History Film / JFK

* ProperlyParanoid: Jim Garrison starts feeling paranoid about what he's getting into even ''before'' he finds bugs planted in his offices. Possibly David Ferrie, too.

''Film/{{JFK}}'' is a 1991 film written and directed by OliverStone about the assassination of JohnFKennedy and its aftermath, based around the investigation by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (KevinCostner). After reading the Warren Report and finding it unsatisfactory, Garrison decides to launch an investigation on his own. After reviewing witness reports and interviewing some people on his own, Garrison becomes convinced Kennedy was killed by a conspiracy, and that all of the suspicious events seem to be circling a Texas Businessman named Clay Shaw (TommyLeeJones) who goes by the alias Clay Bertrand. Shaw has connections to Lee Harvey Oswald (GaryOldman), the CIA, the FBI, and others.

* DoingItForTheArt: OliverStone poured his heart and soul into this movie, going out of his way to make sure everything appeared exactly as he wanted it. A great example is his meticulously detailed set of the White House's Oval Office, which cost about $70,000 to complete, yet it only appears in about ''eight seconds'' of the film.

* WhatMightHaveBeen: Creator/HarrisonFord and Creator/MelGibson were OliverStone's first choices for the role of Jim Garrison.

* OffOnATechnicality: Much of the information about Clay Shaw is thrown out (particularly the fact that he used the alias "Clay Bertrand" while participating in his shady deals) because he didn't have a lawyer present while he was being booked. The movie points out that this ruling wasn't legally sound, and implies that it may have been part of the GovernmentConspiracy to keep Shaw from being convicted.
* OneSceneWonder: Donald Sutherland as X.

** The movie was shot largely on location, including Dealey Plaza in [[DFWMetroplex Dallas]] and the actual book depository where Lee Harvey Oswald (allegedly) shot Kennedy.

* AllStarCast: KevinCostner, [[{{Carrie}} Sissy Spacek]], TommyLeeJones, JoePesci, Ed Asner, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, GaryOldman, Laurie Metcalf, Jay O'Sanders, John Candy, Kevin Bacon, John Larroquette, Martin Sheen, and others.

** The movie was shot largely on location, including Dealey Plaza in Dallas and the actual book depository where Lee Harvey Oswald (allegedly) shot Kennedy.

* FakeAmerican: Brit GaryOldman as the Louisiana-born Lee Harvey Oswald

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: And even more in the DirectorsCut

* PlayingAgainstType: One of the few dramatic roles played by John Candy, as a beatnik lawyer connected to the conspiracy. The nervous sweat you see on his face is [[EnforcedMethodActing real]], as the thought of acting in a dramatic film opposite such heavyweight actors as Donald Sutherland and GaryOldman scared Candy shitless.
* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Averted. The film makes it quite clear that Kennedy was ''not'' popular in the South. Some people are actually seen ''cheering'' when they heard that he has been assassinated.

** "Like [[Theatre/JuliusCaesar Ceasar]], he is surrounded by enemies..."

** "Like [[JuliusCaesar Ceasar]], he is surrounded by enemies..."

-> "To sin by silence when we should protest makes cowards of men."

The film was and still is intensely controversial for its liberal use of ArtisticLicense in depicting the events of and around Garrison's investigation, when in reality the movie is ''not'' meant to be the definitive investigation into Kennedy's death, but rather an allegory of the general public's frustration over not knowing the actual truth about the assassination.

** The movie was shot largely on location, including Dealey Plaza in Dallas and the actual book depository where Lee Harvey Oswald (allegedly) shot Kennedy.

* WhatMightHaveBeen: HarrisonFord and Creator/MelGibson were OliverStone's first choices for the role of Jim Garrison.

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** The movie was shot largely on location, including Dealy Plaza in Dallas and the actual book depository where Lee Harvey Oswald (allegedly) shot Kennedy.

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* ProperlyParanoid: Jim Garrison starts feeling paranoid about what he's getting into even ''before'' he finds bugs planted in his offices. Possibly David Ferrie, too, though YourMileageMayVary.

* WhatMightHaveBeen: HarrisonFord and MelGibson were OliverStone's first choices for the role of Jim Garrison.

* CompositeCharacter: Several, including Willie, the male prostitute played by Kevin Bacon.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: Composed by JohnWilliams, what else would you expect?

* EnsembleDarkhorse: GaryOldman as Oswald, Donald Sutherland as "X", and Joe Pesci as David Ferrie.

* MagnumOpus: Widely considered to be OliverStone's best, and his personal favorite of his own.

* ProtagonistTitleFallacy: Many people allegedly went to the movie expecting to see Kevin Costner playing JohnFKennedy.

* VindicatedByHistory: CIA director Richard Helms later revealed that Clay Shaw was, in, fact, employed by the CIA, and the House Committee on Assassinations concluded that Kennedy's death was the result of a "probable conspiracy".
** On another note, later declassified documents and further research (many recorded in books like James Douglass's JFK and the Unspeakable) on the real JFK himself revealed that he was in fact very much like the version portrayed by Oliver Stone. He was neither the liberal dove as told by the myths nor the rogue hawk that many, especially many leftist critics, believed him to be.

* WhoShotJFK: TheMovie
* TheWoobie: David Ferrie: expelled from the life he wanted for being gay, becoming involved in shady deals almost by accident, and eventually getting in so over his head that he can't tell which way is up anymore. Whether you think [[spoiler: his death was murder or suicide]], you can't help but feel sorry for him.
-->"[[{{Tearjerker}} All I ever wanted in my life was to be a Catholic priest. Live in a church, serve God... I had one]] [[PrecisionFStrike FUCKING]] [[{{Tearjerker}} weakness, and they defrocked me.]]"

* AllStarCast: KevinCostner, [[{{Carrie}} Sissy Spacek]], TommyLeeJones, [[{{Goodfellas}} Joe Pesci]], Ed Asner, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, GaryOldman, Laurie Metcalf, Jay O'Sanders, John Candy, Kevin Bacon, John Larroquette, Martin Sheen, and others.

* ClusterFBomb: Joe Pesci, [[SirSwearsAlot naturally]].

After his case gains publicity, Garrison is invited to Washington, D.C. for a confidential meeting. The man (Donald Sutherland), who goes only by the nane "X", says that Garrison is closer to the truth than he thinks, and gives him background information regarding his suspicions that JFK was killed by a conspiracy involving the CIA, the military, and business interests (the "Military-Industrial Complex") in order to, among other things, stop him from bringing TheVietnamWar and the ColdWar to an end.

* TheWoobie: David Ferrie: expelled from the life he wanted for being gay, becoming involved in shady deals almost by accident, and eventually getting in so over his head that he can't tell which way is up anymore. Whether you think [[spoiler: his death was murder or suicide]], you can't help but feel terribly sorry for him.
-->"[[{{Tearjerker}} All I ever wanted in my life was to be a Catholic priest. Live in a church, serve God... I had one]] [[PrecisionFStrike FUCKING]] [[{{Tearkerjer}} weakness, and they defrocked me.]]"

* WhoShotJFK: TheMovie

''Film/JFK'' is a 1991 film written and directed by OliverStone about the assassination of JohnFKennedy and its aftermath, based around the investigation by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (KevinCostner). After reading the Warren Report and finding it unsatisfactory, Garrison decides to launch an investigation on his own. After reviewing witness reports and interviewing some people on his own, Garrison becomes convinced Kennedy was killed by a conspiracy, and that all of the suspicious events seem to be circling a Texas Businessman named Clay Shaw (TommyLeeJones) who goes by the alias Clay Bertrand. Shaw has connections to Lee Harvey Oswald (GaryOldman), the CIA, the FBI, and others.

* GovernmentConspiracy: "X" and, eventually, Garrison believe this is part of what killed Kennedy.

* MagnumOpus: Widely considered to be OliverStone's best.

-->-- ''Ella Wheeler Wilcox'''

--> "To sin by silence when we should protest makes cowards of men."
--> Ella Wheeler Wilcox

* GovernmentConpsiracy: "X" and, eventually, Garrison believe this is part of what killed Kennedy.

* SpiritualSuccessor: ''Film/{{Nixon}}'', which also features the JFK assassination as subtext.