The Killing Of John Lennon + Chapter
27 (Genius DVDs)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+/B- Extras: C/D Films: C/D
After the
documentaries Imagine: John Lennon
(1988) and The U.S. vs. John Lennon
(2007) did such a good, rich job of dealing with the loss of the groundbreaking
singer/songwriter who first become prominent in The Beatles that any work of
fiction was likely doomed to failure, even if it was about Mark David Chapman;
the man who shot the politically charged artist. However, two features have been made on the
subject from that point of view and they are both lame. The
Killing Of John Lennon and Chapter
27 (both 2006) have arrived on DVD and oddly, both from Genius.
Killing has Jonas Ball as Chapman
directed by Andrew Piddington, while Chapter
is misdirected by J.P. Schaffer and features Jared Leto in a fat outfit (and or
putting on some weight with one) as Chapman in the most embarrassing
performance of his career. At least Ball
can act and comes across somewhat convincingly as Chapman, while Leto thinks he
is DeNiro in Scorsese’s Raging Bull,
a film the Ball version of Chapman actually screens. Leto also has a bad accent that is never
convincing and along with Lindsay Lohan as Jude (no kidding); one of two women
he meets as he searches for Lennon, her role is stretched out too thin in the
Leto film, while they keep the role in Killing
(as played by Sofia Dubrawsky) is kept short and to the point.
But that
is another problem with the Leto version, going on and on and on and on to no
end, trivializing the subject until its stupid ending and one of the only films
were a character Leto does not die for a change, even if his performance
does... and early.
Both
however run into some of the same problems.
They both go for bad, sloppy, slick Music Video editing at the worst
times and repeat several things to their detriment. They both use the same ABC News soundbyte
when Lennon is killed, have cast actors who do not look enough like Lennon
(especially felt when getting shot) and both have the worst possible editing in
two sequences: some bad dream prior to
the shooting and even worse montage at the moment of editing. It is bad, it is amateur and it has zero
impact, no matter what they think.
That adds
up to the first two feature films on the subject not working very well and the
later being a real bomb that has less money to work with and less licensed
images and clips to use. Lohan really
plays Lohan as usual and here scenes with Leto are so especially bad that it
was like they decided to do this project together after an evening of getting
drunk in The Hamptons. Maybe next time,
the solid script and director will find a better cast and do a film about the
subject that understands what really happened.
The
biggest flaw in both releases are that the lone nut theory, that Chapman
conclusively acted alone and no one saw him coming, when records released later
showed that no less than the FBI (especially with Ronald Reagan on the way to
The White House) was watching Lennon all the time, so they could make sure
nothing got in Chapman’s way to find his target and in that we may never know
all the details. That makes both films
naïve and oversimplifying.
Both DVDs
are anamorphically enhanced, were both shot on film and have different aspect
ratios (Killing is 2.35 X 1 and was
shot in 35mm anamorphic Panavision with a little 8mm footage, while Chapter is 1.85 X 1) but both are
softer than expected, while the Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes are not equal, with the
edge going on Killing is even better
than that of Chapter with better
overall recording and a better soundfield, with a soundmix that does not bury
the dialogue. Extras include deleted
scenes, trailer and director’s commentary on Killing, while Chapter
only has a lame making of featurette.
For more
on Lennon and his legacy, try these links:
Imagine: John Lennon (1988)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3085/Imagine+-+John+Lennon+(Deluxe+Ed
The U.S. vs. John Lennon (2007)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6419/The+U.S.+vs.+John+Lennon+(2007/
- Nicholas Sheffo
