Chapter 27 is a new movie out in limited release right now that is bound to stir controversy. Not just because it features Jared Leto in a role that is a bit of a character departure — he is neither rock star handsome nor inelegantly Requiem For A Dream-wasted here. Rather, Leto put on a ton of weight in order to more accurately portray the physical appearance of John Lennon's crazed assassin, Mark David Chapman.
The eerie (and creepy) accuracy of Leto's portrayal doesn't end with the physical similarities either. But we'll get to more on that in a minute. The controversy of Chapter 27 — whose title refers to a new, final chapter of the book Catcher In The Rye that the infamous murderer may have felt he was writing in his own twisted mind by killing Lennon — has to do more with the character of Chapman himself.
When I suggested to a fellow editor here at Blogcritics that I might decide to write about this film, he immediately recoiled in horror. What he said to me, in so many words, was that to do so would be to help play into giving Chapman the fame he was seeking, and that it would somehow dishonor the memory of Lennon.
I have to respectfully disagree. The subject matter here is not pleasant of course, especially to fans (including this writer) who still mourn Lennon to this day. It's not meant to be.
What this film instead does — and successfully I might add — is seek to make its own sense of a tragic event that is nonetheless now a matter of historical record. The way Chapter 27 attempts this is by getting inside the twisted mind of Mark David Chapman himself, something that Jared Leto's performance does with finely nuanced detail and uncanny, horrifying realism.
Leto is brilliant here in a way that does anything but glorify Chapman. In his portrayal of a person who can only be described as one sick fuck, what you see is a glimpse inside a spiral into terrible, unspeakable madness. It is not a sympathetic picture.
Deceptively subtle at first, Leto's Chapman seems more than anything to be a very confused young man who takes Catcher In The Rye a bit too seriously. But Leto soon unravels this facade piece by terrifying piece. When you see him alone in his room, standing in a mirror grinning boyishly, and then emptying his gun into a mirror, there is no mistaking the evil within.
Article comments
1 - Ron
It's scary how that guy thought he was Holden. However, one thing did puzzle me, did the prostitute really have a green dress in the actual event? I know he hired one but I'm not sure if she wore a green dress or not. And if she did, that's rather creepy as in the book she had a green dress...