John Fitzgerald Kennedy was a highly charismatic
president known and loved today not because he made startlingly
brilliant decisions as a leader, but because he left his brains
all over the backseat of a car in Dallas.  You
may not like having this fact acknowledged, but a fact it
is. Kennedy’s presidency is an historical landmark precisely
because it ended with bloodshed, not because, visionary push
to the moon aside, he was a flawless leader.
“Oh, no!” you say. “He’s expressing
a political opinion in a DVD review!”
First, these are objective facts, not opinions. Second, you
may not think so, but you’re wrong. And third, this
documentary about the assassination of John F. Kennedy is
littered with the political opinions of its makers; I’m
simply playing by the same rules.
The title may seem to tell you a lot. The Murder of JFK: A Revisionist History.
Add in a cover blurb that touts things like, “A link
between the film Psycho and the FBI’s
report on Oswald” and one almost wants to see if Robert
Anton Wilson directed. Makes me think I should get my tinfoil
hat out of the closet, maybe brush up on my A Plane Didn’t
Really Hit The Pentagon On 9/11 theory before reverently placing
a picture of Oliver Stone on my copy of the Principia
Discordia. Dillinger. Nazis under the lake. A golden
submarine. Tra la la.
But thankfully, The Murder of JFK: A Revisionist
History isn’t the frothing-at-the-mouth, rabidly
paranoid documentary you might assume based on its title.
At least, I don’t think it is. Over the course
of its 140 minutes, it sometimes becomes difficult to sort
out exactly what it’s trying to say. There are a few
things we know for sure based on this film: 1) JFK was shot
and killed, 2) It’s America’s fault Fidel Castro
came to power, 3) But Castro was a pretty good guy compared
to that other guy, so it was a win in the end, and 4) A conspiracy
may have been behind the killing of Kennedy.
We know these things are true because there is a lot of grainy
footage featured and many older men on screen talking with
important sounding titles printed beneath them.
 Yes, it’s true, I’m being somewhat flip, and
that’s unfair. The fact of the matter is, this is a
very well done take on the whole conspiracy thing that takes
the “pro-conspiracy” road with a measured, thoughtful
approach. Those interested in the JFK assassination, no matter
their opinion on The Truth, will be pleased. This documentary
is simply brimming with rare archival footage, including material
even the most ardent follower of the JFK assassination will
not have seen. While this documentary falls on the “pro-conspiracy”
side of things – it posits the “Cuban involvement”
angle – it’s hardly ranting, raving, wide-eyed
or lacking in credibility.
 In fact, it does a pretty admirable job of avoiding all the
pitfalls of strong pro-conspiracy arguments, coming across
as scholarly and intelligent rather than as terrified of the
shadows. Director Matthew White first brings us up to speed
with a fairly comprehensive look at the political climate
of the era, with a lot of focus placed on Cuba and the Caribbean.
He then offers a solid look at the life of Lee Harvey Oswald,
the man who shot Kennedy, including a look at some very scarce
footage. With all the background in place, we launch into
the events of November 22, 1963, the day Jackie O was made
a widow. All in all, fairly comprehensive and undoubtedly
well put together.
But that doesn’t mean I have to like sitting through
yet another exposé on the Kennedy assassination.
Presentation
Full frame interviews, grainy archival footage, ancient audio
… how do you think this disc looks and sounds?
It’s not going to win any quality awards, but it’s
a documentary built around 45-year-old footage. It’s
not supposed to win awards for making your HDTV look
badass. It looks and sounds clear when it needs to; that’s
all that counts.
 Extras
There are no extra features.
The Bottom Line
Oswald didn’t act alone, the Warren Commission was bullshit,
there was a conspiracy, yada, yada, frickin’ yada. Even
people who don’t know who John F. Kennedy was have been
down this road not less than a few times before. With the
Internet obscenely overflowing with all manner of knee-jerk
nitwits who see a conspiracy in everything, taking
yet another walk through the JFK conspiracy theory is, quite
frankly, nothing short of tiring.
Yet that doesn’t mean this isn’t
very well done and worth viewing for JFK aficionados. For
those interested in the subject matter, the rich array of
archival footage will be a delight, the context in which the
events of 1963 are placed is refreshingly thorough, and the
measured approach with which the filmmakers present their
conspiracy argument will be easy to swallow even for those
who don’t fall on the pro-conspiracy side of the fence.
Just don’t ask me to watch it
with you.
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