John Lennon - The USA Vs John Lennon

Power to the Beatle

For a documentary based on, and somewhat uncovering, the USA’s surveillance and investigation of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, The USA Vs John Lennon spends a hell of a lot of time playing around outside the subject.

Of course it needs to set the scene, but nearly 45 minutes of the hour-and-a-half are spent contextualising Lennon’s time in the USA with the Vietnam war. It’s simply too much time spent on one thing where, although providing the key to most of Lennon’s rallying in the US, most everybody watching will already know about it. Come the end and the admittance from an ex-FBI agent that Lennon was being monitored right up to the top of the Nixon-led US government, and the revealing of documents proving as much, are all pretty rushed through. Suddenly, you’ve seen what you want, are gearing up for more, but Lennon’s suddenly dead and little else is revealed. That first half adds up to sorely lost time.

There is, of course, a host of talking heads, from Black Panther�activists whom Lennon was briefly aligned with, to John Sinclair and US government officials. The Lennon footage remains as captivating as ever, but the documentary as a whole somewhat wastes its chance.

Lions Gate Home Entertainment | RRD 93891

Reviewed by Jason Draper
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