The Killing of John Lennon (2006)
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37% of critics liked it
(35 reviews) -
48% of users liked it
(35,166 ratings)
What sort of man kills one of the most beloved musicians in the world, and what prompts him to pull the trigger? Filmmaker Andrew Piddington explores these questions in this fact-based drama which examines several weeks in the life of Mark David Chapman, the man who murdered John Lennon. Chapman… More What sort of man kills one of the most beloved musicians in the world, and what prompts him to pull the trigger? Filmmaker Andrew Piddington explores these questions in this fact-based drama which examines several weeks in the life of Mark David Chapman, the man who murdered John Lennon. Chapman (played by Jonas Ball) is a self-obsessed young man who has an emotionally distant relationship with his parents and a failing marriage to Gloria (Mie Omori). Unable to hold down a job, Chapman spends a lot of time at the public library, where he rereads J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye and browses though a photo book on John Lennon, and the two begin to fuse in his imagination, as he links Holden Caulfield's grousing about "phonies" with the fame and wealth of one-time activist Lennon. Chapman hops a flight to New York City and visits the sights Caulfield talked about in the novel when not busy standing vigil outside the Dakota, the luxury apartment building Lennon calls home, with a gun in his possession. The first time Chapman crosses paths with Lennon as he's leaving the Dakota, he asks the former Beatle to sign a copy of Double Fantasy, Lennon's new album; several hours later, Lennon returns home and Chapman approaches him with a very different intent. The Killing of John Lennon was primarily filmed in the locations where the real-life events took place, and all of Chapman's dialogue in the film was taken from his diaries or interviews he's given since his arrest and imprisonment. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Andrew Piddington
- Written By
- Andrew Piddington
- Genres
- Drama
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Aug 15, 2006 Wide
- Studio
- IFC Films
Critic Reviews
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Mark Rahner, Seattle Times
It's well-constructed and acted, but mainly just left me feeling like I needed a shower after an exercise in voyeurism surrounding an event that's still hard to watch.
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Sam Adams, Los Angeles Times
Gets inside Chapman's head but never under his skin.
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Kyle Smith, New York Post
Even if you can forgive [director] Piddington's mangling of the basics, you will find it hard to overlook his frantic use of slo-mo, a wobbly camera, freeze frames, double exposures and a close-up of a single eye.
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Gene Seymour, Newsday
The only revelations in The Killing of John Lennon are those we could have picked up ourselves, assuming we cared enough to do so.
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Aaron Hillis, Village Voice
Who is the audience here, besides depraved Beatles completists?
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Cast
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Jonas Ball
as Mark David Chapman
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Mie Omori
as Gloria
- Gail Kay Bell
- Krisha Fairchild
- Robert C. Kirk
- Anthony Solis
- Vera Felice
- Richard Sherman
- Gunther Stern
