. The Government went into the investigation into President Kennedy's death with a preconceived notion that Oswald was to be blamed, and the presentation of evidence was to show that end - and that end alone. The Commission was bullied by the Johnson White House to finish the investigation before the 64 election. The "autopsy" that the Commission used to prove it's case was a shambles. The CIA's deception to the Commission on assassination plots with the Mafia on Fidel Castro only adds to the Warren Report's investigative impotence. True, Oliver Stone's movie is a mixture of fact and fiction, that is clear. However, it does illustrate key facts to the case which the Warren Commission failed or refused to cover. That by itself makes the movie worthy of the nine stars I give it. But proceed with caution, dear reader: Be aware that this film, like so many peoples's take on the death of John Kennedy, is a blend of history and opinion. Watch the movie, but also watch your step.....As part of my thesis I also visited the JFK message board where I encountered a very angry group of die-hard lone gunman enthusiasts who appear to be suffering from severe manic depression from years and years of frustration trying to convince a disbelieving world that Oswald did it - and did it alone. Any one who posts anything conspiratorial on the board is immediately subjected to all kinds of verbal abuse and insults. This tactic doesn't seem to be helping them in their efforts to convince the public that Oswald did it, in fact it seems to have the opposite effect, it turns people off of it. I saw some people posting conspiracy theories there just to deliberately try to annoy them. And to add insult to their injury a man who goes by the name of Bill humiliates and degrades them on an almost daily basis using a variety of clone accounts. When I asked one of the lone gunman believers why he did this he simply said "because I have nothing better to do", I thought this was sad, very sad. The lone gunman believers also claim to be atheists and have given up their religions because the scientists who support the lone gunman theory also support the theory of evolution. They also appear to be anti-semitic, one lone gunman believer told me that "the Jews bombed the Titanic." I do not recommend this message board to anyone unless you are just looking for laughs.