Creed II
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
Homecoming
Log in with Facebook
OR
By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies, and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango.
Please enter your email address and we will email you a new password.
Critics 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.
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.
All Critics (122) | Top Critics (36) | Fresh (61) | 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.
The acting, by stars such as Zac Efron, Paul Giamatti, Billy Bob Thornton and James Badge Dale, is low-key and magnificent.
The performances are powerful, the authenticity is admirable, and the tone remains objective in its depiction of events throughout.
A ( ... ) pragmatic, four-day, fly-on-the-wall view of Dallas when the 20th Century's most documented death arguably facilitated the birth of 24-hour rolling news, citizen journalism and You Tube.
Had Landesman spent a bit more time on his characters and narrative, he might have made a more watchable movie.
I suppose each generation gets the JFK movie it deserves. We should feel lucky to get this one.
Parkland is a movie of simple motives. It doesn't waste time with pomp or theory, and the material is acted by those who connect with the characters like reflections in the mirror.
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!
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
Following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, he was brought to Parkland Hospital, and this film is tells the story of what Happened on November 22, 1963 and its subsequent aftermath. Considering the subject, Parkland could have been a standout drama. However as it is, it's an average movie, and though I liked it, I also felt something was missing to really make it standout. Some of the cast were good, and the performances were engaging and captivating, but the film also has a short run time, for which the filmmakers seem to try to crame way too much in a 90 minute film. If the film had been two hours and the script with have been tweaked a bit, and then Parkland might have been a great film, but as it stands it's a good movie that never reaches its full potential. If you're interested in what happened after JFK's assassination, then Parkland might give you an insight, but it never is truly accurate or exposes new information on what happened. Even with all of that being said, Parkland still manages to grab your attention, but if you want to know more about the facts, read up on it, and watch plenty of documentaries because, this film is never a portrait of accuracy, and it seems that the filmmakers focused more on making a short picture that should have been made into a two hour film to really make it something engaging. Here we get that feeling, as the assassination part of the President is pulse poundingly shocking and riveting, because it was a dark part of history, one that still resonates to this day. Parkland is a good movie, unfortunately it does boast a few shortcomings, which makes this an average drama, and it's a shame because its subject is truly captivating.
View All Quotes
View All