Parkland

Parkland (2013)

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PG-13 - 93 min - Drama, Mystery, Thriller - 2 October 2013
Big Blue Sky Rating : 5.9/10

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Director : Peter Landesman
Writers : Peter Landesman, Vincent Bugliosi
Stars : Zac Efron, Tom Welling, Billy Bob Thornton, Paul Giamatti

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.

Good docudrama, but no real plot

Parkland is well done with an excellent cast. It is also an odd movie because it has no "plot". It's a docudrama, re-enacting a series of scenes and incidents. There's no story arc, no real character development or transformation.

The character with the most "story" is Abraham Zapruder, who is affected by the experience, and we see it. Many of the other characters are just there, doing what they do. Zac Efron is kind of wasted in his role as surgical resident Dr. Jim Carrico, because he just does surgical-resident stuff; the script doesn't exploit any of his charms.

Parkland is tightly paced, for the most part, but sags a bit toward the end, because there actually is no end, just the last incident. They had to fall back on an audio wrap-up by Walter Cronkite and pull the lens out of focus to close it up.

Conspiracy theorists will find no solace here, because this movie is about the people who weren't part of the crime.

Watch Parkland Trailer :

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