Chapter 27

I wanted to watch this movie because, by a weird coincidence, I happened to walk by the Dakota the night John Lennon was shot. At the time I was a senior in high school visiting New York for a few days, feeling a lot like my imagination of Holden Caulfield. "John Lennon got shot," the police said. I went to Central Park for the public memorial. Some people were sad, but many others were excited, as if they were taking part in a giant happening. The atmosphere was hardly funereal, something you can see in the stock footage of the scene. I was disgusted and left. "Phonies," I thought.

The movie gets a lot of things right. The preppy clothes, the look of New York, the bad food, the awkward dialog all brought back memories of feeling young and alienated. It also succeeds in its allusions to "The Catcher in the Rye" and even "Lolita," where Chapman could just as easily have been Humbert Humbert at the end. The acting is quite good, and the direction, though flawed, is right more often than not.

Most interesting to me was the concept. Many reviewers feel disappointed that we don't understand the mind of the killer by the end. But that's the point. There's nothing to understand. The relation between fans and artists is much like the relation between youth and age. In the first instance, there is sensitivity that this powerless and derivative, and in the second, there is sensitivity that is assured and original. The former condition, as Salinger, Nabokov, and my own memory of adolescence contend, is basically Hell. The main character never escapes this condition-consider his book inscription. From this perspective the movie is less an exploration of his motivation, which is causal and developmental, than a description of his emotional state, which is static and permanent. This is suggested by the structure of the narrative, which follows the circularity of Salinger's novel.

Viewers will have to decide for themselves whether the movie pulls off the larger metaphor, namely, that America itself has never escaped the nightmare of adolescence. If you want to see the disintegration of a lonely loser, "The Assassignation of Richard Nixon" is a better movie. But "Chapter 27" is smarter than it appears.

I saw this at the Waterfront Film Festival in Saugatuck, Michigan.

Starring Jared Leto as Mark Chapman, it follows him over the course of a few days until December 8, 1980 when he killed John Lennon.

It was pretty good, but nothing special. Jared Leto did a nice job as Chapman and was in virtually every frame of the film. Lindsay Lohan played a minor role as one of the fellow Lennon fans, but she's barely in the film. The film could really work as a one man show on stage.

The problem with the film is that it's very repetitive. At 84 minutes, it's pretty much 84 minutes of Chapman narrating, "I have to meet John Lennon,I have to kill John Lennon." I don't know much about the real Mark Chapman, and I don't know if this film is extremely accurate, but there could have been a better way to tell the story.

Overall, I was pretty disappointed with this film, it's an okay movie but it could have been so much better.

I wasn't sure what to expect of this movie, given the reviews that were all over the place. I was prepared for it to be dark, and for the narrative to not necessarily be straight-line. But... I wasn't prepared to like it as much as I did.

Yes, the movie doesn't give you any answers, that much of the criticism is true. But in the end, I think it's more satisfying that way. We get a little glimpse at a person who committed an inexplicable act, and maybe know a little more about him, but in the end, do we really understand? No. And that's fine. Sometimes we just DON'T know the answers to everything.

Jared Leto's performance is amazing, and well worth seeing even were the movie much worse than it is. He goes to some other place entirely, and shows us what it's like there - which, in my mind, IS great acting. Lindsey Lohan is quite good in her role, but the part is very limited - the movie belongs to Jared.

It's a shame this movie wasn't seen more widely; it certainly deserves to be.

Slow and Painful. Two words that aptly describe the assassination of John Lennons.

Acting: Jared Leto is Mark Chapman. The weight gain, the accent, the mannerisms, the eccentric disturbing yet intriguing eyes. His acting is nothing short of excellent. Lindsay Lohan is believable, however, her character is esssentially non-existent.

Directing: Loneliness. The feeling is loneliness is excellently captured by director J.P. Schaefer. I don't want to compare this work to Taxi Driver but both pieces contain a broken, lonely main character in New York. The feeling of loneliness is beautifully capture. I felt lonely watching this movie, i felt all alone. Something i haven't felt since watching Taxi Driver.

Script: It won't be an Oscar winning script. You won't leave the theatre feeling mystified as you did after you saw fight club and the usual suspects. However, the script fits perfectly. Critics have crucified Chapter 27 saying it does not give an in-depth look into the mind of the killer. But that's not the point of the film, Mark Chapman even admits this a few minutes into the film.

If you feel it's too soon to watch a movie about John Lennon don't watch it. The actual killing scene, although not graphic, is very powerful. But if you have the choice of seeing this movie, give it a go.

I would first like to say how disgusted I am that people would actually go and see this film. Is it not enough that the production company is making money off of a death, and not only a death - but the murder of a great legend - one of the few people who was sincerely dedicated to finding peace. Mark David Chapman said that he wanted fame from his act - so what do they do? They give it to him. Hmm... I wonder what people would've given Mr. Manson if they'd make money off of it. When does the madness of money and greed stop? Make movies to inspire people to be like John Lennon. Don't give in to a nation of Hollywood - FIGHT CHAPTER 27! I have not rated this film because I was part of the boycott.