The Lennon Report

Being a huge Beatles and John Lennon fan I was surprised to see a take on that awful night John Lennon was shot that I wasn't aware of before. The story was so crazy so I did a little bit of research and couldn't believe it was basically a play by play of how it went down. Unlike most "based on true story" movies this really is mostly true. The acting was great and it really puts in you in gritty 1980 New York City. I think what I loved most was that the movie wasn't really centered on John Lennon the man, but about the people who did their best to keep the voice of a generation alive. It was such a tragic moment in time..I think they captured it well. Two thumbs up from this reviewer.

And I'm glad that it stayed pretty close to the actual events. It's a story that is not of interest to everyone, but a lot of people (myself included) had a strong emotional connection to it, and it's a story that deserved to be told. I'm glad that the murderer went unmentioned; he has gotten way to much publicity already. And I agree with the opinion expressed by the two nurses when they were running the credits: Alan Weiss was a pain in the ass.

I love this type of movie very much. I enjoyed this movie and got excited. It's a heart touching movie than ever. I love this movie very much. It was based on true events regarding the shooting of a well-known person. However, it takes on two different perspectives. The first and foremost regards a journalist who was taken to the hospital for injuries mainly to his leg while the other is of the doctor who worked at that same hospital trying to operate on the shooting victim to save his life. Unfortunately for this movie, only the latter perspective works. The journalist was not an interesting character compared to the doctor. Because it was focused on the journalist, the movie felt like a drag as it reached the end of its hour and a half run time. The lack of focus on an actually good perspective was the fatal stab to this movie that had a noble idea at its heart. For its efforts, it deserves a viewing; for its value, it deserves a seal of mediocrity.

Even though we are not big Beatle fans we enjoyed the movie immensely. We lived through those times and had no idea of so many of the previously undisclosed facts surrounding the real event of an icon's tragic death. One of the best independent films we've enjoyed over the years and a film we would recommend even to the younger crowd who may not be as familiar with John Lennon. In this regard, the settings, costumes and scenery in general are all well done, and accurately portray the times. Those non-cellphone days are an interesting contrast for younger viewers to experience, especially from the reporting side. After having our interest piqued and delving further, we were rewarded with knowing the film was not a typical "based on fact" film, but one that very closely follows all the relevant facts.

What could of been a great story about the last moments of a generations icon were failed by terrible wooden acting and poor casting choices. The whole movie looks like an episode of a soap opera with incredibly low production value. Bad wigs, fake moustaches inaccurate behaviour of the time period and so much more. The story is totally overshadowed by these things.