As a humungous Beatles fan, I always like checking out any attempt at a drama about the Fab Four. Filmmakers who have attempted such efforts usually are hampered by not having access to the Beatles catalog and Lennon Naked is no exception. Director Edward Coulthard fortunately however was able to use music from Lennon's first solo Plastic Ono Band album as a good part of the soundtrack.
The film stars Christopher Eccleston as Lennon and as many have pointed out the actor is way too old for the part (he's anywhere between 15 and 22 years too old depending on which point in time we're looking at the legendary musician in his career).
Apart from the age difference, Eccleston does a decent enough job depicting the dark side of Lennon's life from 1964 to approximately 1972 when he left for the US with Yoko Ono. In this portrait, the glass is way more half empty than half full. What's missing of course is Lennon's charm. Yes I know he had his share of troubles (perhaps more than many people) but you do not become loved as he was without being fairly optimistic and confident.
If Lennon was afflicted by some significant angst, it was related to his troubled childhood. At the age of six, his father Freddie (Christopher Fairbank) disappeared from his life for 17 years and his mother (who had taken up living with another man) sent him to live with his Aunt Mimi. The film does a good job of exploring his resentment toward his father who in effect abandoned him for many years.
You end up feeling sorry for Freddie who is depicted as being clueless about the meaning of John's new song "Mother" which chronicles his feelings in a nutshell about his relationship with his father. Despite Freddie apologizing for not being a good parent, John can't let go of his anger. One wonders how strong that feeling was; as depicted here in this film, it was an incredibly powerful factor in leading to a great deal of John's self-destructive behavior. Yoko Ono is seen as the stabilizing influence which virtually saves him from complete ruin.
Also well done are the scenes exploring the conflict between John and his wife Cynthia (Claudie Blakely). You also feel sorry for her because she really wanted to patch things up but John had moved on from her long ago and now needed a new kind of relationship which only Yoko Ono (Naoko Mori) could provide.
Yoko here is a cipher as she is in real life. How much do we really know about the quirky artist who proved to be on the same wavelength as the man-child superstar who needed to re-experience the childhood he never had in order to gain some semblance of equilibrium?
The film is weak in the area of the relationship between John and his fellow Beatles. Both George and Ringo have hardly any lines and the conflict with McCartney is hardly explored in any detail. An early scene in which John interacts with manager Brian Epstein proves to be of some interest as John is shown gently ribbing him about his homosexuality.
Despite the age of the principal actor here as well as mainly covering only the dark side of the iconic Beatles' personality, Lennon Naked should keep your interest for its 82 minutes running time.
The film stars Christopher Eccleston as Lennon and as many have pointed out the actor is way too old for the part (he's anywhere between 15 and 22 years too old depending on which point in time we're looking at the legendary musician in his career).
Apart from the age difference, Eccleston does a decent enough job depicting the dark side of Lennon's life from 1964 to approximately 1972 when he left for the US with Yoko Ono. In this portrait, the glass is way more half empty than half full. What's missing of course is Lennon's charm. Yes I know he had his share of troubles (perhaps more than many people) but you do not become loved as he was without being fairly optimistic and confident.
If Lennon was afflicted by some significant angst, it was related to his troubled childhood. At the age of six, his father Freddie (Christopher Fairbank) disappeared from his life for 17 years and his mother (who had taken up living with another man) sent him to live with his Aunt Mimi. The film does a good job of exploring his resentment toward his father who in effect abandoned him for many years.
You end up feeling sorry for Freddie who is depicted as being clueless about the meaning of John's new song "Mother" which chronicles his feelings in a nutshell about his relationship with his father. Despite Freddie apologizing for not being a good parent, John can't let go of his anger. One wonders how strong that feeling was; as depicted here in this film, it was an incredibly powerful factor in leading to a great deal of John's self-destructive behavior. Yoko Ono is seen as the stabilizing influence which virtually saves him from complete ruin.
Also well done are the scenes exploring the conflict between John and his wife Cynthia (Claudie Blakely). You also feel sorry for her because she really wanted to patch things up but John had moved on from her long ago and now needed a new kind of relationship which only Yoko Ono (Naoko Mori) could provide.
Yoko here is a cipher as she is in real life. How much do we really know about the quirky artist who proved to be on the same wavelength as the man-child superstar who needed to re-experience the childhood he never had in order to gain some semblance of equilibrium?
The film is weak in the area of the relationship between John and his fellow Beatles. Both George and Ringo have hardly any lines and the conflict with McCartney is hardly explored in any detail. An early scene in which John interacts with manager Brian Epstein proves to be of some interest as John is shown gently ribbing him about his homosexuality.
Despite the age of the principal actor here as well as mainly covering only the dark side of the iconic Beatles' personality, Lennon Naked should keep your interest for its 82 minutes running time.