100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 37: Parkland

Director: Peter Landesman

Genre: Drama/ Thriller

Runtime: 93 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Marcia Gay Harden, Matt Barr, Zac Efron, Mallory Moye, Paul Giamatti, Bitsie Tulloch, Ron Livingston, Jason Douglas, David Harbour, James Badge Dale, Larry Jack Dotson, Austin Nichols, Billy Bob Thornton, Jonathan Breck, Eugene Lee, Nico Evers-Swindell, Irene White, Luci Christian, Kate Steffens, Tom Welling, Mark Duplass, Gil Bellows, Sean McGraw, Brett Stimely, Paul Sparks, Samuel Davis, Colin Hanks, Gary Grubbs, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeremy Strong, Jackie Weaver

Description: A recounting of the chaotic events that occurred at Dallas' Parkland Hospital on the day U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

Review: A lot of people remember where they were on November 22nd 1963, the day John F. Kennedy was killed. Now fifty years and many books, movies and documentaries later, director Peter Landesman manages to give us a new perspective on the assassination. “Parkland” isn’t a reconstruction of the murder itself, but it tells the story of the people that have witnessed the event and were close to the president at that time. The impact this shooting had on the doctors that treated him, the FBI and the cameraman who filmed it. In “Parkland” three days are depicted from the point of view of different characters.

There is an important role for the medical staff of the Parkland hospital in Dallas. They tried to save the life of JFK. Then there is Abraham Zapruder, the man that captured the shooting on camera. The movie adds another layer by showing us the point of view of shooter Lee Harvey Oswald and how his family deals with this event.

Because “Parkland” has many characters and perspectives, it’s sometimes very chaotic. This chaos makes the movie hard to follow sometimes and also doesn’t give any characters any depth. The whole thing looks unrealistic. Even though “Parkland” doesn’t convince completely, it’s a good try on telling the story from a different vision.

Peter Landesman shoots a movie from unknown and interesting perspective, but doesn’t manage to convince the audience.

Rating: 2,5/ 5