The Goldfinch

Parental Rating: R

Contains: Language    Violence    Drug Use    Adult Content    

Jill's Review

Opens September 13, 2019

Runs 149 minutes

Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel of the same name, this is the story of Theo (Oakes Fegley/Ansel Elgort), a young boy whose life is upended when his mother is killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His father Larry (Luke Wilson) was an alcoholic who abandoned the family, so Theo is sent to live with his friends the Barbours. Mrs. Barbour (Nicole Kidman) does her best to include him in the family. Then, things go sideways when his father actually shows up and moves him to Las Vegas. His father tries to use him as a pawn and Theo ends up running back to New York to live with Hobie (Jeffrey Wright), an antique restorer. But, Theo's life is never settled and all his troubles point back to the bombing and the painting of the Goldfinch that Theo stole out of the rubble and which haunted him wherever he went.

This film was decent. It seemed long but I was never really bored. I wasn't ever fully engaged either. I didn't feel really drawn to any of the characters. Theo, played by Oakes Fegley as a youngster and then Ansel Elgort, was a hard character to like. He seemed numb and distant the whole film. The acting was fine and the story was interesting. If you loved the book, I'm not sure you will love the film. There are pieces missing. But, it wasn't terrible. So maybe catch it when it is released on dvd.

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