The DVD cover prominently features a sign that reads "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Field", but make no mistake, this movie has very little to do with The Beatles, let alone their later years when those 2 songs were recorded.
Instead we get a very tight snapshot of John Lennon's youth around age 17, focusing mostly on the rift between his mother and her sister (Aunt Mimi) who mostly raised John. It's more a coming-of-age flick than a rock'n'roll film, and some of you might feel cheated that it doesn't touch on The Beatles as the cover implies, but it's still well done and worth watching.
It does, however, paint John Lennon to be a 1st class douche bag (whether or not this was true, I don't know). And more than once during the film I found myself hoping Mark Chapman might show up, if you know what I mean (just kidding). I'm not an expert on John Lennon's personal life, but I would've thought that John was more of a pensive, introverted type based on his lyrics. Instead he's shown here to be an angry, lewd, domineering punk. I suppose the film did a good job of showing how rock'n'roll was often born out of rebellious douche baggy youth.
The character of Paul McCartney shows up midway, lending a voice of sanity and wisdom, and George Harrison appears later for a few seconds. There were no Beatles songs but instead a few Elvis tunes and old rock standards. If you're hungry for a Beatles biopic, you should probably check out "Backbeat" (1994) or "Birth of the Beatles" (1979).
Instead we get a very tight snapshot of John Lennon's youth around age 17, focusing mostly on the rift between his mother and her sister (Aunt Mimi) who mostly raised John. It's more a coming-of-age flick than a rock'n'roll film, and some of you might feel cheated that it doesn't touch on The Beatles as the cover implies, but it's still well done and worth watching.
It does, however, paint John Lennon to be a 1st class douche bag (whether or not this was true, I don't know). And more than once during the film I found myself hoping Mark Chapman might show up, if you know what I mean (just kidding). I'm not an expert on John Lennon's personal life, but I would've thought that John was more of a pensive, introverted type based on his lyrics. Instead he's shown here to be an angry, lewd, domineering punk. I suppose the film did a good job of showing how rock'n'roll was often born out of rebellious douche baggy youth.
The character of Paul McCartney shows up midway, lending a voice of sanity and wisdom, and George Harrison appears later for a few seconds. There were no Beatles songs but instead a few Elvis tunes and old rock standards. If you're hungry for a Beatles biopic, you should probably check out "Backbeat" (1994) or "Birth of the Beatles" (1979).