The Goldfinch (2019)

★★★

---

A boy in New York is taken in by a wealthy Upper East Side family after his mother is killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Classification: 15

---

While faithful to the plot points of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, John Crowley's adaptation of The Goldfinch suffers from an almost insufferable long runtime and weak final act. The film is brimming with gorgeous production design and graced by Roger Deakin's cinematography however the film only really thrives when it focuses on the coming of age story of Theodore Decker when portrayed by breakout star Oakes Fegley. The film follows the two timelines of Theo's story both as a child following his mother's death portrayed by Fegley then going to Theo as a young adult played by Ansel Elgort dealing with the repercussions for stealing the eponymous painting all those years ago. It's a man reflecting on his grief and the upheaval of life he faced and then how The Goldfinch painting became a tether to the final memory of his mother and why kept his theft a secret for so long. Elgort's storyline in the film feels out of place, it has him reconnecting with characters from his youth and coming to terms with what he has done but it feels like a completely different character from the flashbacks.

Oddly enough when the painting is forgotten and focuses on Theo's youthful relationships with his guardians, mentors and friends the film becomes a compelling analysis of grief and repressing said grief. Fegley's portrayal of the character harbours deep anger over what happened to his mother and blames himself, but it doesn't manifest in emotional outbursts but something that burrows deep within him. The painting is supposed to be the visual representation of that pain but the film is unable to use the Goldfinch in the narrative effectively until the third act but at the point, any interest the audience had has waned. The Goldfinch works when it's about the relationships between the people brought together by the tragedy and not why a boy stole a painting. Fegley stands toe to toe against Nicole Kidman and Jeffrey Wright who are the first parental figures Theo gains after his mother's death. Kidman as a wealthy New Yorker who takes him in when no one else can, and Wright as an antique dealer whose business partner's death was witnessed by Theo at the museum bombing. Theo stood next to Welton Blackwell and his niece Pippa when the explosion happened, Blackwell dying moments spurs Theo to seek Wright's character Hobie and be reunited with Pippa who survived the explosion as well but suffered more serious injuries.

While the scenes with Kidman and Wright showcase a nurturing environment that allows for Theo to slowly begin a healing process, it is his friendship with Pippa that bears the most potential. They are both survivors of their trauma, they have a bond that lets them properly explore what they gained and lost from their old lives. Theo's relationship with Pippa as it develops into his adult life is far more interesting than his obsession with the painting but that issue spans into Crowley's direction because it is unclear what The Goldfinch wants to accomplish with its story. The second act begins the next stage of Theo's journey exploring the rough relationship with his father and friendship with Boris portrayed by Finn Wolfhard's questionable accent. Showcasing Theo's emotional repression breaking away with Boris's influences having Theo begin to drink, take drugs and rebel against authority, it gives context to adult Theo's actions in the third act but doesn't justify the direction the film takes. As stated before The Goldfinch only works when it focuses on Fegley's performance and the connections he has with family and friends rather than the world of crime Elgort's character finds himself embroiled in.

Even though the performances and cinematography make the story of The Goldfinch captivating its the pacing of the film that just undoes so much of the hard work put into it. It's not the shifting between Elgort and Fegley's Theo's but the dichotomy of how nothing is happening while everything is happening. It's all about Theo's relationships but scenes can feel repetitive just buying time to sell the illusion of this film being an epic character drama. Most scenes boil down to a different variation of a character having Theo deal with his changing lifestyle. It's also the lack of clarity on what is the more important element of the plot; Theo's growth or Theo's crime, the narrative blends them together at certain points but it all feels like a meandering question that Crowley can't seem to answer. The strengths of the film fall apart by the third act as the sudden criminal elements of the story and convenient deus ex machina make all that came before it wasted. The film suddenly wants to recontextualise every relationship Theo had formed in his youth through his secret of The Goldfinch even though it never had anything to do with these people.

Probably not the best adaptation of the beloved novel, The Goldfinch isn't outright awful but its flaws are glaring enough to affect the overall enjoyment of the film. Deakins work gives the mundane nature of life a beautiful quality with vast landscapes and intimate lighting. The scenes capturing the devastation of the bombing attack being a standout along with the isolation of Theo and Boris's friendship in Nevada. Fegley steals the film with every scene making a great argument that the film perhaps should have only focused on the character as a child. The film, however, wants to continue past this leading into a poorly executed climax which undoes a lot of the good faith that had been done before as it makes Theo's character more unlikeable and unrecognizable from his younger counterpart. It's not even a film that suffers from so much happening it needs a long runtime, a lot does happen but the editing just doesn't give any urgency to the story. Portions of the film can feel like scenes slapped together because of their geography; here all the New York scenes, now all the Nevada scenes, the way they fit together doesn't drive any audience forward with intrigue. It's an interesting film but like an hourglass, loses what makes it interesting the longer it goes on.

---

Director: #JohnCrowley

Cast: #AnselElgort, #OakesFegley, #AneurinBarnard, #FinnWolfhard, #SarahPaulson, #LukeWilson, #JeffreyWright, #NicoleKidman

Release Date: September 27th 2019

Trailer:

---

Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews

Images and Synopsis from the Internet Movie Database