The most annoying thing about following movie news and patronizing film festivals is the pesky waiting. You hear about a film, you get excited, and then you wait. And then you wait more. Once you hit that 365-day mark, it's no longer just an exercise of patience, but trying to come to terms with the fact that you might never see the movie at all, or might never see the movie again. It seemed that this is what would happen with Chapter 27, which premiered back in January of 2007, but now, finally, the film is going into limited release this week.
To refresh your memory: this is the film about John Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman, and details the days that lead up to the infamous day. It's got Lindsay Lohan pre-clean up, and Jared Leto all body-morphed. In an interview with New York Daily News, Leto talks about morphing into the pudgy killer, and his take on the role.
Leto used the bulking up, which he says was much harder and more physically taxing then going skeletal for Requiem for a Dream, to change his own real-life experience: "It was interesting to see people's reactions -- particularly people I knew but hadn't seen in a while and who obviously thought I'd let myself go." That's certainly a decent way to figure out a character's mindset -- that whole "walking in their shoes" technique. Leto also talks about Chapman himself and the point of the film -- that he doesn't sympathize with the man's actions, but wanted to explore his motivations.
The film has gotten a mediocre response thus far, but I'm still intrigued -- especially since I watched the also seemingly questionable Across the Universe and loved it. How about you?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-24-2008 @ 10:35PM
myvelocity said...
I saw this last summer at a film festival. The premise sounds more interesting than what was executed on screen. There were some solid performances, but ultimately not a whole lot going on for the bulk of the film. You could sense that the makers were trying desperately to make an interesting story where one didn't really exist.
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3-25-2008 @ 12:34AM
Mr. R said...
You can't make a great film about someone who is truly so hated. The man killed one of the top five greatest song writers of all time in cold blood, who gives a shait about his life anyway. If you are going to make a movie about a murderer, at least find an interesting one like Hannibal or Son of Sam, not this one time looser without a casue. Too bad, it looks as though Jared put a lot into this...
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3-25-2008 @ 2:29AM
Jordan said...
yes, he certainly put a lot of himself in this one.
i don't know why actors think we are supposed to come running every time they eat a bunch of ice cream and mumble for two hours. the real question here is, why didn't they just cast a talented actor that was already that size? because, i mean...well, i guess i won't mince words- jared leto sucks.
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3-25-2008 @ 5:19AM
V.M.L. said...
I haven't seen the movie yet. I do think its possible to make a film about one of the worlds most hated men.
I too saw ACROSS THE UNIVERSE and loved it! Its funny, when I read movie reviews I usually agree with the critics. UNIVERSE, however, was an exception. I saw nothing wrong with it.
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3-25-2008 @ 6:32AM
Hedwig said...
It went Direct-to-DVD here in the netherlands without even a whisper of publicity. It's even in the discount section already.
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3-25-2008 @ 10:26AM
Froggie said...
Does it address the REAL killer of Lennon? ;)
http://www.lennonmurdertruth.com/
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