INTERVIEW WITH THE ASSASSIN: Released on DVD last week was Neil Burger's Interview with the Assassin (2002), a faux-documentary about the assassin of President Kennedy finally confessing to his involvement in the scheme. In the film, cameraman Ron Kobeleski (Dylan Haggerty) discovers that his elderly neighbor Walter Ohlinger (Raymond J. Barry. of Training Day, Just Married, and The Ref) is the shooter from the grassy knoll, or at least purports to be. The weight of time, or conscience, has prompted Ohlinger to unmask himself as a member of the conspiracy, and his confession inspires both himself and Kobeleski to travel across the nation to find the remaining conspirators. As the film progresses, however, it degenerates from historical intrigue to hackneyed political thriller in which, of course, the characters discover that they may just be in over their heads.

Shot in the now trendy, oft-emulated Blair Witch Project style, the direction hovers somewhere between trendy postmodern pseudo-documentary and the Danish Dogme95 movement. The approach to film-making can add to the tension and suspense, particularly when done well, but the novelty of the technique has certainly atrophied since the buzz of Blair Witch climaxed in the summer of 1999. (See 2003's The Wicksboro Incident for an example of another film in which the film-makers pilfer from the Blair Witch handbook.)

Furthermore, Burger's knowledge of the assassination itself seems entirely derived not from independent research or, gasp, books on the subject but rather popular films and conventional wisdom. The film could have been at its best when Ohlinger is recounting the particulars of the 1963 assassination, but unfortunately, in advancing the narrative, Burger merely recycles popular culture from the last decade, including Oliver Stone's JFK, The X-Files (particularly the Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man episode). Indeed, this is not a film for the conspiracy buff; instead, it is aimed at the viewer who is not looking for clever references to assassination obscurities or even a satire of the still-burgeoning conspiracy industry.

Barry, who the viewer will likely recognize but initially be unable to place, performs ably as the creepy former Marine with a secret to share. Haggerty, as this film's Heather Donahue, spends most of his time muttering behind the camera and meekly pleading Barry's character to refrain from doing whatever it is he is about to do.

What began as interesting premise collapses of its own ambition. Ultimately with an unsatisfying conclusion suggesting perhaps that the entirety of the Ohlinger's account was either a paranoid delusion or groundwork for an insanity plea.