Reviewing "JFK" as merely a movie is difficult, since filmmaker Oliver Stone is a man with an agenda, taking a specific point of view and hammering it home in true TV "docudrama" style — including re-enacted newsreel footage combined with actual newsreel footage.

That approach is intended, of course, to add an air of gritty authenticity to this look at the assassination of President Kennedy. But at more than three hours, the redundant newsreels and TV reports, along with speeches that go on forever, become a bit taxing. (Not to mention an odd penchant for extreme closeups, which makes one wonder if "JFK" wasn't made with small-screen viewing in mind.)

Stone's belief, of course, is that there was a conspiracy, and his film automatically discounts the Warren Commission's "lone gun" theory. To impress this upon his audience, Stone plies his usual sledgehammer filmmaking approach to allege that U.S. military and intelligence agencies, along with weapons contractors, had a hand in the killing of the president.

Kevin Costner seems well cast as Jim Garrison, the New Orleans district attorney who, three years after the fact, begins his own investigation into the assassination, which he finds contradicts the Warren Report at every turn.

Costner's Garrison is no firebrand eccentric, however. He's a laconic prosecutor, a family man who becomes obsessed with the conflicts he sees and seems oblivious to the fact that it is taking over his life.

As a counterpoint to the latter, Sissy Spacek plays Garrison's wife, constantly reminding him of family responsibilities and becoming more than a little upset when he ignores his children. Unfortunately, Spacek is little more than glitter in a thankless role. In fact, "JFK" might have had more power — and certainly would have been mercifully shorter — without the domestic scenes of Garrison at home, as they distract us from the film's central thrust.

Another Stone device that seems to detract from the issues at hand is his casting major stars as minor characters whom Garrison encounters during his investigation, including such veterans as Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ed Asner and Donald Sutherland, along with younger stars like Kevin Bacon and Joe Pesci. What is the point, beyond prompting audience members to whisper to each other as they play "spot the star"?