Oswald's Ghost

The murder of John F. Kennedy — the unsolved murder, according to an overwhelming majority of Americans — has never lost its creepy fascination. In this riveting yet ultimately unsatisfying documentary, veteran director Robert Stone revisits the scene of the crime as well as the conspiracy theories that persist. The film is grippingly effective as a detailed recap for the huge chunk of the populace born after 1963; it also does an excellent job of shaking the foundations of the belief systems that have calcified around the major plots and perp(s). Stone is less successful in drawing a line from JFK's assassination through the turmoil of the '60s to Watergate and the continuing cynicism and distrust Americans display toward the government. Although he doesn't solve the murder, or even try, he argues convincingly that Kennedy's horrifically violent death will prickle the national psyche a while longer.