neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Interview With The Assassin
	Neil Burger Raymond J. Barry, Dylan Haggerty, Renee Faia 2002		What if there really was a second gunman on the grassy knoll in Dallas on November 22, 1963 — a mystery man who shot JFK and got away? "Interview with the Assassin" suggests that certain conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy assassination may have been on the money. In this singular low-budget drama, a terminally ill man (Raymond J. Barry) claiming to be the shooter on the grassy knoll tells his story to a schnook TV news cameraman (Dylan Haggerty) who is in way over his head. The bare-bones video approach to the project may have been necessitated by economic concerns, as it was with "The Blair Witch Project," but "Interview with the Assassin" writer/director Neil Burger surely intended the documentary vibe that gives a crucial patina of reality to his speculative story. The ending is meant to be so viscerally disturbing, it's as if Burger craved a bang-up climax, no matter how it undercut the conviction of what went before. It's a minor quibble. The merit of the film is that most of it comes off like a genuine investigative piece about a disturbed man who could very well be a ruthless killer.