Parkland (2013)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: Although its decision to look at John F. Kennedy's assassination through uncommon perspectives is refreshing, Parkland never achieves the narrative cohesion its subject deserves.
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Cast
as Robert Oswald
as Dr. Charles "Jim" Carrico
as Nurse Doris Nelson
as John F. Kennedy
as Lee Harvey Oswald
as Abraham Zapruder
as Forrest Sorrels
as Marguerite Oswald
as Father Oscar Huber
as Dr. Paul Mikkelson
as Emergency Room Nurse
as Marilyn Sitzman
as James Hosty
as Ken Howe
as Gordon Shanklin
as Acme Brick Supervisor
as Emory Roberts
as Winston Lawson
as Orderly
as Rufus Youngblood
as Hospital Switchboard Operator #1
as Hospital Switchboard Operator #2
as Jacqueline Kennedy
as Roy Kellerman
as Kenneth O'Donnell
as David Powers
as Lydon B. Johnson
as Harry McCormick
as Trauma Resident
as Dr. Malcolm Perry
as Dr. Kemp Clark
as Trauma Doctor
as Secret Service Agent
as Admiral George Burkley
as Dallas Morning News Lab Tech
as Malcolm Kilduff
as Acme Brick Timekeeper
as Chamberlain
as Lem Johns
as FBI Agent
as Funeral Director
as Hugh jamieson
as Earl Rose
as Theron Ward
as Col. James Swindal
as Dallas Police Detective
as Lillian Zapruder
as Richard Stolley
as Mike Howard
as Rev. Saunders
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Critic Reviews for Parkland
All Critics (121) | Top Critics (37) | Fresh (60) | Rotten (61) | DVD (1)
Kennedy specialists will glean nothing new, and those hoping for sobriety will flinch at the camera's intrusions.
This episodic drama is set in Dallas during the three days after the JFK assassination, and some of it is highly charged.
Somehow, all this commotion adds up to aimless inertia, in part because the movie lacks a point of view - let alone anything fresh to propose about the assassination or its peripheral players.
Takes one of the most traumatizing events of the American 20th century and turns it into a trivia digest.
"Parkland" expends lots of energy and expertise on re-creating these infamous events, yet it is so lacking in narrative purpose that many viewers are likely to leave muttering, "Okay...but so what?"
Parkland is history as existential despair.
Audience Reviews for Parkland
Based on Vincent Bugliosi's book, Four Days in November, the film Parkland chronicles the events following the assassination of JFK. What I liked about this film was how it tells a part of the story that isn't widely known. From the doctors at the hospital, working on the President, to the acquisition of the Zapruder film, Parkland goes behind the scenes to tell the untold story. I was also impressed with how the film managed to stick to the facts and not dwell on any of the conspiracy theories that surround the case. Zac Efron stars and really wasn't all that great. I think that Efron needs to stick to what he does best, taking his cloths off and making people laugh. While the film is kind of slow, I really enjoyed Paul Giamatti's portrayal of Abraham Zapruder, the man who filmed the assassination. Zapruder really struggled with releasing the tape to the media and the events he witnessed ultimately destroyed his life. Giamatti's portrayal of the man is supposedly spot on and truly deserves an honor mention. Parkland gives us a lot of new information about the events that followed the assassination of President Kennedy, but a lot of it are things the general public really aren't that interested in learning about. For a Kennedy aficionado, this film must of been eye opening, as for the rest of us, it was an interesting, non-bias view of history, albeit a little boring.
Super Reviewer
Based on the book from Vincent Bugliosi. A really great writer, by the way. This story was very insightful. It depicts all that happened following the shooting of President Kennedy, and the actions that the Secret Service took that led to many of the conspiracy theories still around today. Great, solid performances caused me to get emotional at times. I thought Paul Giamatti stood above the rest with his great portrayal, and acting. I didn't realize until the end that Tom Hanks, and Bill Paxton, were producers on this film. Nice job done by all!
Super Reviewer
I left feeling unsure about what the goal of this movie was. I've seen better documentaries on TV which went much more in depth with the material. Yet being a factual reenactment, they couldn't exactly give much in the way of twists either; the viewer already knows what's going to happen. So it's either a kind of shallow documentary or the world's most predictable drama. As other reviewers have noted, the film tries to follow several different individuals and does a pretty poor job developing any of them to a meaningful extent. It starts pretty much out of the gate with the big event, so we don't learn anyone's background, nor does it follow them more than a few days beyond the tragedy. So again, all extremely predictable to anyone who has read a book or watched a decent documentary on the topic. 2 Stars. 12-10-13
Super Reviewer
Parkland Quotes
| Abraham Zapruder: | What a shitty place to die. |
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