In His Life: The John Lennon Story (2000) (TV)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

David Carson

Writer (WGA):

Michael O'Hara (written by)

Release Date:

3 December 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music

Tagline:

From a boy with a dream to the Beatle who rocked the world.

Plot:

A film about the early life of the rock musician and his burgeoning career as a member of the Beatles. |

Plot Keywords:

Musician | Beatles | Rock Music | Stuart Sutcliffe | John Lennon

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Philip McQuillan Phoenix	...	John Lennon (as Philip McQuillan)
Blair Brown	...	Mimi Smith
Christine Kavanagh	...	Julia Lennon
Gillian Kearney	...	Cynthia Lennon
Daniel McGowan	...	Paul McCartney
Mark Rice-Oxley	...	George Harrison
Lee Williams	...	Stuart Sutcliffe
Jamie Glover	...	Brian Epstein
Christian Ealey	...	Ringo Starr
Scot Williams	...	Pete Best
Pálína Jónsdóttir	...	Astrid Kirchherr
Michael Ryan	...	Rory Quinn
Alex Cox	...	Bruno
Anthony Borrows	...	Young John
Paul Usher	...	Freddie Lennon

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief violence, some sexuality, drug content and language.

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:TV-14 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK

Company:

Michael O'Hara Productions

Very interesting

Okay, I admit it. I am a 15 year-old Beatles fan. That wasn't so hard, now was it?

As a Beatles fan, I have read almost every book worth reading, seen almost every documentary or movie worth seeing, and listened to countless interviews. In short, I just about know all there is to know about John Lennon. So when I heard about a new NBC movie based on his life, I had two simultaneous thoughts. The first one was, "Whoo-hoo!" The second was, "Gee, I wonder how badly they're going to distort John's life." It being a TV movie, I didn't expect too much.

I'm glad I got it on tape, because I think that nobody really gets every nuance of a movie the first time they see it. I recently viewed it again, and I think I can now give an better presentation of my opinions.

The movie, as far as movies can go, was very accurate. I only had problems with a few scenes: i.e., the scene with Julia at the docks, the scene where Stuart was beaten up, and the final scene. I'm not sure the first one ever happened; or if it did, the scene may well have been taken from different conversations, and then put together to make it all fit. The second scene I'm not completely sure happened, because according to various people's accounts, it occurred at Litherland Town Hall or at another place after the Beatles (or whatever their name was at the time) played a gig. And according to still others' accounts, it never happened at all. Incredibly confusing, but oh well. The final scene of the movie did in fact happen, yet probably not quite in that way.

I hope I didn't sound like *too* much of a dork just now. I have a tendency to get bogged down with detail, which has frequently been my downfall.

But back to the movie. It really was very good, in terms of historical accuracy, with relatively little dramatization. The actors were very good, too, though the guy playing John's accent was...well, strange, to say the least, and only slightly Liverpudlian. See this movie if you're into the Beatles, or even if you're not. It's a good watch.