Revisiting the assassination of President John F. Kennedy as the tragedy s fiftieth anniversary approaches, writer-director Peter Landesman provides an up-close-and-personal view of the events in Dallas by following the intertwined stories of several people swept up in the shooting and its aftermath. Taking its title from the hospital where both Kennedy and assassin Lee Harvey Oswald were pronounced dead, Parkland expends lots of energy and expertise on re-creating these infamous events, yet it is so lacking in narrative purpose that many viewers are likely to leave muttering, Okay…but so what?
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The reason for that has to do with the Kennedy assassination s place in the national imagination. Much of the event s lingering fascination stems from the perception of unsolved mystery that still surrounds it, and questions about the effects it had on the nation s subsequent history and character. Whether one agrees with it or not, Oliver Stone s seminal JFK was a huge