Groden’s film was released about the time of Oliver’s Stone’s JFK, and while it could be argued that the timing was set to tie in with the release of the big budgeted film, one has to remember that Groden has been a decades long critic of the Warren Commission and its conclusions. If Groden released the film to make a couple of extra bucks by striking while the iron was hot, you can’t fault the sentiment.
Groden’s film begins with a recreation of the day in Dallas via archival footage and sound recordings. Taking us from the arrival of the President and his wife on to his shooting and the announcement of his passing. We then get a simple examination of what happened via news footage of eyewitness interviews and police reports before moving onto an examination of the evidence as laid out in the warren commission report (I recently heard someone say the only people who don’t believe the Warren Commission Report are the people who’ve read it).
A wonderful simple piece of filmmaking, Groden’s film simply states his view that something was wrong with the official story he then uses the report against itself, adding contemporaneous news reports as back up. It’s not a screaming indictment of some grand plan (ala Stone’s JFK or any other film on the assassination), rather it’s a quiet and nuanced examination of the facts that finds that the official story is wrong.
Quiet is sometimes better. Quiet sometimes makes a bigger impact.
Groden’s film makes an impact, and if it isn’t big and loud its so much better for it.
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