Parkland (2013)

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

Director:

Peter Landesman

Writers:

Peter Landesman, Vincent Bugliosi (book)

Stars:

Zac Efron, Tom Welling, Billy Bob Thornton

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Marcia Gay Harden	...	Nurse Doris Nelson
Matt Barr	...	Dr. Paul Mikkelson
Zac Efron	...	Dr. Charles 'Jim' Carrico
Mallory Moye	...	Emergency Room Nurse
Paul Giamatti	...	Abraham Zapruder
Elizabeth Tulloch	...	Marilyn Sitzman (as Bitsie Tulloch)
Ron Livingston	...	James Hosty
Jason Douglas	...	Ken Howe
David Harbour	...	Gordon Shanklin
James Badge Dale	...	Robert Oswald
Larry Jack Dotson	...	Acme Brick Supervisor
Austin Nichols	...	Emory Roberts
Billy Bob Thornton	...	Forrest Sorrels
Jonathan Breck	...	Winston Lawson
Eugene Lee	...	Orderly

Storyline

Recounting the chaotic events that occurred in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963, Parkland weaves together the perspectives of a handful of ordinary individuals suddenly thrust into extraordinary circumstances: the young doctors and nurses at Parkland Hospital; Dallas' chief of the Secret Service; an unwitting cameraman who captured what became the most watched and examined film in history; the FBI agents who nearly had the gunman within their grasp; the brother of Lee Harvey Oswald, left to deal with his shattered family; and JFK's security team, witnesses to both the president's death and Vice President Lyndon Johnson's rise to power over a nation whose innocence was forever altered.

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Plot Keywords:

john f. kennedy assassination | secret service | assassination | motorcade | year 1963 | 

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Taglines:

The JFK Assassination Story.

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Genres:

Drama | History | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for bloody sequences of ER trauma procedures, some violent images and language, and smoking throughout

Details

Official Sites:

Production Notes

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 October 2013 (France)

Also Known As:

Félelmetes nap

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$310,246, 4 October 2013, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$653,651

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,628,565

Company Credits

Production Co:

Exclusive Media Group, The American Film Company, Playtone

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The emergency room's Nurse Nelson, the majordomo of the trauma unit, was played by actress Marcia Gay Harden. "She brings a combination of compassion, discipline, grace under fire and pathos to the proceedings," said producer Gary Goetzman. Parkland was a teaching hospital with many doctors just at the beginning of their careers, Harden pointed out. "They work with a bevy of nurses who really run the trauma unit. Nurse Nelson is a rather stoic individual with an unflappable quality and she's in charge when the president is brought in. She gets the job done despite the wealth of emotions she's experiencing underneath the surface. Her job is to take care of the doctor who's taking care of President Kennedy [John F. Kennedy] and she does it well."

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Goofs

The O'Neal's ambulance in the ambulance entrance is a 1964 Rambler Classic 770 wagon. The actual vehicle, which was also used when Lee Oswald was shot two days later, was a 1962 Ford Galaxie wagon.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Title Card: On November 22, 1963, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, made a political trip to Dallas, Texas with his wife, Jacqueline, and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Title Card: Less than an hour after landing in Dallas, Kennedy was assassinated.
Title Card: This story is based on the true events that took place on that day, and the three that followed.

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Crazy Credits

Although based on a true story and depicting real-life people the end credits state: "All characters in this film are fictional and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental."

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Connections

Referenced in The Chase Australia: Episode #1.42 (2015)

User Reviews

Low-Key Retelling of the Kennedy Assassination

Based on Vincent Bugliosi's book retelling the events leading up to and following the Kennedy assassination on a minute-by-minute basis, PARKLAND is a low-key film that eschews sensationalism in favor of characterization. Director Peter Landesman focuses on the reactions of those involved in the affair, notably Dr. Jim Carrico (Zac Efron), who treated JFK at the Parkland Hospital, and FBI agent James Hosty (Ron Livingston). The film is shot in cinéma-vérité style, with lots of quick cuts and close-ups on the protagonists with the minimum of climatic scenes. Sometimes the action drags slightly, but PARKLAND's main concern is to illuminate the human cost of the tragedy - for example, the reaction of dressmaker Abraham Zapruder (Paul Giamatti), whose amateur film of the tragedy constituted the only available record of what actually happened. Director Landesman shows how the emotional effect of being regularly interrogated by the FBI proved too much for him. We also see the reaction of the nurses in the Parkland Hospital, who strove to save the President's life but eventually failed. Compared to other versions of the event - for example, Oliver Stone's JFK - PARKLAND lacks sensationalism. but is nonetheless extremely well made, a testament to the efforts of everyone involved, actors, directors and those behind the camera alike.