Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

zkonedog When I first saw the trailer for "Parkland", I was incredibly excited to see a dramatized version of the events surrounding 11/22/63. But than, "thanks" to some terrible critical reviews, the film didn't even make theaters (only in limited release) and went straight to home video. In all my years watching movies, there are very few occasions I can say that the critics have been more wrong.For a basic plot summary, "Parkland" tells the story of 11/22/63 and the next few days afterwards. The story is told from a number of different perspectives, including... -The doctors and nurses (Zac Efron, Colin Hanks, Marcia Gay Harden) who worked on both JFK and Lee Harvey Oswald (Jeremy Strong) at Parkland Memorial hospital in Dallas. -Robert Oswald (James Badge Dale) and mother Marguerite (Jacki Weaver) of the supposed killer. -F.B.I. Agent James Hosty (Ron Livingston) who leads the national investigation into the homicide. -Forrest Sorrels (Billy Bob Thornton), the lead Secret Service man on that fateful day. -Abraham Zapruder (Paul Giamatti), the man standing on Dealey Plaza who captured the assassination on his 16mm hand-held camera.This movie is filled with drama and palpable tension. Even though it is just a basic re-telling of the events, those events in and of themselves are enough to carry the weight...nothing contrived is even needed. Though I know a decent amount about those fateful days anyway, it was fascinating and emotionally-charged to see how all those scenes may have actually played out.The casting/acting is also spectacular. I can't say that there was one noticeably bad performance in the bunch. Even an actor like Efron, with a reputation completely different from his type of role here, fits in effortlessly. Considering this was the directorial debut of Peter Landsman, that is quite a feat. The film was also produced by Tom Hanks, whose track record on historical fiction is unmatched.I cannot, for the life of me, understand why this film received reviews bad enough to scrap a large theatrical release. Perhaps it is because it assumes a familiarity with the events it describes. Had I been completely ignorant of any of those events, the movie moves quickly enough (with only about an hour and a half runtime) that maybe I would have felt a bit overwhelmed. Other than that, though, this is one that the critics got completely wrong.Overall, "Parkland" essentially does for the events of 11/22/63 what "Flight 93" did for the events of 9/11. It takes the historical evidence and shows you what those scenes most likely looked like in actual form. "Parkland" is not biased or preachy...it just sticks to the evidence.

crdnlsyn13 I have been studying, watching, speaking about, and all around fascinated with this event that happened 8 years before I was even born. I've seen every adaptation and film about this event, and this is the first one that actually captured the 'human' element of the story. For decades we've grown so jaded by the coverage, and documentaries and reports that go on year after year on the anniversary, that we've disassociated the 'human' element of what happened.We've never been given a real glimpse into the emotions of the doctors, and nurses in the room that day. We've NEVER truly felt Jackie's pain and anguish in that room, on that day, until now. I cried, after years and years of watching, and reading, and talking about all this... during the emergency room scene, I cried. The 'human' element of all of it, FINALLY hit home.Great film, great story, told from a great angle. Conspiracy theorists, and detractors should set aside their agendas for a moment, and just feel what the Doctor's and Nurses, and all the others felt during those moments. Truly moving, no matter what you believe happened that day.

tara0806 I was not alive when the assassination of President Kennedy happened and unfortunately as a Brit I didn't know that much about the story either. I wasn't completely naïve I knew that he had been shot whilst in a car parading down a street and that Jackie was wearing that infamous pink suit, but apart from that I went into the movie quite unaware of the events that were going to unfold in front of me.At first I would just like to say that I was amazed by Zac Efron's performance in this and he undeniably proved that he's not just a pretty face made for singing and dancing on the Disney channel, he grabbed the viewer's attention and you felt as though you were right there with him.The nature of the filming and respect for the Kennedy family definitely shone through for me in that they used the original footage from his murder as opposed to recreating it Quentin Tarantino style, which others may have gone for and when using the actor portraying him it was rare or brief that you ever saw his face properly.The part that really sold the film for me was that it showed the great deal of respect and admiration people really had for this man. They did this by presenting us with fairly ordinary people becoming involved in something historically tragic in the space of a few minutes and showing the profound effect it had on them in the days that followed.The side of the Robert Oswald was incredibly well portrayed by it's actor; the desperation to understand his brother's actions and motives were portrayed with a simple look or sigh from him and you couldn't help but feel sorry for someone who has done nothing wrong, but because of sharing a family name he is ridiculed and blamed by people who were understandably so angered by his brother Lee Harvey Oswald.Now for the real crux of the matter, Jackie Kennedy. All people who have heard of her will undoubtedly know her as one of the strongest females in American history and the dedication of her role shone through, the actress who played her was not dismissive of the fact that her role was so incredibly influential and iconic. She showed Mrs Kennedy with a side we all knew must have been there, but was never really exposed to the world outside of Parkland, as a woman who appeared to keep her poise throughout the happenings of that devastating time. It was refreshing and saddening to see this woman terrified and heart broken at the loss of her husband.Overall I think this movie is undeniably worth a watch and will inevitably pull on your heart strings, it is brilliant for anyone who is not particularly knowledgeable about the events that happened that day and gives us a completely different insight to what people would not have necessarily known about it at the time. It was done respectfully and honestly. It is a film about the mourning of a icon and while that happens fairly early on in the film the poignancy of the grief surrounding his death is never once lost.

beauzee Hanks and co. do a fine job in recreating the events at Parkland hospital and pull no punches, thereof. A lot of suspicious activity - a lot of protocol cutting. Why? No answer here.Another positive > Hanks has the guts to remind us that the local FBI most assuredly could have prevented the murder.. They had a big file on Oswald, who, in fact, was a presence at said office, about 2 weeks before, quite belligerantly warning his FBI "counselor" to quit bothering his Wife! Negatives? Stupid portrayals of the Mother and Brother Oswald. Margueritte is a flakey attention seeker and the Brother is the long-suffering "grounded" Brother > "what's he up to, now?" A Better choice for Hanks would be to build up Oswald as a Naval Intelligence exponent and highly trained Marine with credentials higher than his commanding officer. THEN, "lone nut" gets interesting because all those points do not NECESSARILY preclude such an act as assassination (if believed by some power that be that it's necessary for the COuntry, not to be flip' about that).Very recommended but balance this with any of several good DVDs which are far more objective.