‘Imagine’: Mixed Reviews, Modest Business

The subject of wholesale advertising and publicity blitzes, “Imagine: John Lennon,” the new film about the slain Beatle, dominated the news columns and review spaces of the nation’s media over the weekend. Washington Post critic Hal Hinson called the film, a “flattering but uncomprehending documentary portrait of the rock artist (that) aspires to a presentation of the man, but settles instead on one of the masks--and the least interesting one at that.” Many critics found the film superficial and too kind to the mystique that surrounded Lennon. USA Today’s Mike Clark wrote: “This version of the legend still will leave you vaguely dissatisfied.” However, not all the reviews find fault in producer David Wolper and director Andrew Solt’s film, that is culled from over 240 hours of film and 100 hours of tape. “This film has things no Beatles biographer has yet captured,” Janet Maslin of the New York Times wrote. “(Solt) has . . . shaped a lively, entertaining film that offers a moving portrait of Lennon and his times.” And although bombarded by ads and associated publicity events, the public was less than ecstatic: According to Warner Bros. sources, the film took in an estimated $1.3 million at 561 theaters.

Note: Due to the Columbus Day holiday, the weekly box office report will appear in Wednesday’s Morning Report.