JFK

I'm not a big conspiracy theorist for the most part. The official September 11th story doesn't add up quite perfectly for me, but I'm content enough not to assume much else. And the anti-moon landing crowd? No thank you, not for me. But damn, does this movie lay out a compelling argument for being suspicious about the John F. Kennedy assassination. Granted, it's a heavily fictionalized look back at a semi-recent historical event, so it can't all be taken at face value. Still, watching the movie convinced me to do a little basic Internet research and frankly the case seems about as wide open today as it was fifty years ago from an evidence-and-explanation standpoint.

Funny thing is, I went to Dealey Plaza less than a year ago while visiting a friend in Dallas. I did the whole Sixth Floor Museum, listened to the audio tour, saw the footage, the whole deal. And while it was all very interesting stuff, I never really considered any of the "alternative" opinions. I accepted the museum's story - that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone and shot three bullets - without any real doubt. And here I am, eight months later, having been presented a very different account of what happened, filled with all kinds of questions and skepticism. I suppose I have a very weak mind that is easily influenced by history museums and political thrillers.

But enough about the facts themselves. Let's close up here by talking about the movie. While I was thoroughly interested by the movie by its end, I must admit, I was more than a little bored throughout its three-and-a-half-hour run time. Aside from the climactic courthouse scene and a fifteen-minute segment somewhere in the middle where Donald Sutherland appears out of nowhere, starts dishing out the "who," "how," and "why" of the Kennedy assassination, and disappears just as abruptly, I really can't pretend I was that invested in the movie. All the same, it's worth a watch, even if you just check out the decent parts on YouTube or something.