JFK (1991)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Oliver Stone

Writers (WGA):

Jim Marrs (book)
Jim Garrison (book)

Release Date:

20 December 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Crime | Drama | History | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

The Story That Won't Go Away

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Evidence | Witness | Acronym In Title | John F Kennedy | Amateur Footage

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 20 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Fri. Oct. 17

10:00 AM

BRAVO

Cast

Kevin Costner	...	Jim Garrison
Tommy Lee Jones	...	Clay Shaw / Clay Bertrand
Kevin Bacon	...	Willie O'Keefe
Gary Oldman	...	Lee Harvey Oswald
Michael Rooker	...	Bill Broussard
Jack Lemmon	...	Jack Martin
Laurie Metcalf	...	Susie Cox
Sissy Spacek	...	Liz Garrison
Joe Pesci	...	David Ferrie
John Candy	...	Dean Andrews
Pruitt Taylor Vince	...	Lee Bowers
Jay O. Sanders	...	Lou Ivon
Walter Matthau	...	Senator Russell Long
Sally Kirkland	...	Rose Cheramie
Donald Sutherland	...	X

Also Known As:

JFK (France)
JFK - Affaire non classée (France) (poster title)
Project X (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language. (also 1992 edited version)

Runtime:

189 min | USA:206 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA | France

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Iceland:12 | Brazil:16 | Singapore:NC-16 (re-rating) | Singapore:PG (original rating) (cut) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-11 (DVD rating) | Germany:12 (bw) | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Martin Sheen provides a narration at the beginning of the film. He played John F. Kennedy in "Kennedy" (1983) and would later act in the film Bobby (2006), which is centered around the assassination of John's brother Robert F. Kennedy.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Garrison begins his discussion with Willie O'Keefe, Willie puts the cigarette in his mouth twice.

Quotes:

X: As early as 1961, they knew Kennedy was not going to go to war in South-East Asia. Like Caesar, he is surrounded by enemies, and something's underway, but it has no face, yet everybody in the loop knows.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Jane Austen's Mafia! (1998)

Soundtrack:

Eternal Father, Strong To Save

One of the best and most important films ever made!

Oliver Stone's epic film which follows the real-life events of New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison is a monumental movie event. It should have been named the Best Picture of 1991 instead of The Silence of the Lambs.

Everything about this film is perfect and it shows that when an intriguing story comes together with all other elements of filmmaking that are executed brilliantly, the film works on so many levels.

First off, Stone's direction is as good as it gets. He has an incredible passion for the subject, knowledge of the art and relationship with the camera. All of his footage goes together seamlessly and makes the 3 h 08 min running time blow by. He gets a strong performance out of the entire ensemble cast especially Costner, Jones, Oldman, and Pesci.

Scalia and Hutsching's editing is a work of art and tells the complicated story with incredible precision. Richardson's cinematography lights up the screen in both colour and black and white. Both of these technical aspects of filmmaking are molded into sheer artistry by these three men who have all deserved their Oscars for this film.

John Williams' score is one of his best (right up there with his Indiana Jones and Star Wars). The script is intelligent, thought-provoking, mesmorizing and heart-wrenching. Costner's closing speech to the Jury is finer that Nicholson's in A Few Good Men, McConaughey's in A Time to Kill and Jackson's in Pulp Fiction. It is Stone and Sklar's best work.

The subject matter is incredibly controverial and subjective but Stone's delivers it with such emotion and raw power that his alternate myth to the Warren Report seems factual. The film is an investigation into the human spirit and how the vigour and dedication of one man and his team of associates can rise above the highest powers of the world and encode a message into the minds and hearts of millions. John F. Kennedy has countless achievements and qualities as a president which makes his life and term one of the most incredible and worthy of deep study.

Oliver Stone's JFK should go down in film history as one of the most important American films ever produced. Watch it with an open mind free of prejudice and predisposition and you will find yourself wanting to go to the library and learn more about this global tragedy.