The Goldfinch; Review

 Every so often critics rip a movie apart that I really liked. I wasn’t sure exactly what to think. The film received universal scorn. The book won a Pulitzer prize but I never read it. My review is based solely on the movie. Normally it works the other way for me. I read the book and then see the movie. But I’ve been let down too many times; this probably explains the negative reaction from others.

This time I’m only watching the movie.

A terrorist bombing in the Metropolitan Museum of Art changes the directions and destroys the fortunes of a handful of people. Young Theo (Oakes Fegley) gets separated from his mother just before the explosion kills her and most of the patrons. Two things happen right after; first an old man gives Theo a ring with instructions to take it to an antique dealer. Second, Theo grabs the painting (The Goldfinch) and keeps it in his bag. He manages to get out in the rubble and dust without anyone questioning him. It’s the only possession he has connecting him to that day. The museum assumes it was destroyed.

 He is wracked by grief over the death of his mother. His Father (Luke Wilson) doesn’t show up to claim him till a few months later. He is an unstable man with gambling issues and debt, living in Las Vegas with his girlfriend. Theo has been taken in by a wealthy Park Avenue family until his dad could be located. He moves out to Las Vegas with his dad and falls into adolescent drug and alcohol abuse. His companion is a Russian kid whose father is never around, providing both boys ample opportunity for trouble. After a few years in Vegas, Theo runs away to New York where the antiques dealer, Hobie (played by Jeffrey Wright) lets him live and work.

Goldfinch unfolds mystery like, putting some of the end near the beginning and the beginning near the end. It’s about grief and tragedy, but also fate and seeing how events change the trajectory of life. Theo is a mixture of the people in his life who influence him after the event. We see the bombing in a handful of chopped up scenes that reveal a little more each time, until it all makes sense.  

 Critics hated the way the story breezed through the characters and flattened their development. Book comparisons are always unfair; who really wants to see an 18 hour movie? 

The real theme is the way random connections work to make us into the person we become. Tragedy is often the spark that pushes people together. It’s a long movie (2 ½ hours) but it succeeds as showing instead of telling. The painting is the one constant thing in his life, or so we think. He hides his grief in the painting that he keeps in a storage unit along with prescription drugs. Ansel Elgort, who plays the adult Theo, reminds me of Matt Damon from The Talented Mr. Ripley-a well-mannered and sophisticated guy, with dark secrets and a lack of ethics. His charm is mostly a veneer. 

   

The scenes are beautifully shot with lots of detail. That might have influenced my opinion more than I admit. You can't create a film around a piece of art and not obsess over the pictures you show the audience.

 I can see where the story is thin in spots, like the last 30 minutes or so seem to come out of nowhere and conclude all at once. But it’s a grand spectacle I’m a fan of great shots. I found Nicole Kidman, who plays the matriarch of the wealthy New York family, to be a little wooden. The idea was to turn her from a WASP-y snob into a warmer person late in life. She undergoes a tragedy as well that changes the direction of her life. But there just wasn’t enough of her in the movie to pull it off convincingly.

   

Most critics see The Goldfinch as a pretty mess, I loved it.