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	...	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:

year 1963 | lyndon b. johnson character | jacqueline kennedy character | kenneth o'donnell character | john f. kennedy character | 

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Taglines:

From Producers Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman.

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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:

Official site Official site [Japan]

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:

$652,355, 3 November 2013

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

All the trauma scenes were shot over a period of 10 days.

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Goofs

The scene of Oswald's resuscitation is historically inaccurate. The movie suggests that he died in the emergency department. The shot of Oswald being pronounced dead shows a simple resuscitation mask being removed from his face with no breathing tube. According to medical records, Oswald arrived in the emergency department with an endotracheal tube in place, placed into the trachea through the mouth. The same records state that Oswald died in the operating room, after receiving several different life-saving drugs and massive amounts of blood and fluid. This was not shown but was probably omitted to save time.

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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 Filmselskabet: Episode #4.1 (2013)

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.