Movie Review – JFK (1991)

On November 22, 1963, the world was shocked by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

According to the Warren Commission, it was Lee Harvey Oswald who fired three aimed shots at JFK’s motorcade from the Texas School Book Depository, resulting in the assassination of the president.  But was that the truth?  Did Oswald really pull off the assassination, or was another group responsible for the act?

JFK, a 1991 film by Oliver Stone, takes a look at the assassination of President Kennedy and the possible conspiracy behind it.  The film stars Kevin Costner as New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison.  Garrison leads the investigation and tries to find the truth behind JFK’s assassination.  Supporting him is Tommy Lee Jones as Clay Shaw (a.k.a. Clay Bertrand), a New Orleans businessman accused of being involved with the investigation.  Along with them are a variety of stars including Kevin Bacon as Willie O’Keefe, Joe Pesci as David Ferrie, Laurie Metcalf as New Orleans Assistant District Attorney Susie Cox, Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald, Sissy Spacek as Liz Garrison, Jack Lemmon as Jack Martin, Walter Matthau as Senator Russell B. Long, Donald Sutherland as X, Brian Doyle-Murray as Jack Ruby, Wayne Knight as Numa Bertel, and John Candy as Dean Andrews, Jr.  The film’s score is composed by John Williams.

JFK begins with a montage starting with President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s farewell address along with the actions faced by President John F. Kennedy during his first few years in office, including the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis.  The montage concludes with President Kennedy’s arrival in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963 and his fateful trip through the city.

JFK (1991) – (c) Warner Bros.

In New Orleans, District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) is alerted to the news of President Kennedy’s assassination.  He goes to a restaurant across the street and pays attention to the news along with a bunch of other concerned people.  It’s then announced that Kennedy has died and Vice President Johnson is preparing to assume the presidency.  Most of the people are shocked, but a few patrons celebrate the news of Kennedy’s death, happy that somebody finally ended the life of the so-called Communist and traitor to this country.

Later, news breaks about the capture of Lee Harvey Oswald (Gary Oldman) and his connection to the murder of a Dallas police officer.  It’s also implied that Oswald might be the shooter and assassin of President Kennedy.

When viewing more news footage of Oswald, Jim Garrison immediately places doubt about the man’s guilt.  He thinks that Oswald is acting a little too cool and controlled with his emotions when he’s placed in front of the press.  Naturally, Oswald denies any connection or knowledge about the assassination of President Kennedy.  Oswald claims that he is just a patsy.

JFK (1991) – (c) Warner Bros.

In his office, Jim Garrison meets with his assistants concerning the recent assassination of the president.  His assistants include Assistant District Attorney Susie Cox (Laurie Metcalf), Assistant District Attorney Bill Brousard (Michael Rooker), Lou Ivon (Jay O. Sanders), Numa Bertel (Wayne Knight), and Al Oser (Gary Grubbs).  When talking about Lee Harvey Oswald and his information, one of the names that quickly pops up is that of David Ferrie, a local man who lives in New Orleans.  Ferrie’s name is connected through a couple of unofficial sources, so Garrison wants to make him one of the first people questioned about Oswald and the assassination of JFK.

While Garrison’s team is in their meeting, the TV in their office shows live footage as Jack Ruby (Brian Doyle-Murray) shoots and kills Lee Harvey Oswald.

JFK (1991) – (c) Warner Bros.

David Ferrie (Joe Pesci) is brought into Garrison’s office for an interview.  Ferrie was a former airline pilot who was later fired because of his homosexual behavior.  When questioned about his recent whereabouts, connection with Oswald, and information about Kennedy’s assassination, Ferrie tells conflicting and unbelievable stories.  Garrison places Ferrie under arrest for further questioning, but the FBI releases him the next day, ruling him out initially as a suspect.

As far as Jim Garrison is concerned, this ends the New Orleans connection with the assassination of John F. Kennedy.  He tells his team to instead focus on solving local crimes.

JFK (1991) – (c) Warner Bros.

Three years later, Garrison is on a flight out of Washington, D.C. and sitting next to Senator Russell B. Long (Walter Matthau).  Although the senator has had a few drinks, he clearly states his distrust of the Warren Report and its claim that Oswald was the lone assassination.  All of the evidence just doesn’t add up to the government’s official conclusion.  This gets Garrison thinking and he begins reading the Warren Report and finding inconsistencies with its investigation.  This opens the door to the possibility of an assassination and false blame of Lee Harvey Oswald of being the culprit.

The quest for the truth behind the assassination of President John F. Kennedy now becomes Jim Garrison’s obsession.  It puts a severe strain on his family and his wife Liz (Sissy Spacek) as he goes in the pursuit of the truth.

JFK (1991) – (c) Warner Bros.

Garrison’s investigation begins in New Orleans and across the street from his office.  He points out what used to be the office of Guy Banister (Edward Asner), a private investigator.  Banister is also a former member of the FBI as well as being a staunch anti-Communist.  His office is on the corner of a building, and each door has a separate address.  The opposite door was an address that Lee Harvey Oswald used when he handed out fliers in support of Castro, the same leaflets that were later found at his address in Dallas, Texas.

It’s also mentioned that while in New Orleans, Oswald tried to join an anti-Castro organization, but he was rejected when they discovered that he was really pro-Castro.  They had an altercation with him on the streets and Oswald was briefly arrested, but the general belief was that the altercation was staged.  This gave Oswald some publicity and he was even interviewed on TV.  Oswald was also trained in the Russian language when he was a Marine.  That training occurred through the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI).  In 1963, that branch of the ONI happened to be right down the street from Oswald’s address, and that area also had other federal offices as well.  Coincidentally, before Guy Banister worked for the FBI he was with the ONI.  As the saying goes, “Once ONI, always ONI.”  So why would both Oswald and Banister operate right in front of office buildings containing the FBI, CIA, Secret Service and ONI?

JFK (1991) – (c) Warner Bros.

Unfortunately, Guy Banister is deceased and cannot be interviewed.  However, Jack Martin (Jack Lemmon), Banister’s old partner, is still around.  Garrison interviews Martin at a racetrack.  At first Martin is reluctant to talk, but he eventually mentions that Banister’s office was using as a front for an anti-Castro organization.  They had all sorts of Cuban exiles there as well as rifles and other weapons.  Martin claims that David Ferrie was a major player in the organization and practically lived there.  The goal was to train the Cuban exiles and launch another attack to overthrow Castro.  There was even a training camp just north of Lake Pontchartrain to train the exiles in combat and simulate a jungle environment.  Allegedly Oswald’s pro-Castro leaflets were really a joke to Guy Banister, inferring that Oswald is part of the organization despite him acting otherwise in public.

Jack Martin also mentions that there was another person involved in the organization, somebody who was the boss of Guy Banister.  When Garrison questions whether the organization ever discussed Kennedy or planned the assassination, suddenly Martin packs up his stuff and leaves.  He is paranoid that people are watching him.

JFK (1991) – (c) Warner Bros.

Jim Garrison then interviews Dean Andrews, Jr. (John Candy), a lawyer from New Orleans.  Allegedly a man named Clay Bertrand called Dean Andrews a day after the assassination and asked him to fly to Dallas to be Oswald’s lawyer.  Dean reveals that he never actually met Clay Bertrand and doesn’t know what he looks like despite him allegedly giving the FBI a physical description as mentioned in the Warren Report.  Dean is quick to point out that he doesn’t really know anything about Bertrand or Oswald despite being named in the Warren Report.  He states that if there really was a connection or conspiracy, then Bobby Kennedy would have prosecuted it as he was the Attorney General.  When Garrison increases the pressure, Dean tells him that if he starts talking and giving up the big names, then he’ll be killed.

JFK (1991) – (c) Warner Bros.

Garrison then heads to the Louisiana State Penitentiary to speak with Willie O’Keefe (Kevin Bacon), a homosexual prisoner serving time for solicitation of prostitution.  Willie tells them that he met Clay Bertrand back in 1962 at a masquerade ball.  Willie was paid to have sex with Bertrand on each visit.  He also states that many of the visits included David Ferrie, and one of the events had a bunch of Cubans as well.  That’s also when Willie was introduced to Lee Harvey Oswald.  Willie tells Garrison that Dave Ferrie was extremely upset with Kennedy and the fact that their training camp and munitions were all seized by the government.  He wanted to get his revenge against the president.

After interviewing Willie O’Keefe, Garrison returns to New Orleans and has a lunch meeting with his assistants.  Garrison learns about other mysteries surrounding the investigation from hobos at Dealey Plaza who didn’t fit the profile of hobos, and more of Lee Harvey Oswald’s mysterious past and traitorous actions.  They then go to Dealey Plaza, interview witnesses of the assassination, learn of a possible cover-up, and try to see the different angles and how a hit team would have operated.  Sure enough, the method that was stated in the Warren Report just doesn’t add up.

JFK (1991) – (c) Warner Bros.

It’s reasoned that Lee Harvey Oswald would have had a much better chance at hitting his target when the motorcade was approaching head-on down Houston Street.  It would have been a fairly easy shot, especially for somebody who was never much of a marksman and using a bolt-action rifle.  But when you make the motorcade slow down for the sharp curve onto Elm Street, and position a few hit teams around the location, then you have a slow moving target in a “kill zone.”  That angle onto Elm Street (where the assassination occurred) would have been very hard for Oswald but no problem at all for the hit teams.

Garrison’s team then discovers some inconsistencies about Lee Harvey Oswald himself.  Various reports were discovered where Oswald himself was making his intentions and attitude towards President Kennedy very public, almost like he was trying to draw attention to himself.  The problem though is that the witnesses all had slightly different descriptions of Oswald.  This makes it sound like several people were impersonating him to help sell the idea that Oswald has had a hatred towards Kennedy and America, making him a perfect fall guy when the assassination takes place.

JFK (1991) – (c) Warner Bros.

On Easter Sunday, Jim Garrison is finally able to meet and interview Clay Shaw (Tommy Lee Jones), a homosexual New Orleans businessman who might be connected to the assassination of Kennedy.  He denies ever knowing or meeting Willie O’Keefe, and certainly not inviting him to his home.  He also denies his connection with David Ferrie.

After interviewing Clay Shaw, the press gains wind of Jim Garrison’s investigation into a conspiracy behind the assassination of President Kennedy.  Knowing about possible negative fallout from the investigation, his assistants stay with Garrison and continue researching their case.

JFK (1991) – (c) Warner Bros.

David Ferrie calls for a meeting with Jim Garrison to talk about the assassination.  Ferrie is paranoid after he discovered an eavesdropping bug in his home, and he’s certain that he’ll be the next person to die.  He tells that that Clay Shaw is threatening to blackmail him.  He also tells Garrison’s team that he knew Oswald fairly well even though others thought that Oswald was a snitch.  Ferrie claims that he, Oswald, Shaw and the Cubans were all involved in the Agency.  Jack Ruby was a man for the Dallas mob and also ran guns for the Cubans.  The CIA and the Mafia were working together.  Ferrie also mentions Operation Mongoose, a secret project after the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion that was aimed at removing the Cuban communists from power.

Ferrie becomes enraged when Jim Garrison asks him who killed the president.  To Ferrie, that’s a meaningless question.  Nobody knows who really gave out the order.  It’s all within the Agency.  The shooters were a different part as were the Cubans and the Mafia.  It was one giant mystery that appeared to operate nearly flawlessly on November 22, 1963.

Back at the district attorney’s office, the people discover that it’s also been bugged with eavesdropping devices.  As they’re talking about the situation there’s a phone call.  David Ferrie has been discovered dead.  It looks like a suicide, even with two suicide notes, but the exact cause of death is unclear.  Maybe he killed himself by taking too many pills.  Or maybe a hit team made his death look like a suicide.  Either way, one of their star witnesses is now dead.

JFK (1991) – (c) Warner Bros.

Jim Garrison then heads to Washington, D.C. to meet with an informant.  The informant (Donald Sutherland) only identifies himself as X.  He takes Garrison for a walk and tells him a wild tale about a conspiracy involving the highest of levels within the government.  X reveals that he used to be a covert soldier who served in two wars.  He was a specialist in running black operations (black ops) including assassinations, coups, rigging elections, smuggling weapons, and more.  He’s run a variety of daring missions all over the world.  As X was working on President Kennedy’s plans of removing all Americans from Vietnam, he was suddenly ordered to the South Pole.  When passing through New Zealand on his way back home, X learned that Kennedy was killed.  What’s interesting is that the international newspapers had their information about Oswald very early, like somebody was running a black op.

X then tells Garrison that one of his routine duties as chief of special ops was to help ensure the safety of the president.  He learned that somebody told the military in Dallas to stand down on the day of the assassination.  It was a violation of a standard security procedure, especially in a hostile city towards the president such as Dallas, Texas.  There were a ton of security flaws including a lack of the bubble top on the limousine, lack of one or two hundred agents throughout the route, all of the open windows on Dealey Plaza, a lack of snipers covering the windows, not studying the route days in advance, and a lack of surveillance of the crowds along the path.  On top of that a man was allowed to open an umbrella and the limousine was allowed to slow down to ten miles per hour to make the sharp turn from Houston to Elm Street.  The whole situation stinks of being a black op.

Who had Kennedy killed?

Who benefited from it?

Who had the power to cover-up the assassination?

X continues with his specific information about the CIA and black ops.  He states how it was the military-industrial complex, something warned against by President Eisenhower in his farewell speech, that had the most to lose with Kennedy’s passive actions in Vietnam and Cuba, and the treaties that he was seeking with the Soviets.  It’s big money.  Over a hundred billion dollars spent on the companies that built machines and munitions for the military.

X urges Garrison to continue with his investigation.  Despite going against a major organization, the American people need to know the truth, and the truth is on Garrison’s side.

JFK (1991) – (c) Warner Bros.

Jim Garrison returns to New Orleans and Clay Shaw / Bertrand is arrested for his connection with the assassination of President Kennedy.  It’s a media frenzy and quickly generates national attention.

JFK (1991) – (c) Warner Bros.

More problems arise for Jim Garrison when the media attacks him and his reputation.  It’s suggested that Garrison’s actions against Clay Shaw are because of Shaw’s homosexuality.  Liz becomes paranoid one day when their daughter answers a phone call from a man who wants to know a little too much information about their daughter.  Liz believes that their lives are being threatened, but Jim doesn’t take it too seriously.  This sparks a fight and Liz threatens to leave with their children.

JFK (1991) – (c) Warner Bros.

While Jim Garrison is at an airport and heading home to New Orleans, he’s approached by Bill Brousard.  Brousard is somewhat paranoid that somebody is going to assassinate Garrison between there and his home.  Garrison reprimands him for disobeying his order about passing along rumors about people who are about to be killed.  He punishes Brousard by forcing him to purchase a ticket on Garrison’s same flight.

However, while Garrison is in an airport restroom, he’s approached by an unknown man who claims to be his friend.  The man actually looks like one of the “hobos” who was photographed in Dealey Plaza on the day of the assassination.  Garrison escapes from the restroom and carefully avoids close contact with other people.

After returning to New Orleans, Garrison learns that Bill Brousard quit the team and gave all of the case information to the feds.  All of their information has been comprised from their witnesses to their strategy for the trial against Clay Shaw.  As Garrison thinks about the events, he sees a news report about the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy.

JFK (1991) – (c) Warner Bros.

The trail begins against Clay Shaw.  The defense defeats all of Garrison’s witnesses, and when on the stand, Clay Shaw denies everything.  Garrison accuses Shaw of perjury, but it seems unconvincing on the jury.  He then shows the jury the Zapruder film and the assassination of President Kennedy.  He accounts for two of the three bullets and then goes into the flight of one of the bullets, the “magic bullet theory.”  Garrison uses two people and tries to demonstrate how one bullet, as it was claimed in the Warren Report, was somehow capable of injuring two people in multiple places.  After causing seven wounds on two people, the bullet is later found in pristine condition on a stretcher in Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Jim Garrison continues with his case and goes into detail about how three gun teams carried out the assassination against President Kennedy, just how David Ferrie and Clay Shaw discussed it months in advance.  He states his case frame-by-frame with the Zapruder film, stating exactly what he believed to have really happened in the critical footage.  Nearly all of the gunshots are inconsistent with angles from Oswald’s alleged position inside the book depository.  The hit teams then quickly disassemble their weapons and remove the evidence, all except for Lee Harvey Oswald’s rifle and some bullet casings.

JFK (1991) – (c) Warner Bros.

Garrison continues and states how Lee Harvey Oswald was the fall guy for the black op.  He goes on stating how Oswald continued acting like he didn’t know what was really happening and not making the moves like you would expect from a person who committed the most serious of crimes.  He allegedly leaves behind critical evidence, runs down many flights of stairs without appearing sweaty or out of breath, and passing people on staircases without them spotting him.

More inconsistencies and amazing coincidences are pointed out in the Warren Report, from officers showing up early at Oswald’s home to a swarm of police officers capturing him at the movie theater.  Allegedly the movie theater cashier only called the cops because Oswald didn’t pay an admission fee.  The police also had a lot of information about Oswald’s description despite the lack of time from the assassination and the multiple number of witnesses who gave conflicting information.  In other words, the police were tipped off that Oswald was the lone assassin, just like in a black operation.

JFK (1991) – (c) Warner Bros.

Ultimately, the jury finds Clay Shaw as not guilty as part of a conspiracy in the assassination against President John F. Kennedy.

JFK ends with the credits revealing more information about the investigation into the conspiracy behind the assassination of President Kennedy.

It’s mentioned that in 1979, the Director of Covert Operations in 1963, admitted under oath that Clay Shaw had worked for the CIA.  Clay Shaw had died in 1974 of lung cancer, but no autopsy was allowed.

A Congressional Investigation later found a probable conspiracy in the assassination of John F. Kennedy, but no further action has taken place.

So is JFK a good movie?

Absolutely.

It’s well-written, it has a fantastic cast, and the story itself is extremely fascinating.  Then again, I’m one of those who has always believed in the conspiracy, and that was well before I finally saw this film just a few years ago.

Perhaps the only downside to JFK is its running time of 188 minutes, just over three hours.  Does the film drag on and on?  No, certainly not.  This film is quite interesting and has some great characters.  As long as you pay attention then this incredibly long film will fly right by.  Just make sure that you set aside plenty of time to see JFK in one sitting.

It’s a little bit surprising that a film like JFK was actually produced and that The Powers That Be didn’t find a way to stop it.  JFK was released in 1991, less than thirty years after the assassination of President Kennedy.  Isn’t that still a little too close to the event to make such a powerful case against a government conspiracy, especially of that magnitude?

Then again, it’s not like conspiracy theorists are actually taken seriously.  These days such people are normally laughed at by society and deemed to be somewhat crazy?  “You mean to tell me that you don’t believe that Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK?  Ha, ha, ha.  What are you, stupid?”

As far as the assassination of President Kennedy, so much time has passed and too many people are concerned about the lives of celebrities than a massive cover-up and black operation run by the government.  It happened fifty years ago.  Most of the people involved in it are probably dead, and too many changes in the government have happened since then.  It’s not like you can really do anything about it now, so many people just don’t care.  Lee Harvey Oswald was pinned as the assassin, and that’s that.  He was quickly killed by Jack Ruby.  Kennedy is dead.  His assassin is dead.  His assassin’s assassin is also dead.  President Johnson is also long gone from the Oval Office.  The CIA has had numerous changes in leadership.  Case closed.

JFK (1991) – movie trailer

As a whole, I find 1991’s film JFK to be a great film and quite fascinating.  The cast is excellent and the story makes you want to believe in the conspiracy.  Fans of conspiracy films will find themselves right at home in JFK.

Senator Long – “One pristine bullet? That dog don’t hunt!”

————————–

X – “The organizing principle of any society, Mr. Garrison, is for war. The authority of the state over its people resides in its war powers. Kennedy wanted to end the Cold War in his second term. He wanted to call off the moon race and cooperate with the Soviets. He signed a treaty to ban nuclear testing. He refused to invade Cuba in 1962. He set out to withdraw from Vietnam. But all that ended on the 22nd of November, 1963.”

————————–

Jim Garrison – “Telling the truth can be a scary thing sometimes.”