JFK: The Director's Cut

3.5/4

Starring: Kevin Costner, Jay O. Sanders, Michael Rooker, Laurie Metcalf, Gary Oldman, Sissy Spacek, Wayne Knight, Joe Pesci, Tommy Lee Jones

Rated R for Language

There are few days in our nation's relatively short history that stand out with tragedy and urgency.  Pearl Harbor entered us into World War II.  September 11, 2001 started the War on Terror and Operation Iraqi Freedom (the former of which is still going on).  Another event is November 22, 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.  While that didn't provoke a war, it did shake the American people to their core.

Oliver Stone has always made films with a message or to show an opinion of something.  "Platoon," "Natural Born Killers," "Wall Street," the list goes on.  With "JFK," Stone raises questions about the most tragic and mysterious event of the 1960's.  Based on two books (one by the lead character, Jim Garrison) and extensive research, he purports that there was a huge conspiracy behind the death of JFK.

The film begins with the events leading up (including a briefing on the political situation at the time) to the shooting and shortly thereafter.  This is historical footage and film footage that is meant to look historical.  It's a great run through of the events that took place so we know what happened before the Stone starts asking questions and filling in the holes.  Jim Garrison (Costner) is a district attorney in Louisiana when he learns of the assassination of the President.  Information comes to him about links between the shooter, Lee Harvey Oswald (Oldman) and a colorful lowlife named David Ferrie (Pesci).  Ferrie is a terrified man who talks about a conspiracy, but the matter is dropped after Oswald is shot dead by Jack Ruby (Brian Doyle Murray).  But when Garrison talks in passing to Senator Russell B. Long (Walter Matthau in a cameo) who tells him of some inconsistencies in the story, Garrison reopens the investigation.  That leads him to a terrifyingly huge conspiracy reaching all corners of government and complicity from top to bottom.  He aims to take a conspirator, wealthy businessman Clay Shaw (Jones) to trial for his role in the conspiracy.

As noteworthy as its subject are the cameos.  The cast list reads like a "who's who" of famous actors: Jack Lemmon, the aforementioned Walter Matthau (he shares no scenes with his frequent co-star, the only time this happened), Ed Asner, Vincent D'Onofrio, Pruitt Taylor Vince, John Candy (in a delicious performance), Kevin Bacon, Donald Sutherland, and narration by an uncredited Martin Sheen.  The Director's Cut includes more names, including Lolita Davidovich, John Larroquette, Ron Rifkin and Frank Whaley.  While there are many films that have a "who's who" of big stars ("The Player," "Smokin' Aces" and "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" are a few examples), this isn't stunt casting.  All the actors, regardless of the size of their role, do their jobs.  Special mention has to go to the late great John Candy, whose performance as the flamboyant lawyer Dean Andrews is Oscar-worthy.  The film also includes people who were involved in the case in real life, including the real Jim Garrison (who plays Chief Justice Earl Warren) and others in non-speaking roles.

Stone takes his time telling his story.  But with a story this important and this complex, it's going to take a long time to tell.  Too long, as it turns out, but Stone has a lot of material to get through, and the film rarely sags.  It's so complex and the script is so talky (Stone uses a lot of voiceovers and flashbacks to remedy the situation) that the viewer must pay attention if they don't want to get lost.  Subtitles and rewinding are going to be a necessity.

Regardless of whether or not this is factual in any way, the film still represents great cinema.  Stone does his job.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Desert Flower

2/4 Starring: Liya Kebede, Sally Hawkins, Timothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson Rated R for Some Violent Content, A Scene of Sexuality and Language The problem with "Desert Flower" is not that Waris Dirie's story isn't suited for the cinematic treatment or that the actress playing her isn't acceptable.  The problem is that director Sherry Hormann doesn't do a good job of telling it.  This is a poorly focused film that can't decide what it wants to be about or what it wants to say. As is the case with many a true story, the life of Waris Dirie is too amazing to be made up by a Hollywood screenwriter.  This woman fled an arranged marriage as a child, spent years as a servant to a Somali diplomat in England, survived on the streets, and was discovered by a fashion photographer while working as a janitor.  Then she became a supermodel and UN Ambassador in the fight against female genital mutilation. Waris experienced a lot in her life.  Telling it all in a...
Read more

The Road

3.5/4 Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron Rated R for Some Violence, Disturbing Images and Language "The Road" has to be the most downbeat, depressing and cynical movie I've ever seen.  That's not meant as a criticism, but a fact.  This is a tough movie to get through, but not a chore.  Those who venture in will find their time well spent, albeit not in a necessarily pleasant way.  Then again, if a movie is based off a novel by Cormac McCarthy, "pleasant" isn't a word one would hope to be used to describe it. The film takes place after the world has ended.  How it happened is not explained because it doesn't matter.  But any hope of the Earth recovering from what happened has long since gone.  A man (Mortensen) and his son (Smit-McPhee) are travelling together, trying to "get to the coast."  There are few people left, although considering what many are doing with the goal of survival, that's a good thing...
Read more

My Left Foot

 2/4 Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Brenda Fricker, Ray McAnally, Fiona Shaw, Alison Whelan Rated R (probably for Language and Brief Violence) "My Left Foot" feels like one of those movies designed to win Oscars and nothing else.  In fact, it did win two Oscars for the immortal Daniel Day-Lewis and Brenda Fricker, but apart from their strong work, there's not much else to remember about this movie.  It's well-acted, but all in all it's pretty dull. Christy Brown (Day-Lewis) is getting recognized for his work in order to raise money for the disabled.  Despite being a talented artist and writer, Christy is not the ideal candidate for the job.  He's an alcoholic jerk who makes no secret of his lust for women nor is he above using his disability to manipulate people into doing what he wants.  Interspersed with his attempts to seduce a woman tasked with looking after him while he awaits his entrance are vignettes from his childhood.  Most notably how his mothe...
Read more