The U.S. vs. John Lennon

The U.S. vs. John Lennon

Directed by: David Leaf & John Scheinfeld

Starring: John Lennon

Genre: Documentary

Run Time: 96 min.

Release Date: September 2006

On The Web: Official Site

Teaser: Movie Trailer

Reviewed by Byron Merritt

Preaching to the choir is going to be the common cliche heard about this excellently done documentary, but that won’t take away from how well its message comes across and how well the film is put together.

THE U.S. VS. JOHN LENNON covers the tumultuous life of Beatle’s legend John Lennon within the political arena of the 60s and 70s. Don’t expect to see a historical recounting of the Beatles’ break-up or their fabulous rise in the music industry; these things are only touched on and are not what the film should be about with a title such as this one anyway.

Focusing precisely on Lennon’s involvement in the “flower power” movement during the Vietnam War, the film’s nexus is about the perceived threat that John Lennon wielded toward the Nixon Administration and their attempts to remove him from U.S. soil by any means possible.

Great additions were made to the documentary with interviews by Walter Cronkite, Gore Vidal, and G. Gordon Liddy (as well as many others) who gave insights into these times-gone-by. Gore Vidal makes a bold statement about how “Nixon represented death and Lennon represented life” and so the clash was set from the get-go. Vidal also notes that “Mr. Bush’s administration represents similar notes to Nixon’s.” This will most certainly turn-off the conservative right but, again, this film preaches more to the choir than trying to change anyone’s mind.

Most enjoyable are all of the many archival film pieces that litter the documentary and give the viewer that “Wow, where did that come from” feeling. They include private home movie footage of John and Yoko with their child, as well as never before seen shots of the “peace bed” they shared immediately after their wedding.

Any negatives have to be aimed at the limited information on John’s battle with heroin and other drugs during this time. But, again, that’s not what this film is about. It’s about how the government of the time viewed Lennon as a threat toward its goal of achieving some sort of victory in Vietnam. It’s about how the Nixon Administration tried to use its muscle to evict Lennon and Yoko from the U.S. via the Immigration and Naturalization process; an attempt that ultimately failed. These aspects are studied in minute detail and are rightfully given the most film time.

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Image from The U.S. vs. John Lennon

John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono hold up a war protest sign