The Killing of John Lennon (NR, 2008)

Drawing from the prison diaries of Mark David Chapman, THE KILLING OF JOHN LENNON imagines what it might be like inside the assassin's mind. Tracing the three months leading up to Chapman's murder of John Lennon on Dec. 8, 1980, Andrew Piddington's film begins in Hawaii, where the 25-year-old Chapman (Jonas Ball) lives with his mother (Krisha Fairchild) and young wife, Gloria (Mie Omori). Lonely and disturbed, he's determined to become famous, and finds his means when he reads The Catcher in the Rye. Identifying with main character Holden Caulfield, Chapman decides to rid the world of the man he considers its greatest "phony": the former Beatle living in New York City.

Gloomy and angry, Chapman doesn't provide much in the way of standard biopic fodder. Certainly, he's extremely troubled; his favorite movies are Taxi Driver, Apocalypse Now, and Ordinary People -- which all focus on unhappy individuals trying to change their worlds with violence. "I was Mr. Nobody," Chapman says, "'til I killed the biggest somebody on earth."

While the film relies on some clichés to convey Chapman's distress (low-angle views of his sad face, slow-motion shots of city sidewalks), it also suggests his frustrating contexts: Speedy media and unattainable wealth surround him. Evoking Chapman's inability to see outside his own rage and needs by using long sequences of fragmented images, the movie makes clear that he was less deviant than a logical product of his moment. More tragically, his story can be seen as a projection, a look forward into the "future" (i.e. our own present) of celebrity culture.

Studio: IFC Entertainment
Director: Andrew Piddington
Cast: Jonas Ball, Krisha Fairchild, Mie Omori
Genre: Drama
Run time: 114 minutes
Theatrical release: January 2, 2008
DVD release: August 4, 2008
MPAA Rating: NR