North Texas Daily

Cole Clay / Intern

Rating: 2.5/5

There have been plenty of movies that have been released that chronicle the untimely death of the 35th President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, really enough to last us from now until the end of the century. So, going into “Parkland” with a sense of apprehension is an understatement.

“Parkland” is a reference to the hospital located in Dallas where JFK was taken after he was shot. The film is about how much chaos ensued after the assassination and the impact it made on thousands of peoples’ lives that fateful day.

The film is much less profound than it strives to be. We are introduced to dozens of characters with title cards throughout the film including Dr. Jim Carrico (Zac Efron) and Secret Service Agent Ron Kellerman (Tom Welling). True, this is informative, but instead of seeing a doctor or special agent it seems these former teen-heart throbs are just playing dress up for a school play. The same goes for the other cast of characters in the film (Ron Livingston, Billy Bob Thornton, Mark Duplass) who get zero development and are merely cyphers for the overall plot of the film.

Cinematography can either make or break a movie; some can create a beautiful atmosphere that ends up becoming more of an experience than a movie, others give meager attempts and both can work if it is appropriate to the film. In the case of “Parkland,” the photography certainly has a style, but that style is boring and repetitive.

This is certainly surprising for such an accomplished cinematographer like Barry Ackroyd (“Captain Phillips”, “The Hurt Locker”) who creates a claustrophobic environment by only having close and medium shots the entire film. Perhaps he was just the wrong man for the job.

“Parkland” is an earnest attempt at filmmaking that managed to get tons of stars to make extended cameos in this film, but if “Movie 43” taught us anything, that doesn’t mean your film is going to be memorable or even very good for that matter.