JFK
Movie, 1991, The '90s, Set in Prologue
JFK is #13 of 29 in release order and #13 of 29 in chronological order in the John Williams.
The story
Follows the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy led by New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison.
JFK recap
JFK (1991) follows New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison as he comes to believe Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone in killing President Kennedy. Oliver Stone directs and co-writes this political thriller, adapted from books by Garrison and Jim Marrs. Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) first looks into local links to the 1963 assassination, including the pilot David Ferrie (Joe Pesci), and drops the case. In 1966, reading the Warren Report, he reopens it, convinced the single-bullet theory is wrong. His staff interviews witnesses, including the prisoner Willie O'Keefe (Kevin Bacon), and Garrison comes to suspect businessman Clay Shaw (Tommy Lee Jones). Lee Harvey Oswald (Gary Oldman) appears in flashbacks. In Washington, a man calling himself X (Donald Sutherland) describes a high-level plot. Witnesses refuse to talk or die, and his wife Liz Garrison (Sissy Spacek) resents the cost to their family. The Prologue, a piece for drums and brass, plays under the opening newsreel montage of the Kennedy years; the film shares 1991 with Hook and comes before Jurassic Park in this list.
JFK ending explained
JFK ends with the jury acquitting Clay Shaw in 1969 after less than an hour of deliberation. In court, Garrison plays the Zapruder film, argues for three shooters firing six shots, and claims a coup put Lyndon Johnson in power to widen the Vietnam War. Despite losing, he wins back his wife's respect. Closing text says files on the assassination remain sealed. The film drew criticism for its embrace of conspiracy theories, and its release led Congress to pass a 1992 law releasing many of those records.
Post-credits scenes
No. JFK has no mid- or post-credits scene.
Where to watch JFK
JFK isn't on a US streaming service right now. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 8.0/10, Rotten Tomatoes 85%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Hook, before Jurassic Park.
- Chronological order: after Hook, before Jurassic Park.
Cast
- Kevin Costner as Jim Garrison
- Tommy Lee Jones as Clay Shaw
- Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald
- Kevin Bacon as Willie O'Keefe
- Michael Rooker as Bill Broussard
- Jack Lemmon as Jack Martin
- Laurie Metcalf as Susie Cox
- Sissy Spacek as Liz Garrison
- Joe Pesci as David Ferrie
- John Candy as Dean Andrews
- Pruitt Taylor Vince as Lee Bowers
- Jay O. Sanders as Lou Ivon
Directed by Oliver Stone.