It does give a sense of disturbance, but after a while it gets irritating, as much of it is repetitive without either developing the story or adding significance.

| Aug 22, 2018

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Nov 16, 2011

| Original Score: 1/5 | Nov 16, 2011

Despite all his obvious effort and admirable Stanislavskian immersion, his Chapman is pure cinematic affectation, a compendium of great movie madmen of the past.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 18, 2008

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.

| Apr 25, 2008

Chapter 27 just makes you feel bad for, and about, everybody -- including the wretched souls who made the thing.

| Original Score: 0.5/4 | Apr 25, 2008

By the end of this modest, strange venture, Leto made me believe it was worth being forced to hang out on the sidewalk with this man, if only to get a creeping sense of what that might've been like.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 24, 2008

Imagine hanging out in the head of a psychotic, indefensible loser for 80 minutes and getting nothing worth remembering or admiring in return.

| Apr 24, 2008

The film is impressively mounted and Schaefer has made a directorial debut of distinction, but it is an uncomfortable ride from the opening scenes of Chapman arriving in New York to the inevitable, inexorable final scene.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 18, 2008

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.

| Original Score: B | Apr 9, 2008

This is a very tough film to watch, especially for Beatles fans that worshipped Lennon, but it does provide a thought-provoking take on the inner workings of Mark David Chapman's twisted mind.

Full Review | Mar 31, 2008

Leto, who gained poundage for the role, keeps taking his shirt off just to make it clear that he is the latest in a long line of actors to confuse daily patronage of the local doughnut shop with intensive actorly preparation.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Mar 28, 2008

Leto's drawling, blotchy, creepy performance sets it apart.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 28, 2008

Any film that dares attempt a nonjudgmental portrait of John Lennon's assassin would most likely be accused of tastelessness, but in the case of Chapter 27 the charges are justified.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Mar 28, 2008

It might even be bad enough to inspire Catcher author J.D. Salinger to break his decades of public silence to speak out against this high-camp fiasco.

| Original Score: F | Mar 27, 2008

Visually 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.

| Original Score: 0/4 | Mar 27, 2008

Even if you are only moderately curious about the events that led up to the pointless death of a musical icon, I think you'll find it a film of arm-twisting fascination.

Full Review | Mar 26, 2008

This misbegotten psychological portrait eagerly foregrounds Leto's excess blubber and histrionic blather, delivered like bad improv outside the Dakota building.

Full Review | Mar 25, 2008

At one point, Chapman confesses that he doesn't enjoy the movies because they're "so goddamn phony," and with regard to the superficial, ugly-as-dirt Chapter 27, he's right on the money.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Mar 23, 2008

Don't hammer this film for trying to get inside the head of Mark David Chapman before he shot John Lennon outside the rock legend's New York apartment on December 8th, 1980. Hammer it instead for failing to do so with any depth or insight.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Mar 20, 2008