This was a very entertaining film with an outstanding cast, though the conspiracy itself is laughable. It seemed to involve everyone from the Mob to the Pentagon to the CIA to Castro.

For anyone interested in a refutation of the conspiracy theories, read Case Closed by Gerald Posner. It not only dissects how the JFK conspiracy myth was constructed, but I found it to gives (unintentional) insight into how many modern legends (like the U.F.O. stories) come to be.

As an example, of the several hundred people in the Plaza that day who gave statements about the shooting, about 95% said the gunshots came from the Book Depository. But the conspiracy books only mention the 5% who claim it came from the Grassy Knoll. By focusing only on the facts that support the theory, the impression is given that an avalanche of information points to a conspiracy.

Combine this with people giving one story at the time, then changing their story years later (either to get attention, or sell a book, or because they were bribed by Jim Garrison), and it starts to look like the only reasonable explanation was that Oswald did not act alone.

Jim Garrison wasn't a hero, but an unethical publicity seeker. The way he hounded Clay Shaw was a travesty of American justice.

Oswald acted alone. What most people who listen only to the conspiracy theories don't know is that Oswald had tried to assassinate someone earlier that year. The F.B.I. had no clue until they interviewed Oswald's wife several days after Oswald was dead. (It was some racist ex-general who went on speaking tours around America at the time, but who lived in Dallas. Oswald shot at him in his study, but missed because the bullet apparently hit a branch on a tree overhanging the window. The F.B.I. matched the bullet in the general's house to Oswald's gun, but only after the wife connected the dots for them.)

Oswald's brother is convinced that Oswald did it. Ruby's friends thought it was perfectly in keeping with Ruby that he would shoot Oswald to avenge the president and become a hero. Ruby was unhinged, and his nickname going back to Chicago was "Sparky", because he was liable to blow a fuse in a moment's notice, and had taken shots at people before.

Stone's movie has made a lasting impression on America. Some polls show that around 80% of Americans believe that the JFK assassination happened somewhere closely to Stone's depiction.

But I enjoyed the movie nevertheless. I also consider Platoon one of the all-time great films.

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"The Gods are just, and of our pleasant vices
Make instruments to plague us." - King Lear