68/100
Review from MrJamesAckerley.com
"The voice of my youth just died on my table, and I had his heart in my hand."
Watching The Lennon Report made me feel a sense of extreme sadness. If John were alive today, he would probably be provoking, controversial, extraordinary, and inspiring.
His life was cut short on December 8th 1980, and The Lennon Report deals with this tragic event and its immediate aftermath. No Lennon fiction film to date has explored the medical side of his murder, and watching this film provided a strong insight to what the night might have been like. Director Jeremy Pride stated:
"This is the best effort we could possibly make to tackle this subject respectfully to the family, to the fans, respectfully to the people involved. The reason we came forward with the story was because in order for the truth to have any weight or credibility, people really needed to understand what happened."
It's impossible to say if the historical event has been treated accurately, but the sense of tragedy, confusion, and nostalgia is handled well. Unbeknown to me, there is some confusion about which medical professional did what during the attempt to save Lennon's life, and it's not until the end of the film that this fact is revealed. More could have been done in its final act to show this.
Alongside Lennon's tragedy, the film's focus is on Alan Weiss, a reporter who was present at the hospital before Lennon's arrival. His leading motivation is trying to break the news of Lennon's shooting, and subsequently death.
The Lennon Report, although interesting in narrative terms, lacked in its artistic and technical excellence: one can tell it was made on a low budget. Director Jeremy Pride made a good choice in casting Evan Jonigkeit who provided a very strong performance as the lead character, alongside Devin Ratray who equally played a good part. Apart from aforementioned, none of the other supporting cast stood out as noteworthy.
All fans of John Lennon or The Beatles would be interested in The Lennon Report, and would be 'entertained' by it for ninety minutes. I believe that the story was handled well, but could have technically been stronger. Recommended.
68/100
Review from MrJamesAckerley.com
"The voice of my youth just died on my table, and I had his heart in my hand."
Watching The Lennon Report made me feel a sense of extreme sadness. If John were alive today, he would probably be provoking, controversial, extraordinary, and inspiring.
His life was cut short on December 8th 1980, and The Lennon Report deals with this tragic event and its immediate aftermath. No Lennon fiction film to date has explored the medical side of his murder, and watching this film provided a strong insight to what the night might have been like. Director Jeremy Pride stated:
"This is the best effort we could possibly make to tackle this subject respectfully to the family, to the fans, respectfully to the people involved. The reason we came forward with the story was because in order for the truth to have any weight or credibility, people really needed to understand what happened."
It's impossible to say if the historical event has been treated accurately, but the sense of tragedy, confusion, and nostalgia is handled well. Unbeknown to me, there is some confusion about which medical professional did what during the attempt to save Lennon's life, and it's not until the end of the film that this fact is revealed. More could have been done in its final act to show this.
Alongside Lennon's tragedy, the film's focus is on Alan Weiss, a reporter who was present at the hospital before Lennon's arrival. His leading motivation is trying to break the news of Lennon's shooting, and subsequently death.
The Lennon Report, although interesting in narrative terms, lacked in its artistic and technical excellence: one can tell it was made on a low budget. Director Jeremy Pride made a good choice in casting Evan Jonigkeit who provided a very strong performance as the lead character, alongside Devin Ratray who equally played a good part. Apart from aforementioned, none of the other supporting cast stood out as noteworthy.
All fans of John Lennon or The Beatles would be interested in The Lennon Report, and would be 'entertained' by it for ninety minutes. I believe that the story was handled well, but could have technically been stronger. Recommended.
