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JFK (1991) 8.0
Ratings:
8.0/10 from 82,402 users
Metascore: 71/100
Reviews: 409 user | 97 critic | 23 from Metacritic.com A New Orleans DA discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story. Director:Oliver Stone |
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Title: JFK (1991)
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Sally Kirkland | ... | ||
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Anthony Ramirez | ... | |
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Ray LePere | ... | |
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Steve Reed | ... | |
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Jodie Farber | ... |
Jackie Kennedy - Double
(as Jodi Farber)
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Columbia Dubose | ... | |
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Randy Means | ... | |
| Kevin Costner | ... | ||
| Jay O. Sanders | ... | ||
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E.J. Morris | ... |
Plaza Witness #1
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Cheryl Penland | ... |
Plaza Witness #2
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Jim Gough | ... |
Plaza Witness #3
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Perry R. Russo | ... |
Angry Bar Patron
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Mike Longman | ... |
TV Newsman #1
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| Edward Asner | ... | ||
Edit
Plot Summary
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Plot Synopsis
See more »
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. Written by Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au>
Plot Keywords:
kennedy | president | jim garrison | assassination of president | conspiracy |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. See more »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
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See full technical specs »
Details
Release Date:
20 December 1991 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Project X See more »Box Office
Budget:
$40,000,000 (estimated)Gross:
$70,405,498 (USA)Company Credits
Show detailed
company contact information
on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
| (director's cut)Sound Mix:
Dolby SRAspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1
Edit
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 ...
[...]
See more »
Arranged by D. G. McCroskie
Performed by The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
Courtesy of Fiesta Records Co. Inc.
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
In New Orleans, director Oliver Stone borrowed author Anne Rice's Labrador Retriever to portray the Garrison family's dog. See more »Goofs
On the DVD edition, when Jim Garrison and his assistant Lou are in the corner window of the Texas School Book Depository, there is an additional piece discussing more CIA connections. They mention "Clay Shaw" although his real name has not yet been discovered. See more »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 ...
[...]
See more »
Crazy Credits
Closing dedication: Dedicated to the young in whose spirit the search for truth marches on See more »Soundtracks
"Drummers' Salute"Arranged by D. G. McCroskie
Performed by The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
Courtesy of Fiesta Records Co. Inc.
See more »
In the time since I first saw the film "JFK", I have found myself inexplicably drawn to the events in Dallas, TX on November 22, 1963. I have researched online and in libraries to learn the truth of these events, and I would say that my outlook on those matters has changed substantially. But underneath that, and the controversy that developed from it, there is one universal and almost indisputable truth regarding the film: JFK is simply an excellent movie. And no difference of opinion can refute this.
I have seen my fair share of films over the years, I'm not a cinema maniac by any means. But I think I can judge a quality product when I see one and that's simply what this picture presents. It is, as Tom Wicker of the New York Times said at it's release, propaganda; but the same can be said for every film by Michael Moore... of whom I'm NOT a fan... but they are still strong pictures.
JFK runs the difficult task of presenting fact, fiction, conjecture and opinion, twisting them all to present the increasingly difficult to dispute conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone (and according to director Oliver Stone, did not act) in the assassination of President Kennedy.
The films accomplishments though, past this controversial thesis, are many: 1.) Kevin Costner turns in one of the greatest performances of his career. While his accent is stronger than Garrison and the physical resemblance not astonishing, Costner three dimensionalizes a character and lives in it throughout the film.
2.) An impressive and versatile cast is used superbly. The film is loaded with quality stars such as Kevin Bacon, Tommy Lee Jones (in an Oscar nominated role), Gary Oldman, and Joe Pesci (who share an intense and crucial scene); as well as character actors and actresses such as Michael Rooker, Sissy Spacek, and Jay Saunders. Stone even navigates a dramatic turn from the late comedy great John Candy and utilizes Hollywood legends Ed Asner, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau and Donald Sutherland superbly.
3.) With the possible exception of the lone gunman theory, every possibility of truth is explored, at least in dialogue. Because the case has never been fully elaborated on no one can say for certain what the truth is; Stone presents all views while advancing his theory.
4.) The film is a masterwork of editing. It won the Oscar for film editing in 1991, and deserved it. I once read in Entertainment Weekly that a normal film has roughly 200 cuts in it; there are more than sixty in the opening minutes alone here. Even more impressive when you consider the variety of film used.
JFK is not absolute fact, it does not truly pretend to be. By Stone's own admission, Laurie Metcalf, Michael Rooker, and Kevin Bacon play composites or dramatized characters, not the real thing. But standing alone as a movie, JFK is untouchably excellent. And if it does force you to question, as Costner's Garrison asks in the closing moments "of what is our government made?", then it's all for the better.