The Goldfinch (2019) - Stars gleam in affected Crowley adaptation mishap

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+ Career-Killer of the Year: John Crowley 

 

Young co-star Oakes Fegley in a jump in black space outlines this striking poster for John Crowley's The Goldfinch

13 year-old Theo gets taken in by a wealthy New-Yorker family, after his mother dies in a terrorist attack in an art museum. Theo goes on to have an unusual adolescence.

 

The Goldfinch is written by Peter Straughan (Sixty Six (2006)), adapting the same-titled 2013 novel by Donna Tartt (The Secret History (1992)), and directed by Irish master filmmaker John Crowley (Intermission (2003).

An impressive cast, - including but not limited to Nicole Kidman (Happy Feet (2006)) as the adopting mother and Jeffrey Wright (Monster (2018)) as an antique specialist/mentor to Theo, - lures, along with a plush production, into this literary universe. Theo meets us first as an incredibly depressed-looking teenage boy, (played by Oakes Fegley (Boardwalk Empire (2014, TV-series))), who is into classical literature and art (...), but Fegley later proves livelier and capable enough in scenes in Nevada. Here he has good scenes with Finn Wolfhard (It (2017)) and Luke Wilson (Henry Poole Is Here (2008)) and Sarah Paulson (Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)), the latter two good as his bad father and his unappealing girlfriend. Ansel Elgort (Allegiant (2016)) does alright as the adult Theo, when the story takes a turn and becomes odder: Kidman speaks mysteriously to her now adult Theo, who was in her care for a very short period of time, and she talks to him as if they enjoyed many years together. 

Aneurin Barnard (Thirteen (2016, miniseries)) is a looker, but the story, which now circles around a stolen painting of the titular goldfinch, and their mission to steal it back, never becomes successful for the third act of the long film. The Goldfinch nevertheless still has plenty of drama and interesting performances to keep my attention perched over it.

Related posts:

John Crowley: 2019 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

Brooklyn (2015) - Ronan captivates in Crowley's exquisite, soaring period romance drama masterpiece 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 44-49 mil. $ (different reports)

Box office: 9.9 mil. $

= Box office disaster (returned between 0.22 - 0.20 times its cost)

[The Goldfinch premiered 8 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 149 minutes. Wolfhard was paid 65k $ for his performance in the film. Shooting took place in New York, New Mexico and Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from January - April 2018. A test screening 6 months prior to the release gave theatrical distributor Warner Bros. fears the film might bomb, and its marketing budget was consequently cut "dramatically." It opened #8 to a 2.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 5.3 mil. $ (53.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Russia with 1.1 mil. $ (11.1 %) and the UK with 0.9 mil. $ (9.1 %). Crowley is returning with TV-series Life after Life and does not have an announced feature in the pipeline yet. Fegley returned in The War with Grandpa (2020); Elgort in Tokyo Vice (2021, TV-series) and theatrically in West Side Story (2021). The Goldfinch is rotten at 25 % with a 4.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Goldfinch?

Pete's Dragon (2016) - Lowery plays Disney remake safe

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Newcomer Oakes Fegley (This Is Where I Leave You (2014)) looks comfy on this poster for David Lowery's Pete's Dragon

 

As a 5 year-old boy, Pete loses his parents in a tragic car crash and survives in the following 6 years as the friend of the forest's secret dragon, whom he names Elliot. Then discovery of the two occurs.

 

Pete's Dragon is a remake of the same-titled, part-animated 1977 Disney hit musical, written by Toby Halbrooks (Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013), producer) and co-writer-director David Lowery (St. Nick (2009)).

It is recommended to watch it with kids, because they might have a stronger, more wondrous reaction to it than adults who have seen other, better films. Disney and Jon Favreau's great The Jungle Book (2016) is a recent boy-centered, part-animated adventure that it is best not to remember too clearly when consuming the milquetoast cousin, Pete's Dragon. If you have seen E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), it inevitably comes to mind in connection with Pete's Dragon, and that comparison hurts the film even more. - The short end of it is that Pete's Dragon isn't up to snuff with those films. It isn't as funny and it isn't as dramatic or intense either.

 

But it is a sweet enough story, and dragon Elliot is a thoroughly well-animated, obviously dog-based creature and the best part of the film. - Who wouldn't want to have him for a friend, and believe that dragons like him might be out there in the woods? Pete's Dragon boasts a nice interest in the outdoors, which it should be commended for. Everything that gets kids (and adults) away from screens and exhaust fumes and out in nature is welcome in 2016.
Contributing to the soggy quality of the adventure is the performances: While Fegley is a sweet enough boy, Lowery has chosen a girl counterpart with grotesquely oversized eyes, which seems like a cheap gimmick, (unless the girl goes on to become an accomplished actress in which case I would be shown wrong).) Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World (2015)) has put on some maternal pounds but her acting is wooden in parts of the film. Robert Redford (Truth (2015)) is a dragon-believing dad to her, and if you're like me, you'll sit through his scenes mostly thinking about what a prune he is turning into by now, (and feeling sort of bad about it, naturally.) Karl Urban (Star Trek Beyond (2016)) plays the possessive, moronic villain, who isn't really a villain. If you've seen and felt emotionally powerful children/family movies before, the softness and lack of emotional depth in Pete's Dragon will disappoint. It seems played safe in a way, and in its unclearly time-dislocated, (it is 1977 and '83, the Wikipedia summary informs), uncompelling way, parts of it depressed me a bit.

Watch an official trailer for the film here

Cost: 65 mil. $

Box office: 135.8 mil. $ and counting

= Too early to say (but looks like a flop)

[Pete's Dragon premiered August 8 (Hollywood's El Capitan Theatre) and runs 102 minutes. Disney announced its 'title-only' (meaning that only the title and basis of a boy and a dragon is kept) remake plans in 2013. Michael C. Hall was first cast in what became Urban's tree lugger role. Filming took place on location in New Zealand from January - April 2015. The film opened #3, behind holdover hit Suicide Squad and new release Sausage Party, to a 21.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent 4 weeks in the top 5 and grossed 75.1 mil. $. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets are the UK with 6.4 mil. $ and Australia with 5.1 mil. $. The film has yet to open in one important market: Japan, where it opens December 23. Pete's Dragon is certified fresh at 86 % with a 7.3 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Pete's Dragon?