Tag Archives: John lennon

The U.S. vs. John Lennon

Yoko Ono approved this message. And so it should come as no surprise that the documentary deifies her late husband for his vocal opposition to the Vietnam war, which famously made him a target of the federal government. Ono provided directors David Leaf and John Scheinfeld with extensive footage and sat down with them to offer fresh recollections of the time, but it feels as if her cooperation resulted in a softer perspective on the musician-turned-activist-turned-icon. Lennon comes off as a visionary leader at best and an idealistic marketing genius at worst. While the film isn’t terribly revelatory about the man himself, interviews with everyone from Walter Cronkite to Geraldo Rivera, Mario Cuomo to Bobby Seale, George McGovern to G. Gordon Liddy do offer a thorough, vivid snapshot of this volatile period. And the use of some three dozen songs by Lennon and the Beatles make the film feel like a step up from the average VH1 "Behind the Music" special.