U.S. vs. John Lennon, The

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

This movie is both sad and inspiring. It offers proof that Lennon's wit and art are everlasting.

LA Weekly John Payne

The U.S. vs. John Lennon offers up the singer's famous, filmed confrontation with the ludicrously snotty New York Times writer Gloria Emerson, who calls Lennon "dear boy" as he heatedly attempts to defend the role of the artist in political discourse. No devious editing required here: Although Lennon seems to lose his composure in the encounter, Emerson looks an utter clown all on her own.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Ending the film with a perfunctory run-through of Lennon's murder on the doorstep of his Manhattan apartment building, however, foregrounds an unfortunate irony: Had the INS succeeded in forcing Lennon out of the U.S., he might be alive today.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

While there is nothing particularly new in the film, it is a stirring celebration of a man of enormous talent, humor and humanity, laid waste by an assassin in New York in 1980.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

To me, the most potent dimension of The U.S. vs. John Lennon is the way that it captures the contradictory romanticism of Lennon the radical.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Lennon's spirit, like his music, shines through this movie like a beacon. Powerful stuff.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

People who love Lennon will almost certainly like the film; his detractors will almost certainly howl "bias!" Even so, it's a movie that, at its best, makes you ache with the memory of an anguished era and its fallen pop culture hero.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White

What is ultimately so special about this film is its handling of the relationship between Lennon and wife, Yoko Ono.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

The primary talking head is Ono, of course, who's serenely protective of Lennon's greater legacy. Her cooperation ties the film's hands, but only to a point.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

Lennon's story is so remarkable and the footage assembled here so fresh and fascinating that the film engrosses despite its formal failings. Give it a chance.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Within limits, this is an excellent documentary. Even fans who think they've seen everything will see things here they haven't seen.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

At a time when the country is engaged in fresh debates about the fragile relationship between privacy and national security, this particular chapter seems worth revisiting.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

Sheds some unexpected light on the uneven and still undigested career of one of the most paradoxical artists pop culture has yet produced.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

One of the best-known cultural figures of the past half-century, leaves the movie with little to do but add its sometimes sanctimonious voice to the chorus of praise and admiration.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

The thing that shines through most clearly, though, is Lennon himself. His widow allowed unprecedented access to the family archives, which along with ample newsreel footage bring us his presence once again.

Variety Phil Gallo

To track the transformation of John Lennon from adored Beatle to government-stalked peace advocate is David Leaf's stated intention for The U.S. vs. John Lennon, and the pic persuasively chronicles an artist sticking to his guns through activism.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Snazzy, mawkish, and practically Pavlovian in recycling all requisite late-'60s images. Given its subject, though, this David Leaf–John Scheinfeld production is not only poignant but even topical.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Loosely organized but still fascinating.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Documents the Nixon administration's failed, almost comically inept attempt to deport the most political of The Beatles and his wife, Yoko Ono. Given the latter's cooperation with the filmmakers, it comes as no surprise the Lennons come off as saints.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

A nice little documentary that provides a view of recent history for those who didn't live through it, or a nostalgia trip for those who did. However, as vehicle for presenting anything new or surprising, it fails.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Speaking as one of the mourners, did I mention how pleasant it is to revisit footage of John Lennon? And to listen to his music which, in this case, comes either in taped performances or laid onto the soundtrack, no fewer than 40 songs drawn almost exclusively from the post-Beatle, pro-Ono phase of his career.

Los Angeles Times Sam Adams

There may not be a moral, but it's a fascinating human story, one that The U.S. vs. John Lennon only begins to tell.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

A refresher course in the perils of celebrity and activism, but its syllabus and insights are purely remedial.

Empire Damon Wise

Perhaps not an entirely a faithful portrayal of the era or the great man, but interesting in parts.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

The U.S. vs. John Lennon isn't so much a history of Lennon's pacifism as a continuation of it, the last bed-in, so to speak, with contemporary figures like Gore Vidal and Noam Chomsky on hand to connect Vietnam with Iraq, President Nixon with President Bush, and the FBI's spying on Lennon with the current administration's domestic surveillance.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

There's precious little of Lennon's legendary crankiness on display in The U.S. Vs. John Lennon, a fawning hagiography that diligently shaves away the ex-Beatle's rough edges and knotty idiosyncrasies.