For an ensemble indie drama that concerns itself with one of the most memorable events in American history, Peter Landesman’s Parkland could have really played up the tragedy of JFK’s assassination with its recently released poster, via Yahoo! Movies. But the design is instead something classier than a floating head design, though much drier and non-specific than I would have hoped for. And that’s saying a lot for a poster that has both “November 22, 1963” and “The JFK Assassination as You’ve Never Seen It Before” as taglines. Note that I’m really glad they didn’t decide to make the half-masted flag form the face of Kennedy as it flies in the wind. I guess the all-black background and single iconic image speak to the strange reverence the day has received over the years. Luckily, the first five of the film’s stills aren’t nearly as foreboding.
From Band of Brothers producers Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, Parkland centers on the events occurring at Dallas’ Parkland Hospital following Kennedy's murder, and is based on the book Four Days in November by former prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi. Thankfully, each of these pictures is of one of the film’s major characters, so we get a good look at everyone in a clear shot.
First up is Paul Giamatti playing Abraham Zapruder, arguably the most famous amateur cameraman to ever live. Zapruder was responsible for the only known footage to exist of the entire assassination, which lasted a whole 26 seconds. Just click on the picture to see a reference image for Zapruder.
While I have no idea how large a role he’ll play in the film, Jeremy Strong looks nearly as identical to the killer Lee Harvey Oswald as one could hope for, though he doesn’t have the cocksure swagger that Oswald put forth.
I try to imagine if this bent over Zac Efron is the kind of guy I’d want handling the dying president’s body, and my first through third answers are no. He plays Dr. James Carrico, the first doctor to examine Kennedy after he was brought in. Marcia Gay Harden plays nurse Doris Nelson, a nurse on the scene who was widely quoted afterward as to what the back of Kennedy’s head looked like when he was brought in.
And finally, Billy Bob Thornton plays Secret Service agent Forrest Sorrels, who was one of the first to get to Kennedy, and had the blood on him to show for it.
Also starring Ron Livingston, Tom Welling, Jackie Earle Haley, Mark Duplass, Rory Cochrane, Jacki Weaver and Colin Hanks, Parkland will roll its cavalcade into theaters on September 20, so expect a trailer soon.
