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Review #267 of 365
Film: The U.S. vs. John Lennon (2006) [NR] 99 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $13.00
Where Viewed: Landmark Mayan, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 5 October 2006
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Directed by: David Leaf ("Ricky Nelson Sings") & John Scheinfeld ("Andy Williams: My Favorite Duets ")
Screenplay by: David Leaf("Live by Request: Elvis Costello") & John Scheinfeld ("Rosemary Clooney: Girl Singer ")
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Walter Cronkite (news anchorman CBS Evening News) • Mario Cuomo (Governor of New York from 1983 to 1995) • Angela Davis (American radical activist and philosopher) • Ron Kovic (an anti-war activist who was paralyzed in the Vietnam War, author of Born on the 4th of July) • G. Gordon Liddy (chief operative for President Richard Nixon, author, radio talk show host, actor) • George McGovern (United States Congressman, Senator, lost the 1972 presidential election to Richard Nixon) • Yoko Ono (wife of John Lennon) • Geraldo Rivera (journalist, talk show host) • Gore Vidal (writer)
Soundtrack: order the CD soundtrack below
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
Primarily working previously on biographical films for television, the duo of David Leaf & John Scheinfeld have won critical acclaim for their work on A&E and PBS honoring great music legends from Ricky Nelson and Andy Williams to Bette Midler and Rosemary Clooney. So, it might seem the natural evolution or extension of their talent to produce a biography of John Lennon. The approach for this feature film, however, really isn't a biography of Lennon. Instead, it is a documentary on the period of Lennon's life beginning when he started to hope for peace in the world (around 1966 and shortly before he married Yoko Ono) until his stunning assassination in 1980. In addition, rather than being a strictly historical accounting of events, following from the loaded title of the film, The U.S. vs. John Lennon, to the choice of people interviewed, the film works to build a case that the eventually proven criminal, Republican-led, Richard Nixon government was bound and determined to destroy not only John Lennon whom they admittedly perceived to be a monstrous threat to their ability to continue to keep the truth about the Vietnam war from the American people, but anyone else in high profile positions who was spreading the notion of peace. In many ways, there might be no more important movie for people 41 and younger to see now playing on the planet. Whether intentionally constructed to draw comparisons between the Nixon presidency and the George Bush II presidency or not, let Gore Vidal's vitriolic and morose remarks in the film leave no doubt that, at least, he hopes people will find overlap and begin to wake up to them.
"…there might be no more important movie for people 41 and younger to see now playing on the planet…an important film and a meaningful film. It's just not necessarily put together in the strongest way to have made the impact on young people who see it today that Lennon was able to have on the young people of the 1960s."
In constructing the sequence of the film, Leaf and Scheinfeld intersperse a chronological flow of actual Lennon footage with non-chronological interviews with people who either knew him such as Yoko Ono herself, interviewed him and reported on him such as Walter Cronkite and Geraldo Rivera, saw his influence as in the case of Mario Cuomo, George McGovern, and Gore Vidal, or actually worked to limit his effect as in the case of Nixon stooge, G. Gordon Liddy. Unfortunately, the cutting between the Lennon footage and these interviews, at times, creates flow problems and causes time incongruities. Despite all the evidence acquired via the freedom of information act and the admissions of the people involved that the government was actually trying to quell the impact of John Lennon's music and voice on the citizens of the world, and especially the USAers, because it does not really reveal the impact his music and ideas were having on the people themselves, there is a sense of things being incomplete. There needed to be more than just references made by John himself that people were singing his words, "Give peace a chance" at rallies. Some interviews with people today who were the young people at the time explaining how Lennon impacted them would have been useful toward this end. Sadly, in fact, to most people under 41 the concepts of Watergate, Richard Nixon's resignation after it became clear that he had ordered Mr. Liddy to break into the Democratic National Campaign headquarters to steal documents, the Vietnam War, etc. are barely understood. People 30 and younger probably know very little if anything about any of this, and while they may listen to the Beatles and still appreciate their music, probably have no idea that pretty much every song Lennon wrote or sang since 1966 was an anti-war song. These songs are catchy and even beautiful, but they are really all about peace. Go back and read the lyrics to "Imagine" in the context of what he saw as a cruel, pointless, and unjustifiable war.
The net result is that this is an important film and a meaningful film. It's just not necessarily put together in the strongest way to have made the impact on young people who see it today that Lennon was able to have on the young people of the 1960s. Now those people are all in their 60s and probably wondering why the young people of today are seemingly silent on the political stage. That also would have been an interesting dimension to add to this film. Why not go to some college campuses with some of this footage and ask the college kids what's the difference and why they are silent? This would have made the film more relevant, timely, and compelling. It would have answered a lot more questions.
The net result is that this is an important film and a meaningful film. It's just not necessarily put together in the strongest way to have made the impact on young people who see it today that Lennon was able to have on the young people of the 1960s. Now those people are all in their 60s and probably wondering why the young people of today are seemingly silent on the political stage. That also would have been an interesting dimension to add to this film. Why not go to some college campuses with some of this footage and ask the college kids what's the difference and why they are silent? This would have made the film more relevant, timely, and compelling. It would have answered a lot more questions.
John Lennon - New York City Buy From Art.com
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
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Other Projects Featuring The U.S. vs. John Lennon (2006) Interviewees
Walter Cronkite
• Mario Cuomo • Angela DavisRon Kovic
• John Lennon • George McGovernRichard Nixon
• Yoko Ono • Geraldo RiveraGore Vidal
• G. Gordon LiddyOther Projects Involving The U.S. vs. John Lennon (2006) Directors
David Leaf
• John Scheinfeld| CD Soundtrack | VHS | DVD |
| Related Product | Related Book | Related Product |
The U.S. vs. John Lennon (2006) Review-lite [150-word cap]
Previously, David Leaf & John Scheinfeld have won critical acclaim for their A&E and PBS documentaries honoring music legends from Ricky Nelson to Bette Midler. It might seem the natural evolution or extension, therefore, of their talent to produce a biography of John Lennon. Instead of a biography, however, they have made a political documentary, The U.S. vs. John Lennon, on Lennon's life from 1966 to his assassination in 1980. They follow his and Yoko's part in the "Peacenik" movement and clumsily intersperse actual Lennon footage with interviews with people who knew him, saw his influence, or worked to limit his effect. The net result is an important and meaningful film that lacks the impact it might have had they included interviews with people in their 60s who were impacted by Lennon alongside interviews with the college kids today to find out why they are silent under seemingly similar circumstances.
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