The Killing of John Lennon

All of Mark David Chapman's words are his own, we're informed at the beginning of this recreation from the life of the murderer of Beatle John Lennon, which covers the months leading up to the horrific and senseless crime. But therein lies the rub: we only have the perspective of a madman here, and that turns out to be no more enlightening than the ramblings of any violent schizophrenic or criminal psychotic. In fact, I'm hard pressed to see how this staccato, disjointed film differs much from the major media airings of Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho's video manifesto, as filmmaker Andrew Piddington—a British TV director turning to feature films—does nothing other than give Chapman more of what he states was his purpose in killing Lennon: to be famous, to be notorious. Jonas Ball does an impressive job of conveying Chapman's paranoid anxiety and psychoses (the ultra-low-budget film fares far more poorly in its attempts to replicate 1980's New York), but without any larger context, Ball's effort goes for naught. Maybe there's just no sense to be made—but if that's the case, why continue to feed Chapman's delusions? Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by writer-director Andrew Piddington, 34 minutes of deleted scenes, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a disappointing film.] (M. Johanson)