Can you really make an entire feature length film out of a single day’s events following JFK’s assasination? Well, yes – by following four different stories: Zapruder the famous film-maker, The Oswalds, the law, and the emergency room doctors and nurses. The result is a bit muddled, but keeps you engaged by several scenes of drama and emotion from everyone involved, including deeply affected citizens. If you are looking for more information on how or why, then skip it – the movie literally just follows the most obvious facts and does nothing to cause you to question that Oswald was the guy. In the end, the movie isn’t as powerful as I expected – but does a decent job of imparting what it must have been like to experience the death of a widely loved man.
My acting pick goes to Paul Giamatti for his rendition of the quirky yet directed Zapruder. Billy Bob Thornton and Marcia Gay Harden provide some memorable moments, but Zac Effron – although he was a central figure – didn’t come off that strong to me.
Good job recreating the times.