“I believe in Holden Caulfield and what he was saying… What he was saying to a lost generation.”
Chapter 27 reenacts the final moments before Mark David Chapman murdered John Lennon. The title is a play on J.D. Salinger’s classic novel The Catcher in the Rye, which ends on chapter 26. Chapman related and modeled his life after the book’s main character Holden Caulfield.
Jared Leto transformed for the role, gaining over 70 pounds. He’s almost entirely unrecognizable. A black haired Lindsay Lohan plays a hardcore Lennon fan, which she actually pulls off. Judah Friedlander delivers a matured dramatic performance as a paparazzi photographer.
It’s interesting to wonder what would have happened if Jude had taken Chapman up on his offer to leave the city. Would John Lennon still be alive? Why did Chapman kill Lennon?? What was the connection to Catcher in the Rye? We never really find out. The film creates more questions than it provides answers, Instead the film accurately portrays the events leading up to the murder, most of which are historically interesting but not in the least visually entertaining. The film crawls by at a snail’s pace, only picking up speed when Lennon arrives.
/Film Rating: 4 out of 10
January 30th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
No excuse for this film,
http://www.boycottchapter27.org
June 30th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
this flim should still be released even though you dont approve cuz iam very sure any fan of jared would love to see this film and as you said jareds transformation was unreconizable and a health risk for him so dont boycott this film beacause he worked really hard for 6 weeks
September 8th, 2007 at 10:16 am
I have to say Jared and Lindsey do a fantastic job of acting in this film. And some people out there are as sick as Mr. Chapman want to control what the world see’s and and are able to do. As long as one looks at this film from the positive perspective one should not have an issue learning how not to be as a human being. Learn your lesson and let others learn from lessons within entertainment. THIS IS A MOVIE… remember that. Not a tribute because I love John Lennon too and I would never look at this as a tribute to his killer. I would look at this as a director/writer’s vision of art with a message for human life just as John’s music was a message for human life and love… something even a sickass fan like Mr. Chapmen missed. So please keep freedom alive and censor your own life if you do not like something. Go see this movie.
October 5th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
Hi, I totally admire Jared Leto for his commitment to the roles he plays and really want this film to get onto DVD so I can buy it. I think that there have been many topics in the worlds history that have been made into films and this is a great way to educate and inform our future generations of things that happened. Not all films glamorise or glorify the darks deeds of the past and some we would all do to remember.
November 8th, 2007 at 10:20 am
I don’t think that boycotting this movie is doing anything. I think that if they want to make a movie to show people hoe John Lennon was murdered then so be it. Honestly, If Ono has a problem with it then it shouldn’t be showen but other than that the movie should. How many people out there really know what happened? This is a good way to show people. Therefore, the movie goes on.
March 21st, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Oh Please. 2 bad movies are now made about the assassination of John Lennon. The jared Leto film will come and go at the box office, Just like the one that was released 2 months ago. Why not a film about celebrating Lennon’s life. But as long as you Jared Leto and Lindsay Lohan fans are happy to see your stars on screen, what does it matter to give that pathetic ,pudgy killer fame that he yearned for in killing Lennon in the first place. I hope jared Leto’s career is extinguished after this poor choice of roles. Lindsay’s career is already over so it makes no difference. And who cares what jared ate to put on weight. DeNiro as Raging bull was interesting in his weight gain.