JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass
ALTITUDELike George Lucas and Star Wars, Francis Ford Coppola and Apocalypse Now before him, Oliver Stone can't seem to leave JFK alone. His latest foray into the subject matter, after his monumental 1991 Kevin Costner thriller, lands in the guise of a documentary JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass. Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg and Donald Sutherland, along with Stone himself interviewing historians and experts, this new venture once again tries to uncover the truth of what happened on that day in Dallas with the release of recently declassified documents.
The easiest and quickest way to describe JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass is to take the monumental expositional sequence between Kevin Costner and Donald Sutherland in Stone's JFK and stretch it out for two or so hours. Good or bad, that is what this documentary entails not only aesthetically and cinematically but also through the delivery of information. Any fans of the conspiracy genre or even that specifically of JFK's assassination will find an entertainment factor here in the colossal amount of substance and narrative this feature puts forward. Granted, much of it has been told repeatedly through the languishing of this conspiracy theory and on the surface, so little feels fresh.
This is arguably the major obstacle that Stone faces and sadly fails to ignite. The documentary itself does not pride nor distinguish what new and valuable information it has compared to the known and evident information that has already been foretold. The two begin to blur, and due to this, the experience never feels fresh and more so like a crammed educational experience on something that has been examined to absolute death.
Furthermore, Stone does little to excite in the narrative sense. His montage and quick-cut editing in JFK had long been a monumental achievement in stringing balance of pace and exposition. Sadly, the same can not be said for his latest piece that cuts between Stone himself and an interviewee or archive footage narrated by Goldberg and then Sutherland. The interview segments themselves are flat, cutting away from the momentum and atmosphere for blanket statements and stalemate opinions that can neither be proven nor further the investigation. While fascinating and informative, the archive material ultimately descends into a facade of the history channel, with the narrations constantly feeling amid a history lesson rather than an informative atmospheric study.
The narrators themselves do little to inspire momentum or immersion, with Goldberg notably the weakest link here, bringing little passion or declaration in her voice and thus charisma undeniably weak. Sutherland, homaging his role in Stone's JFK, does a rather splendid job but, simply put, it lacks the same momentum and declaration of the 1991 hit. More striking is why Stone resorted two having two narrators and not conducting this passion piece himself. Made more frustrating is that Stone actively participates in the film on camera and provides a narrative in the prologue and epilogue.
Stone's latest documentary will fulfil those simplistic needs for any fan of the genre or those who can not get their JFK conspiracy fill. Furthermore, for those first entering the genre and wanting to find a place to dip one's toes into this gargantuan subject matter, JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass will arguably suffice with a couple of rewatches to flesh out the sheer amount of information involved. Nevertheless, this is a documentary with a primary purpose to showcase these very declassified documents and truly bring satisfaction to this story. Unfortunately, Stone's documentary sadly underwhelms and disappoints on every measure on that very definition.
