The Day John Lennon Died (2010)

People are voting emotionally.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Day John Lennon Died, The (2010) *** (out of 4) This documentary came on the 30th anniversary of the murder of John Lennon. The film traces John's final day from a radio interview, to signing an autograph for his eventual killer, to working in the studio and finally on his way back home to see his son when he was shot and killed. If you're familiar with Lennon and his life then there's nothing new that you're going to learn here but then again it's hard to learn anything new since so many shows, movies and books have dealt with the murder of this icon. If you are new to the events then you're going to get quite a bit of information here as the forty-five minute running time is full of interviews with many people who were there that day. Yoko Ono goes through quite a few tears talking about his final day and "Double Fantasy" producer Jack Douglas talks about the work in the studio and how he found out about the events. Also interviewed are the RKO radio guy who interviewed Lennon, the photographer who snapped the now famous picture between Lennon and Chapman, the ABC producer who was in the ER, a teenage girlfriend of Lennon and several others. No matter how many documentaries you watch on Lennon it's always the same as it's clear no one has really gotten over his murder and I'm sure this is in large part do to how sudden and shocking it still is. Even though these people have told their stories over a thousand times they're always emotional. THE DAY JOHN LENNON DIED will certainly want to be viewed by fans as well as those looking to learn more details about December 8, 1980.

"The Day John Lennon Died" is a look at Lennon and his death through archival footage and interviews.Someone once said to me when politicians are assassinated it's one thing, but "when they start killing the artists," it's a bad sign.John Lennon's loss was certainly devastating, and I'm not sure it could have been avoided. Perhaps it might have been delayed, though. He was a man who loved New York, loved walking down the street. He didn't have bodyguards, and he signed autographs outside of the Dakota. Part of the problem is that the security people at the Dakota apparently let people "hang out" there -- a mistake -- and another is that Lennon didn't always enter or leave the Dakota by driving directly in or out of the garage.So as the completely obsessed Mark David Chapman stood across the street and watched the apartment building, no one noticed and no one told him to leave. He eventually moved closer. And shot John Lennon.A cautionary tale in one way, a heartbreaking tale in another.