History YMMV / JFK

** When Garrison outlines what he believed happened in Dallas, he describes the outcomes of six shots. ''Literally everyone at the scene'' described only three.

* OneSceneWonder: Creator/DonaldSutherland as X. Also, Creator/JohnCandy as Dean Andrews manages to be creepy even without doing anything remotely evil on screen.

* OvershadowedByControversy: The movie was well-loved when it came out and is still considered great but its [[CriticalResearchFailure sheer disregard for history to prop up a conspiracy]] has made it a target for a lot of historians' hate. Additionally promoting UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories is seen as a lot [[ValuesDissonance more dangerous and unethical today than when the film was made,]] making the film very uncomfortable to watch for some.

* AwardSnub: Some may see Creator/TommyLeeJones losing out the Oscar to Creator/JackPalance in ''Film/CitySlickers'' as this, or at least when one sees how it might have led to his win for ''Film/TheFugitive'' over Creator/RalphFiennes in 1993.

* CriticalResearchFailure: Several historians have taken Stone to task on the movie for massively changing real life events. For example, Garrison never delivered an in-court summation of the trial and they cite numerous mistakes Stone made in the film.
** In his book ''Reclaiming History'', Vincent Bugliosi devotes ''900 pages'' to every single omission, mistake and outright falsehood Stone made to fit his conspiracy theory.

* OvershadowedByControversy: The movie was well-loved when it came out and is still considered great but [[CriticalResearchFailure sheer disregard for history to prop up a conspiracy]] has made it a target for a lot of historian's hate. Additionally promoting UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories is seen as a lot [[ValuesDissonance more dangerous and unethical today than when the film was made,]] making the film very uncomfortable to watch for some.
** In reality, a lot of the specific ideas presented in the film were initially spread by the KGB in the 1960s as a way to undermine the credibility of the U.S. government. The idea of someone taking a Russian disinformation campaign this seriously plays a lot different now.

* 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. Incidentally, in real life, he was as staunch a supporter of JFK as you'd ever find in New Orleans (he really did want to be a priest, and was thrilled that a Catholic had been elected president). And his death was from a Berry aneurysm, the culmination of years of poor health -- there's no evidence that foul play was involved.

* CriticalResearchFailure: Several historians have taken Stone to task on the movie for massively changing real life events. For example, Garrison never delivered an in-court summation of the trial and they cite numerous mistakes Stone made in the film.
** In his book ''Reclaiming History'', Vincent Bugliosi devotes ''900 pages'' to every single omission, mistake and outright falsehood Stone made to fit his conspiracy theory.

* OvershadowedByControversy: The movie was well-loved when it came out and is still considered great but [[CriticalResearchFailure sheer disregard for history to prop up a conspiracy]] has made it a target for a lot of historian's hate. Additionally promoting [[UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories Conspiracy theoy]] is seen as a lot [[ValuesDissonance more dangerous and unethical today than when the film was made,]] making the film very uncomfortable to watch for some.

* OvershadowedByControversy: The movie was well-loved when it came out and is still considered great but [[CriticalResearchFailure sheer disregard for history to prop up a conspiracy]] has made it a target for a lot of historian's hate. Additionally promoting [[UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories Conspiracy theoy]] is seen as a lot [[ValuesDissonance more dangerous and unethical today than when the film was made,]] making the film very uncomfortable to watch so some.

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

* AwardSnub: Some may see Creator/TommyLeeJones losing out the Oscar to Jack Palance as this, or at least when one sees how it might have led to his win for ''Film/TheFugitive'' over Creator/RalphFiennes in 1993.

* HeReallyCanAct: Critics praised John Candy's performance as Dean Andrews Jr. and considered it to be is neck-and-neck with [[Film/PlanesTrainsAndAutomobiles Del Griffith]] as his best performance, especially because it was a rare example of Candy PlayingAgainstType.

* HeReallyCanAct: Critic praised John Candy's performance as Dean Andrews Jr. and considered to be is neck-and-neck with [[Film/PlanesTrainsAndAutomobiles Del Griffith]] as his best performance, especially because it was a rare example of Candy PlayingAgainstType.

* HeReallyCanAct: John Candy's performance as Dean Andrews Jr. is neck-and-neck with [[Film/PlanesTrainsAndAutomobiles Del Griffith]] as his best performance.

* HeReallyCanAct: John Candy's performance as Dean Andrews Jr. is neck-and-neck with [[Film/PlanesTrainsAndAutombiles Del Griffith]] as his best performance.

* MemeticMutation: "Back and to the left," so much so that one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'' has Jay reviewing the director's cut, which is apparently eight additional hours of "Back and to the left."

* NightmareFuel: The ParanoiaFuel-based terror in the film is when Garrison is reading the Warren Report and listening to Jim Bower's testimony, especially with the ScareChord shot of Bower's dead body.

* AwardSnub: Some may see Tommy Lee Jones losing out the Oscar to Jack Palance as this, or at least when one sees how it might have led to his win for ''Film/TheFugitive'' over Ralph Fiennes in 1993.

** Donald Sutherland as "X"
** Joe Pesci as David Ferrie.
** Tommy Lee Jones, managing to stand out enough to get an Oscar nomination.
** John Candy, whose role is a perfect example of PlayingAgainstType. Despite the fact that he was so intimidated to be acting alongside the likes of Tommy Lee Jones and Donald Sutherland that his character's sweating was NOT acting, fans consider it one of his best performances.

* OneSceneWonder: Donald Sutherland as X. Also, John Candy as Dean Andrews manages to be creepy even without doing anything remotely evil on screen.

* MemeticMutation: "Back and to the left."

* AwesomeMusic: Composed by Music/JohnWilliams, what else would you expect? ''Try'' listening to "Prologue" without getting stirred feelings inside.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Creator/GaryOldman as Oswald, Donald Sutherland as "X", and Joe Pesci as David Ferrie.

* PossessionSue: In real life, Jim Garrison was a deeply eccentric, volatile individual, popular to some degree but mistrusted by a great deal of New Orleans. He had a raft of incredibly bizarre theories about people he tied to the assassination case (his actual logic for the "Clay Bertrand" alias was that "[homosexuals] change their last names, but not their first names"), and was willing to subject witnesses to hypnosis and "truth serum" in order to get the story he wanted. The Clay Shaw trial was a sham, in which Garrison did everything short of set fire to the Fifth Amendment, and the judge was vocal in his disgust at Garrison's behavior; the jurors only took a half-hour to find Shaw innocent and reported in their statements that they were appalled at the sheer lack of evidence. Even when he saw Claw Shaw acquitted of all charges, Garrison then charged him with ''perjury'' for claiming his innocence during sworn testimony. A federal judge finally quashed the charge as a violation of Shaw's civil rights, for hounding him without just cause. The film postscript also claims CIA Director Richard Helms admitted Shaw was an agent. False -- Shaw was admitted to have provided intelligence to the CIA as part of the Domestic Contact Service from things he observed while doing business in Europe. Thousands of businesspeople, diplomats and students did the same. In the film, the "source" for this was a French communist newspaper well-known to be a propaganda organ for Moscow. The KGB actually spread many of the early conspiracy rumors in an effort to weaken US morale, going so far as to fund authors who propagated them by using agents or front groups (without these authors' knowledge to be sure). The "Clay Shaw CIA Agent" story was just one in a series of false stories they planted.
** "X" is presented as a Washington insider with deep roots, who has first-hand knowledge of the workings that led to Kennedy's murder. "X" is based to a degree on L. Fletcher Prouty (Prouty made most of the claims "X" states), a man with only a minor role in the Pentagon lacking such deep connections and, like Garrison, near-universally considered a crackpot even by other conspiracy theorists.
** Kennedy himself is portrayed as some kind of uber-peacenik who would have prevented TheVietnamWar and (somehow) ended the entire UsefulNotes/ColdWar in his second term. In fact, Kennedy was a consummate Cold Warrior who got elected on a hawkish platform and actually escalated American involvement in Vietnam. Outside of the film, Stone acknowledges this, but claims that Kennedy had a change of heart during his presidency. Kennedy's actual policies provide no evidence of this change, but it definitely happened!

* 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.
-->All I ever wanted in my life was to be a Catholic priest. Live in a church, serve God... I had one FUCKING weakness, and they defrocked me.
** Which is nothing compared to the Woobie he was in real life. Incidentally, in real life, he was as staunch a supporter of JFK as you'd ever find in New Orleans (he really did want to be a priest, and was thrilled that a Catholic had been elected president). And his death was from a Berry aneurysm, the culmination of years of poor health -- there's no evidence that foul play was involved.

* DesignatedVillain: Clay Shaw was, in real life, a RenaissanceMan whose achievements in architecture and theater are nigh-legendary, and who openly supported and backed John F. Kennedy. This film's Clay Shaw is a depraved lunatic.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Stone didn't go into [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Kilgallen Dorothy Kilgallen]] and the saga of ''Murder One'' (having been the only person to ever interview Jack Ruby post-assassination) and her [[http://oswaldsmother.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-lonesome-death-of-dorothy-kilgallen.html suspicious death]].

** Which is nothing compared to the Woobie he was in real life. Incidentally, in real life, he was as staunch a supporter of JFK as you'd ever find in New Orleans (he really did want to be a priest, and was thrilled that a Catholic had been elected president). And his death was from a Berry aneurysm, the culmination of years of poor health -- there's no evidence that foul play was involved. Of course, the '''autopsy man''' was found dead of mysterious circumstances (which wasn't mentioned in the film.) So... yeah.

* AwardSnub: Some may see Tommy Lee Jones losing out the Oscar to Jack Palance as this, or at least when one sees how it might have led to his win for ''TheFugitive'' over Ralph Fiennes in 1993.

* PossessionSue: In real life, Jim Garrison was a deeply eccentric, volatile individual, popular to some degree but mistrusted by a great deal of New Orleans. He had a raft of incredibly bizarre theories about people he tied to the assassination case (his actual logic for the "Clay Bertrand" alias was that "[homosexuals] change their last names, but not their first names"), and was willing to subject witnesses to hypnosis and "truth serum" in order to get the story he wanted. The Clay Shaw trial was a sham, in which Garrison did everything short of set fire to the Fifth Amendment, and the judge was vocal in his disgust at Garrison's behavior; the jurors only took a half-hour to find Shaw innocent and reported in their statements that they were appalled at the sheer lack of evidence. Even when he saw Claw Shaw acquitted of all charges, Garrison then charged him with ''perjury'' for claiming his innocence during sworn testimony. A federal judge finally quashed the charge as a violation of Shaw's civil rights, for hounding him without just cause. The film postscript also claims CIA Director Richard Helms admitted Shaw was an agent. False -- Shaw was admitted to have provided intelligence to the CIA as part of the Domestic Contact Service from things he observed while doing business in Europe. Thousands of businesspeople, diplomats and students did the same. There is no evidence Shaw was ever a paid CIA agent. In the film, the "source" for this was a French communist newspaper well-known to be a propaganda organ for Moscow. The KGB actually spread many of the early conspiracy rumors in an effort to weaken US morale, going so far as to fund authors who propagated them by using agents or front groups (without these authors' knowledge to be sure). The "Clay Shaw CIA Agent" story was just one in a series of false stories they planted.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Stone didn't go into [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Kilgallen Dorothy Kilgallen]] and the saga of ''Murder One'' (having been the only person to ever interview Jack Ruby post-assassination]] and her [[http://oswaldsmother.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-lonesome-death-of-dorothy-kilgallen.html suspicious death]].