Review – JFK

Oliver Stone must have done something right with this one, since apparently it bugs the crap out of conservative media critics (though why they’d care about Lyndon Johnson’s tarnished reputation is beyond me). On the other hand, exactly what it is that Stone does right is a bit more elusive. The preachiness would be annoying if it wasn’t so obviously ridiculous, sort of like Pat Robertson taking credit for using the power of prayer to change the course of a hurricane. Overall the film is a pleasant experience provided one is in the mind-set to just let the imagery and paranoia flow by without trying to glean logic or meaning from it. The DVD version features some of the most entertaining director’s commentary I’ve ever seen. Stone mixes a handful of interesting technical tidbits (including a fair amount of candor about which scenes feature “artistic license”) with some absolutely captivating paranoid rants that go well beyond even the high levels achieved by the movie itself. David Ferrie as a latter-day Davy Crockett? Yeah, inasmuch as they both went around with mangy animal fur on their heads. Mildly amusing