On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 84% based on 63 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "As history, Oliver Stone's "JFK" is dubious, but as filmmaking it's electric, cramming a ton of information and excitement into its three-hour runtime and making great use of its outstanding cast." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.