When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Can a film capture the impact of history's relentless tide on those on the sidelines? Writer-director Peter Landsman takes on that challenge in this docudrama about what happened after President John F. Kennedy was murdered in a Dallas motorcade.A resident physician anticipating a slow day, not knowing he is about to be handed the world's most important, impossible mission. A clothing manufacturer who takes off with a camera to film a happy event, not knowing it will become prime evidence in a notorious crime. A worker at a brick company, not knowing the day's biggest brick is about to land on his head."About all that could happen in one day has," observed NBC's David Brinkley when November 22, 1963 was over at last. It's an apt summation of the broad canvas Landsman lays out.Unfolding in just 90 minutes, minus credits, "Parkland" puts forward a straightforward story of many moving parts. Billed by some as the anti- "JFK" as it eschews conspiracy theories and is based on a book by Lone- Nut-theory champion Vincent Bugliosi, "Parkland" doesn't explore the whodunnit aspect of the case, focusing instead on the human dimension."Parkland" won't change anyone's mind, but it makes the experience of losing a president compellingly real. While it isn't the galvanizing psychodrama that was Oliver Stone's "JFK," "Parkland" has its own quiet power, from the moment we catch glimpses of the President's bloodied limo speeding to Parkland Hospital, to the various small, mad glimpses we get of people trying to sort out what just happened."Jim, you've got nothing to work with...""We need a coffin...""I'm now responsible for two presidents...Kennedy and now President Johnson. I'm not even a Democrat."My favorite exchange is when a mortally wounded Lee Harvey Oswald is in a Parkland operating room. Someone asks what happens if he dies."We need a confession first," says Secret Service agent Forrest Sorrels (Billy Bob Thorton)."Don't we all," a doctor answers.The acting is top-notch across the board from this game cast. No one pushes too hard for your attention, with the exception of Jacki Weaver as Oswald's pushy mother, who is a standout. The film only gives her a few moments in the spotlight, giving more attention to his brother Robert (James Badge Dale), who tries to fathom what has just happened to him and his family.Not every scene feels needed. Much attention is paid to the onboarding of Kennedy's coffin in Air Force One, and the film's focus becomes blurry after Day One. Do we need to see Abraham Zapruder (Paul Giamatti) visit every film developer in Dallas? The refusal to offer answers gets frustrating, especially when we see Oswald himself briefly, admitting nothing.But that's the quandary many of us find ourselves in when we contemplate the tragedy of this particular day. In the end, "Parkland" is an exhausting experience, but one that masterfully puts across how this is about people reacting in the heat of the moment to something beyond their reckoning. How would we handle such a test?

A relatively straight-forward telling of a historical event with lots of blood and gore. John F. Kennedy apparently had so much blood in his body that even after so much of it must have spilled in the limousine, there was still enough left over to completely soak every doctor's shirt and cover every person's hands within a 20-foot radius of the ER. Yes, this director, Peter Landesman, sure does like gore. And yet, he was strangely demure about showing the moment of JFK's assassination (all of that was accomplished through reaction shots).The plus of this movie is its highlighting of details that folks might never consider, like when the Dallas medical examiner wouldn't allow JFK's body to leave the hospital because he was a murder victim, or that L. H. Oswald's mother thought her son was an agent of the US government.These "real life" details occasionally got a bit dubious though, I thought, like when one secret service agent took out a hack-saw and cut away a section of Airforce One's fuselage to allow JFK's coffin in. Really? Is an airplane so easily cut? If so, would it still be safe to fly in? Oh well, Hollywood, right? Or, maybe this really happened. That's the problem with biopics, it's hard to tell where reality leaves off and convenient creativity begins.All in all, Parkland was a well-made period piece where little details take center stage. Mildly recommended.p.s. Hello again Jackie Earle Haley. Kelly from the Bad News Bears is in everything these days! Good for you, man.

"Parkland" from 2013 is exceptional for telling the story of President Kennedy's assassination in Dallas in a simple yet extraordinary way, showing us the impact it had on the lives of those involved in it, people thrust into an historic situation.The emotional effect the assassination had on those involved makes Parkland a sad, touching story, with no conspiracy theories, just families, secret service, and hospital workers attempting to absorb what they witnessed. From the near-hysteria of Agent Forrest Sorels when he screams that the Secret Service had failed to protect the President, the dazed Abraham Zapruder (Paul Giamatti) with a bombshell in his hand, the intent of Dr. Carrico (Zach Efron), who refused to stop pounding the chest of the President to make his heart start, to Mrs. Kennedy (Kat Steffens) taking off her wedding ring and putting it on her husband's finger, the panicked ripping apart of the plane so the hearse would fit - the film is loaded with moments like these.I did wonder about a few things. The first is I've always believed there was no real attempt to protect Oswald from being shot - just thought I'd bring that up. Certainly the police were aware that there might be an attempt, and they let Jack Ruby walk right up to him. Contrast that with the striking scene of taking Lyndon Johnson to the plane -- surrounded by secret service, his head pushed down as they ran to the car, ran to the plane. Big difference.The second thing I wondered about - this is regarding accuracy - was the discussion in the hospital about the President's blood type. I thought, and I might be wrong, that when the President or First Lady travels, blood of their type is put aside for them at a hospital in a city where they will be.The second thing I wondered about is everyone calling Mrs. Kennedy "Jackie." Certainly people who had a more formal relationship with her referred to her as Mrs. Kennedy.A final thought - Zapruder sold the film to Life magazine because he admired the publication and, according to this movie, asked that the kill shot frame be omitted. That may or may not be so - another side of it is that the publisher of Life had CIA connections and was not trusted by the FBI. Don't know. I do know that Zapruder gave $25,000 to the widow of the police officer Oswald shot, that the film was sold back to him for $1, and that he donated the copyright to the Dealey Plaza Museum. Just think, if this assassination happened today, how many i-phones the FBI would have collected, and how many news programs would have had access to footage that very afternoon.A great companion piece to this is "Four Days in November," which shows footage of the President, Mrs. Kennedy, and the Johnsons on their trip to Texas. In its own way it's as emotional for the audience, watching President Kennedy with his characteristic humor, charisma, and charm giving a speech, Mrs. Kennedy speaking Spanish -- when we know what's coming.For those who remember the assassination, Parkland will be especially powerful. For those who don't, the movie makes you feel as if you are there.

I currently reside in Dallas, TX. Whenever friends or family members come to visit, one of the things on their list to see is the 6th floor book depository where Lee Harvey Oswald fired his infamous shot to kill President John F. Kennedy. The site is now a museum, and there's actually an "X" painted on the asphalt where the bullet hit. You can still stand on the grassy knoll and picture in your mind the events of that horrible day. Countless movies and TV shows have been made that have documented or told narrative stories about Kennedy's death, but none quite like Peter Landesman's 'Parkland'.The title refers to the name of the hospital where JFK was pronounced dead. A couple of days later, Lee Harvey Oswald was also rushed to Parkland and declared dead after his own shooting by Jack Ruby. Parkland hospital still exists in Dallas today, and is one of the busiest medical centers in the DFW area.This is not a JFK movie that involves conspiracies, motives or even much of the President himself. In fact, although the film is called 'Parkland', it's not even fully set at the hospital. This account of the JFK assassination is all about the chaos that surrounded the event from the time that the bullet hit the President to Oswald's funeral, which happened within a span of a couple of days. Rather than focus on just one character, it's an ensemble drama that provides tiny glimpses of the President and his wife, the doctors and nurses at Parkland, the police, FBI, CIA and Oswald's family.One character we follow is Abraham Zapruder (Paul Giamatti), the man who filmed the motorcade and captured the assassination on camera. The head of the FBI (Billy Bob Thornton) escorts Zapruder from place to place to make copies of the footage, all the while every news outlet in the world offers him money to purchase it. We see Zapruder struggle with the decision to sell the footage, going so far as requesting that Time magazine edit out the gory parts.Another important character is Robert Oswald (James Badge Dale), Lee Harvey Oswald's brother. I've never seen a movie show Oswald's family before, at least not in this detail, even if it's only for a short amount of time. Their mother Marguerite (Jacki Weaver) is on the verge of being institutionalized, and Weaver plays the part a little too cartoonishly. However, a scene with Robert and Lee in the jail-house before Lee's murder is truly powerful. One of the most heartbreaking scenes occurs when Oswald is being buried, and Robert has to ask the press to help him carry his brother's coffin because nobody else is there to help.Zac Efron, Colin Hanks and Marcia Gay Harden all give great but small performances as doctors at Parkland who have to deal with the CIA and Secret Service barging in. Ron Livingston plays FBI agent James Hosty, who profiled Oswald before the assassination but was ordered to get rid of any evidence that showed that the FBI had investigated him, because it would look very bad for the Bureau.'Parkland' shows only the intense chaotic moments in these couple of days. Each character receives less than ten minutes of screen time, but Landesman seamlessly weaves these heartbreaking moments together and moves the story at a fluid pace while James Newton Howard's score revs up the emotion in every scene. It's an excellent film.