Rhapsodies

This week I watched another batch of conspiracy theory movies. Specifically, I watched movies that dealt with the all of the paranoid fantasies involving the Kennedy Assassination or films that do their own paranoid fantasies, using the Kennedy assassination as a template.

The first film on my list, Alan J. Pakula’s The Parallax View, starring Warren Beatty, technically starts out using the assassination of Robert Kennedy (well technically I didn’t say WHICH Kennedy assassination in the title) Three years ago a prominent Senator is assassinated during his reelection campaign in the Space Needle. The killer dies falling off the needle’s roof, but another killer slips away. 

Since then investigators and anyone else involved have been dropping like flies. Reporter Joe Frady (Beaty) has been investigating since the beginning but has been mostly silenced by the police who want to know his sources. Slowly he begins to find evidence of an organization recruiting malcontents to commit even more assassinations, but can Frady find the truth before the truth closes in on him. 

This film was… okay. It starts out all right, provided you ignore the gratuitous car chases and fight scenes. However by the second half is so heavy-handed that being paranoid is pointless. You don’t have to suspect anyone. Either they’re going to die or they’re going to betray you.

The next film on my list Oliver Stone’s JFK tells the story of the aftermath of the Kennedy Assassination and the investigation of New Orleans District Attorney General Jim Garrison, (played by Kevin Costner) who led the only prosecution attached to the assassination. 

I really have mixed feelings about this film. A lot of this is due to my feelings about Stone himself and my belief that he always lets his agenda get in the way of craft. The fact that I may occasionally agree with him is irrelevant here. 

JFK is no acceptation it is a rambling collection of all of Stone’s pet theories and views of the world that are so all over the place that it can’t be regarded as anything besides fiction. 

On the other hand, Stone’s at the top of his game as a filmmaker and I really liked the editing and the ensemble cast of some of my favorite actors playing against type.