32
Metascore
19 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 70The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterHigh praise to the cast and crew. Jared Leto is mesmeric as the bloated, deranged Chapman. It's a brilliantly measured performance, evincing the tale of a madman through his own awful rhyme and reason.
- 63New York Daily NewsNew York Daily NewsIt's a transformative role, but how widely seen it is depends on how strong a stomach one has for wall-to-wall paranoid ravings.
- 50TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghThe film's 85 minutes drag by painfully slowly, because there's no respite from Chapman's tedious, self-pitying reveries.
- 40Film ThreatFilm ThreatFrom what I can tell, the film is generally accurate regarding the events of Dec. 8. But I got as much out of it as I did by looking up Chapman on Wikipedia.
- 40SalonAndrew O'HehirSalonAndrew O'HehirThere's virtually no context provided here, about Lennon or the Beatles or New York or Chapman himself. To put it another way, the film's entire context IS Chapman.
- 38Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversDon't hammer this film for trying to get inside the head of Mark David Chapman before he shot John Lennon outside the rock legend's New York apartment on December 8th, 1980. Hammer it instead for failing to do so with any depth or insight.
- 30VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyJared Leto gained some 70 pounds. Seemingly following his lead, the pic itself is heavy, lethargic, and exasperating.
- 20Village VoiceVillage VoiceA retarded sense of meta is achieved whenever Leto's Chapman goes on about the phony theatrics of film actors, but it's Lindsay Lohan, as über–Lennon fan Jude, who breaks your heart, looking convincingly horrified that she has three undeserved Razzies while Leto has none.
- 0PremiereGlenn KennyPremiereGlenn KennyVisually ugly, morally non-existent and a complete black hole in the departments of insight and wit, Chapter 27 is quite possibly the most godawful, irredeemable film to yet emerge in the 21st century.
- 0The A.V. ClubNathan RabinThe A.V. ClubNathan RabinPerhaps the harshest criticism that can be directed at Chapter 27 is that it's awful even for a late-period Lindsay Lohan movie. It might even be bad enough to inspire "Catcher" author J.D. Salinger to break his decades of public silence to speak out against this high-camp fiasco.