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Shelf Beauties
by Willie Waffle
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The
U.S. vs. John Lennon
Directors David
Leaf and John Scheinfeld have a great idea to document and tell the
story of
John Lennon’s politically and maliciously motivated
deportation battle in the
1970’s, but they don’t spend enough time on the
main part of the story for us
to truly appreciate every aspect of it.
Leaf and
Scheinfeld wonderfully start out showing how Lennon and the rest of The
Beatles
transformed from happy-go-lucky mop top singers in a band to activists
who
wanted to help support causes they believed in, as well as featuring
other
major players in the era’s history.
The
structure the directors choose to show us a defining moment in
Lennon’s life,
then going back and giving the audience the context of what is
happening in the
world in the late 60’s up through those turbulent times for
Lennon in the 70’s
is a good one to establish the background some younger audience members
might
need to understand it all, and provides a jumping off point when they
are ready
to talk about the case. However,
the
movie becomes all background and very little focus on the main story.
I think the
title suggests we are going to get a movie about this epic deportation
battle,
but Leaf and Scheinfeld only touch on the basics, after spending almost
an hour
setting up the background. Lennon’s
hearings, legal maneuverings and the give and take between his side and
the
U.S. Government must be more complicated than what we see on screen, or
else it
doesn’t justify an entire movie (maybe an hour long special
on VH1, where I
think I saw some of this material before).
It’s great to see them bring back many
figures from history to tell in
their own words what was happening, and what was motivating their
actions, but
the players in the movie’s main plot don’t get
enough time.
On the positive
side, Leaf and Scheinfeld get some startling admissions in interviews
that
yield amazing insight. The
most chilling
of these is Watergate figure and radio talk show host G. Gordon Liddy
who
speaks candidly and nonchalantly about how Lennon was being watched by
the
Nixon administration because, “He was a high profile figure,
so he was being
monitored.” It’s
this kind of open
admission by both sides of the cultural wars that brings back all of
those
emotions, and shows the directors know how to capture it and present it
to the
audience.
The
U.S. vs.
John Lennon is a great retro ride for those who miss those
trippy days, but not
much of an educational experience.
2 Waffles
(Out Of 4)
Copyright
2006 - WaffleMovies.com
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