I caught this movie on a Saturday afternoon on the True Movies channel here in the UK. It was perfect for a gray Saturday afternoon- just right for forgetting the weather. I've seen several Beatles movies, including "Backbeat", "The Birth of the Beatles", and "The Hours and the Times". I didn't feel that "The John Lennon Story" contributed anything new to the genre of films about the Beatles' early years, but for a movie made for TV and obviously produced on a low budget, it's fairly well done. The events depicted are roughly accurate, and the cast does their best with the roles they're given.
It's a shame that the film couldn't have been produced as a mini series: the script tries to cover all the important moments in Lennon's life up to the Beatles' debut on the Ed Sullivan show, and with only 90 minutes to work with, the pace resembles the Reader's Digest condensed version of John Lennon's life. One minute the boys go to Hamburg, next they're on stage, the German audiences love them, the next minute they're deported, the next minute Stu Sutcliffe says he wants to stay behind with his girlfriend Astrid... Stu's death scene was so rushed it was almost comic. I had fun shouting out at the TV what the characters were going to say -- Cythnia's telling John how happy she is that the band is gaining popularity, oops she looks miserable, yes, the thing she says next is "I'm pregnant" and John immediately responds "Let's get married". The funniest moment is Cythnia saying of her newborn baby Julian, "He's going to be a big rock and roll star like his dad." However, the film doesn't shy from depicting John's dark side. Overall, it's entertaining for veteran Beatles fans and a worthy introduction to the band's history for new ones.
It's a shame that the film couldn't have been produced as a mini series: the script tries to cover all the important moments in Lennon's life up to the Beatles' debut on the Ed Sullivan show, and with only 90 minutes to work with, the pace resembles the Reader's Digest condensed version of John Lennon's life. One minute the boys go to Hamburg, next they're on stage, the German audiences love them, the next minute they're deported, the next minute Stu Sutcliffe says he wants to stay behind with his girlfriend Astrid... Stu's death scene was so rushed it was almost comic. I had fun shouting out at the TV what the characters were going to say -- Cythnia's telling John how happy she is that the band is gaining popularity, oops she looks miserable, yes, the thing she says next is "I'm pregnant" and John immediately responds "Let's get married". The funniest moment is Cythnia saying of her newborn baby Julian, "He's going to be a big rock and roll star like his dad." However, the film doesn't shy from depicting John's dark side. Overall, it's entertaining for veteran Beatles fans and a worthy introduction to the band's history for new ones.