This is not a new movie - it was made back in 2007 but I recently watched it and wanted to share a review.
Jared Leto (Lead singer for the band 30 Seconds to Mars) stars as Mark David Chapman, the man who shot John Lennon. The movie follows him on his 3-day journey in New York the days before he committed a murder that shook the music world, if not the world as a whole.
The story is laid out in "Stream-of-Consciousness" style, much the same way that Holden Caulfield in Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye" - the book that influenced Chapman and drove him to his heinous crime. We see flashes of his past and flashes of the future interlaced between moments of the present. We hear his thoughts as he speaks and interacts with the other members of the cast. The supporting cast itself is very small. Lindsay Lohan plays Jude, a Beatles fan that MDC meets a few times. Judah Friedlander (Frank from 30 Rock) plays Paul, a photographer. A few other characters we meet: A few cab drivers, a few doormen, a prostitute, a young Sean Lennon, and John Lennon. Yoko makes a quick appearance.
This is the kind of movie that you probably shouldn't watch alone. As it's about a murderer and follows his thought-processes, it can be a little hard to digest. Being able to discuss the movie and work out your feelings after watching it would be very helpful. I watched it alone and had to find something to calm me down before I went to bed. I listened to "Hey Jude", and was recommended by a friend to listen to "All you need is Love" because, as she said... "It's what John would want." That helped for sure.
Worth the watch, especially if you're a Beatles fan. As I said though, Probably don't watch it alone. Have someone to talk about it with after!!
MPAA Rating: R for A scene of violence, brief nudity, and Language.
SPOILER ALERT:
Just as "Catcher in the Rye" ends with an admission that the whole story has been Holden Caulfield talking to us from a Psychiatric Hospital, We find out that MDC has been telling us about his 3-day journey from a Pschiatric Hospital as well, furthering his dillusion that he was Holden Caulfield. "Catcher in the Rye" only has 26 chapters, and MDC believed that he was living in Chapter 27 of "Catcher in the Rye", hence the name of the movie.
