Another reviewer mentions that anyone watching this film who doesn't care about John Lennon probably won't feel much. I personally couldn't care less about Lennon's music or his politics, and I couldn't stand the Beatles, but I like docu-dramas and true-crime so I gave it a try. I remember the actual incident and I was familiar with the details so I knew there would be no real surprises. I have a vivid memory of joining the world chorus of "oh no, John Lennon was murdered!" only because he died at the same time as my grandmother and I knew I was facing a three-hour drive to her funeral with nothing but Beatles songs coming out of the car radio. That was my idea of "hell on wheels".But I found I DID feel during this movie, much more than I had felt during the aftermath of the actual killing. The shooting scene is terribly graphic and really forced me to think about what happened… for God's sake, this was a guy just coming home from work, he's got a little kid waiting for him upstairs, and some nutball who wants to be notorious pulls out a gun and pumps four bullets into him right in front of his wife. Regardless of whether or not Lennon and his rather strange wife meant anything to you personally, you've got to feel revulsion and horror at what you see recreated in front of the Dakota. Chapman's "I want" mentality destroyed a young family that night. John Lennon or John Smith; doesn't matter. What a hideous act of selfishness and misplaced hatred. I hope the SOB never gets out of prison.It's unfortunate that the filmmakers pulled the viewers out of the past by including a taxi ride through Times Square, though. The billboard for "Mamma Mia" was clearly out of place and apparently there were several other modern-day touches that I missed but others have spotted.I still think the Beatles were a quartet of funny-looking, tone-deaf weirdos… I was born in 1962 so I missed the Beatlemania boat completely… but I DID feel something during this film.

I rented this film recently knowing very little about it other than it was some sort of character study of Chapman. Had I researched the film a little - particularly if I'd checked here at IMDb - I think I still would have hired it, since most of the responses are generally positive. I have no idea why.This film is nothing more than pretentious garbage. There is no reason I can justify for making it. Don't get me wrong, I think a film about Lennon's murder provides for some interesting analysis of John himself, Chapman and the culture they shared. "The Killing of John Lennon" offers none of this analysis, in fact it offers nothing at all aside from a few music video aesthetics. It's obvious here that director Andrew Piddington has very little interest in giving the audience any sort of theme or meaning. There is no insight whatsoever into Chapman, although we're apparently hearing direct quotes from him. Vacant stares at the camera, still frames and other techniques of the film school variety do not equate to anything other than a superficial experience.The performances reflect all other aspects of the production, very little preparation and effort is apparent with many scenes feeling like they were thought up on the spot. Jonas Ball occasionally slips into character, but more often than not I get the feeling I'm watching an actor pull out all of his "I'm crazy" tricks.Dripping with self importance, the film does not hold a candle to any of it's fictional man-going-insane-withdrawing-from-society counterparts. I suspect that a conversation with Mr Piddington would be much like this film; self congratulating, stylish but with very little substance.

The subject of this movie murdered John Lennon in order to promote his own importance. The existence of films like this effectively mean that he was successful. Well done, filmmakers, for validating his act.The above paragraph contains insufficient lines, so: The subject of this movie murdered John Lennon in order to promote his own importance. The existence of films like this effectively mean that he was successful. Well done, filmmakers, for validating his act.The subject of this movie murdered John Lennon in order to promote his own importance. The existence of films like this effectively mean that he was successful. Well done, filmmakers, for validating his act.

On the night of December 8, 1980, John Lennon, co-founder of The Beatles, was shot to death in front of his New York City apartment. Mark David Chapman(Jonas Ball), more-or-less a loner searching for an identity to grab for his own, decides to induce grandiose attention upon himself. Ending his security guard shift in Hawaii, he flies to New York City with the full intent to killing John Lennon. It was a love-hate relationship...Chapman loved the music, but also conceived Lennon to be a phony because of all his material things. Camping outside John's apartment at The Dakota, Chapman does receive an autograph. He would linger longer descending into a madness that would allow him to put five bullets in Lennon. How true this depiction is is very debatable, but riveting just the same. Others in the cast: Mie Omori, Krisha Fairchild, Robert C. Kirk, Gunter Stern and Joe Rosario.