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Chapter 27
EMAILPRINTPeace Arch Entertainment
Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 19 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 11 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Crime | Drama
Written by: J.P. Schaefer
Directed by: J.P. Schaefer
Release Date:
Theatrical: March 28, 2008
DVD: September 30, 2008
Running Time: 84 minutes, Color
Origin: USA / Canada
Summary
RATING: R for language and some sexual content
Starring Jared Leto, Lindsay Lohan, and Judah Friedlander
On December 8, 1980, Mark David Chapman shocked the world by murdering the beloved purveyor of peace, 40-year-old musician and activist John Lennon, outside The Dakota, his New York apartment building. Chapman's motives were fabricated from pure delusion, fueled by an obsession with the fictional character Holden Caulfield and his similar misadventures in J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. In one instant, an anonymous, mentally unstable 25-year-old, a socially awkward Beatles fan who had fluctuated between idealizing Lennon and being overcome with a desire to kill him, altered the course of history. Jared Leto, 60 pounds heavier for the role, bears an uncanny physical resemblance to the real Chapman, who remains incarcerated in Attica Correctional Facility on a guilty plea. Aside from a Larry King interview in 1992, he has never spoken with the media. However, Chapman did reveal the mechanics of his unraveling over three fateful days in New York City to crime journalist Jack Jones. Those interviews were published in 1992 as Let Me Take You Down: Inside the Mind of Mark David Chapman, a book of Chapman's recollections of his unthinkable act of violence. From this text, the film Chapter 27 is based. (Peace Arch Entertainment)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Chapter 27 is far from flawless, but Leto disappears inside this angry, mouth-breathing psycho geek with a conviction that had me hanging on his every delusion.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
By the end of this modest, strange venture, Leto made me believe it was worth being forced to hang out on the sidewalk with this man, if only to get a creeping sense of what that might’ve been like.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Duane Byrge
High praise to the cast and crew. Jared Leto is mesmeric as the bloated, deranged Chapman. It's a brilliantly measured performance, evincing the tale of a madman through his own awful rhyme and reason.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Joe Neumaier
It's a transformative role, but how widely seen it is depends on how strong a stomach one has for wall-to-wall paranoid ravings.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan
If Schaefer's intent was to provide some sort of insight into Chapman's character, some hint of explanation for this senseless tragedy, he fails, probably because there's none to be found beyond one lonely guy's addled brain chemistry.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
The film's 85 minutes drag by painfully slowly, because there's no respite from Chapman's tedious, self-pitying reveries.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
There's virtually no context provided here, about Lennon or the Beatles or New York or Chapman himself. To put it another way, the film's entire context IS Chapman.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Jeremy Mathews
From what I can tell, the film is generally accurate regarding the events of Dec. 8. But I got as much out of it as I did by looking up Chapman on Wikipedia.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Matt Zoller Seitz
Except for Judah Friedlander’s earthy, funny work as a paparazzo, most of the performances are vague and dull, including Lindsay Lohan’s supporting turn as a fictional Beatles fan who befriends Mr. Chapman.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Josh Rosenblatt
The presence of Lohan – a celebrity whose every move is tracked by the media like an endangered species of hawk – only serves to highlight the point that the truly fascinating story behind the murder of Lennon wasn't Chapman's madness (and certainly not his weight) but the depths of our celebrity mania and the influence we’re willing to concede to personalities larger than our own.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
Judah Friedlander and Lindsay Lohan are striking, respectively, as a Lennon paparazzo and a fan creeped out by Chapman.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Don't hammer this film for trying to get inside the head of Mark David Chapman before he shot John Lennon outside the rock legend's New York apartment on December 8th, 1980. Hammer it instead for failing to do so with any depth or insight.
Read Full Review >Variety Dennis Harvey
Jared Leto gained some 70 pounds. Seemingly following his lead, the pic itself is heavy, lethargic, and exasperating.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
This drama, about the three days leading up to the murder, never overcomes its inherent ghoulishness, largely because Chapman, like so many mentally ill people, is a huge bore.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
This boring, torpid movie notices its own flaws and unwisely underlines them.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Ed Gonzalez
A retarded sense of meta is achieved whenever Leto's Chapman goes on about the phony theatrics of film actors, but it's Lindsay Lohan, as über–Lennon fan Jude, who breaks your heart, looking convincingly horrified that she has three undeserved Razzies while Leto has none.
Read Full Review >Premiere Glenn Kenny
Visually ugly, morally non-existent and a complete black hole in the departments of insight and wit, Chapter 27 is quite possibly the most godawful, irredeemable film to yet emerge in the 21st century.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
Perhaps the harshest criticism that can be directed at Chapter 27 is that it's awful even for a late-period Lindsay Lohan movie. It might even be bad enough to inspire "Catcher" author J.D. Salinger to break his decades of public silence to speak out against this high-camp fiasco.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.8 (out of 10) based on 11 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Kartik S. gave it a6:
while in no means is this the best movie around, I think that people are being too harsh on this film. This accurately depicts what happened during those three days, and that's all he was trying to accomplish; recreate John Lennon's death and the events leading up to it. That is all he was trying to do.
Jay H. gave it a5:
Very very slow moving and Jared Leto's performance fails to convince. He did well looking the part though. It doesn't delve into the character of Mark David Chapman enough, only scratches the surface. It almost makes it.
Robin gave it a6:
Jared Leto disappears into Chapman, and is pathetic and deranged without going too far over the top. Lohan is generally unconvincing, but stays in her place. As a film, it's well produced - direction, music, editing and photography. It's interesting, but I doubt if it can be called entertaining.
Jay J gave it a0:
Boring, awful and unnecessary. Leto is boring as Lennon's murderer and his performance is without substance. Jarrett P. Shaeffer strikes out in his film making debut. We learn nothing about why Chapman murdered Lennon and that is sad.A pathetic excuse for a movie that belongs in the trash bin.
Jasmin S. gave it a10:
People should give this movie a chance! Brilliant performance by Jared Leto!
Lukaz F. gave it a10:
It's a fantastic and "noir", movie!!! Lindsay e Leto shining!!!
