Thursday, June 02, 2022
JFK
- Commentary: It shouldn't surprise anyone that I own this film, the director's cut with a second disc of extras. I'm not someone who constantly talks political conspiracies, or even thinks about them, but I love a good, real life political mystery and this is one of biggest. Although it is clearly not a documentary, it has a documentary feel about it, which I love and which Stone handles with mastery. This is definitely one of the films he was born to make.
Roger Ebert's site contains several reviews and commentaries on this film:
- Firstly, of course, is his initial review, attached to the title of this post.
- Secondly, Ebert interviewed Oliver Stone specifically about this movie of his in 1991.
- Thirdly, in 1992 Ebert published a touché article criticizing others who criticized this film.
- Fourthly, Ebert christened it one of his Great Movies in 2002.
- Fifthly (is there such a word), in 2012 Gerardo Valero, a compatriot reviewer on the site, questions whether ths movie should have been made in a very interesting historical analysis of the film.
- Some months after Roger's death, Matt Zoller Seitz published an interview with Oliver Stone regarding Ebert's critiques of many of his movies, including JFK. It's likely that I'll include a link to that article in a few other write-ups here.
- And, that's not all. The film comes up as a mention in several articles having nothing, directly, to do with it. Pull a search and see.
Whew! Someone, and other of his compatriot reviewers, were deeply impressed, in many ways, by this film over the years. I must admit, I'm with him. I'm with them all. I find myself watching this film at least twice a year, for a variety of reasons.
Update 6/2/2022: This post was originally published on 8/14/16 but disappeared from public view. I am now reinstating it.
Update 6/3/2022: Oliver Stone packed his cast with notables. I listed as many as I recognized, in order to make sure this role came up when any of them are searched individually. One notable cast member I did not insert in the Actor/Role table includes a non-actor who deserves to be mentioned: Jim Garrison played Earl Warren in this movie.
Actorc Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Kevin Costner Jim Garrison Kevin Bacon Willie O'Keefe Tommy Lee Jones Clay Shaw/Bertrand Laurie Metcalf Susie Cox Gary Oldman Lee Harvey Oswald Jay O. Sanders Lou Ivon Sissy Spacek Liz Garrison Joe Pesci David Ferrie Jack Lemmon Jack Martin Walter Matthau Sen. Russell B. Long Donald Sutherland Mr. X Ed Asner Guy Banister John Candy Dean Andrews Jr. Sally Kirkland Rose Cheramie Tony Plana Carlos Bringuier Vincent D'Onofrio Bill Newman Lolita Davidovich Beverly Oliver John Larroquette Jerry Johnson Ron Rifkin Mr. Goldberg/Spiesel Bob Gunton News Anchor
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1991
Directed by Oliver Stone.
Labels: bob-gunton, docu-drama, donald-sutherland, joe-pesci, laurie-metcalf, mystery1, oliver-stone, political2, presidential, sissy-spacek, tommy-lee-jones, vincent-d'onofrio
