The Assassination of President Kennedy (2013)
*** 1/2
Tom Hanks served as the Executive Producer for this documentary that originally aired on CNN. The documentary's first forty-five minutes covers President Kennedy arriving in Dallas and everything leading up to his assassination, the arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald and of course Jack Ruby entering the picture. The final portion of this movie is meant to prove that the 61% of Americans who believe there was some sort of conspiracy and that there was more than one shooter are wrong. I must say that I've watched quite a few Kennedy documentaries over the past two decades and each of them usually offers a different view and opinion on the subject. It seems that a lot of the documentaries made for the 50th Anniversary of the assassination are laying down a hammer in regards to anyone other than Oswald being the shooters. This film shows the various theories that have been out there starting just days after the assassination and it pretty much tries to crush all of them. The main focus is Jim Garrison, the New Orleans D.A. who was the main subject in Oliver Stone's JFK. The experts here really give Garrison a major beating and at this point I really wished the "other side" was given an opportunity to speak up and share their thoughts. Great documentaries can be made about the side saying there was only one killer as there can also be great documentaries by the side saying there were more than one shooter. With that said, I must admit that I'd prefer a film that gave both sides a chance to speak so that the viewer can make up their own minds. THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY doesn't really do this as many of the conspiracy theories are simply put to rest but I'd say there still many questions that aren't answered. Again, it's fine that this film wants to give its opinions on the subject but in the end there's just no way to deny that it's rather one sided. I don't think we'll ever know what really happened that day if there was a conspiracy and if a single man did really take down the President then it's just something that happened that no one can believe. The documentary contains some great interviews, some wonderful footage and there's no question that the editing of the material is top notch. Kennedy buffs will certainly want to check it out but I'm going to guess that 61% of the people watching it aren't going to buy what it's saying.
