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Reviews Counted:45
Fresh:9
Rotten:36
Average Rating:3.9/10
Consensus: Despite Jared Leto's committed performance, Chapter 27 fails to penetrate to mind of Mark David Chapman, John Lennon’s killer.
Theatrical Release:Mar 28, 2008 Limited
Synopsis: What went on in the mind of the man who felt compelled to assassinate John Lennon? Chapter 27 deftly pilots us into the dark psyche of Mark David Chapman the weekend before the December 8, 1980,... [More]
Chapter 27 is a smart attempt to distill the twisted psychology and motivation of Mark David Chapman, which we've all superficially gleaned through mass-media reports and intermittent updates on Chapman's incarceration.
Top CriticWill likely make its own mark on history as the single most relentlessly self-conscious vanity project to ever be conceived.
Leto's performance is as great a physical, if not emotional, transformation as Charlize Theron's "hagging it up" for Monster.
Worth seeing for Leto's performance ... but its slow, meandering pace tends to be its undoing.
Enter Mark David Chapman's mind and prepare to be bored out of yours.
Chapter 27 just makes you feel bad for, and about, everybody -- including the wretched souls who made the thing.
Top CriticDespite the subject, the script is flat. Despite using the real locations, the production looked cheesy. Finally, the decision to strip Mark David Chapman (John Lennon's killer) of any humanity makes the narrative decidedly one note.
"I hate the movies. They're phony, so goddamned phony." Poor Mark David Chapman: no matter how many times he rejects the world of celebrity and phoniness, he's dragged back inside.
Chapman’s villainy isn’t tragic or misunderstood; it’s simple insanity. To dwell on it is to wallow in pain. Elevate yourself, and stay away.
In fact, the real problems with Chapter 27 is it vagueness. Everyone here - Leto, Lohan, Friedlander - leaves us in the lurch, and nothing Schaefer does can save our confusion.
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.
Top CriticThis misbegotten psychological portrait eagerly foregrounds Leto's excess blubber and histrionic blather, delivered like bad improv outside the Dakota building.
Top CriticIf there is any good reason for an audience to spend an hour and a half wallowing in the psychotic reveries of this wayward young man, the filmmakers and their star have sadly failed to provide it.
In order to play John Lennon's assassin Mark David Chapman, actor Jared Leto gained some 70 pounds. Seemingly following his lead, the pic itself is heavy, lethargic, and exasperating.
Top CriticStop the madness and please avoid this film at all costs.
his 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.
Top CriticVisually 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.
[Leto's] mumbled voiceover may perfectly reflect Chapman's inner world. [But] who wants to enter that world? Neither Chapman ... nor his inner life is very interesting ... I was looking at my watch before the first third of the movie had passed.
...ostensibly about the last few days in Chapman's life, but it's really about how much Leto's belly bulges over his waistband.
A failed attempt to probe dramatically the inner workings of the troubled mind of John Lennon's assassin in a chronicle replete with shallow Freudian observations about delusion and paranoia.
March 25, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review 
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January 26, 2007:
Sundance Review: "Starting Out in the Evening" Is Funny; "Chapter 27" Needs to Lose Weight; "Once" Has Charms
Senh caught the screenings of three films making their stop at the Sundance Film Festival this week: a funny and well-acted drama about relationships and the creative process; a... More...
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