The Goldfinch: Well Done Pultizer Prize Winning Fiction of Depth

Movie Review: The Goldfinch (2019)

Version: Amazon Prime

Based on the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winning novel of the same name, The Goldfinch is the spellbinding tale of a boy haunted by the death of his mother in a terrorist bombing of a New York City art museum and the painting that connects him to it.

The film features a delicate weave of layers between today and yesterday, of young, innocent Theo Decker (Oakes Fegley) and today's scheming Theo (Ansel Elgort), mastering a deeply held secret that he is somehow at fault for his mother's death. He takes that feeling of guilt with him into adulthood and his friendships, ever afraid to fail others and to lose the painting he secretly rescues from the bombed museum but ultimately fails to return to its rightful owners, even as it imperils him later. The name of the painting, which has survived centuries of devastation of its own, is "The Goldfinch"

Theo Decker is an amazing character, but he plays against an interesting array of side characters, too, to make The Goldfinch a compelling watch. There is the family that brings him into its fold when he is first orphaned, shepherded by his school friend's mother Mrs. Barbour (Nicole Kidman). At first he's a nuisance, but they come to like and then accept him as one of their own. Nicole Kidman somehow seems kind of creepy in the role. Then there's Theo's deadbeat dad Larry (Luke Wilson), who just as the Barbours are about to adopt Theo shows up to take him to Las Vegas to chew him up and spit him out over his own failings. The most endearing characters are Hobie (Jeffrey Wright), the antique store owner who finds a place in his heart and a room in his home for a lost Theo, not to mention a place for the future, and Boris (Finn Wolfhard in youth, Aneurin Barnard as adult), who is Theo's best friend. They make the story come to life and ultimately help Theo free "The Goldfinch" and Theo.

There are many surprises in this film, not the least comes at the end. Tying all the pieces together is done masterfully, but you have to be patient watching the timelines shift back and forth, although The Goldfinch does a better job at this than most films featuring flashbacks and flash forwards. Be patient -- it is worth it. I promise, it will be worth it.

I can see why the book won a Pulitzer for fiction. I'll be reading the book as soon as I can get my hands on it. This is a great story and the movie is worth viewing. Well done!

The Fault in Our Stars: Young Love in Tragedy Played with Perfection

Movie Review: The Fault in Our Stars (2014)
Version: Library borrow

Through the coming attractions previews on a couple of older movies, our family ran into some movies we had missed in the past. A seriously great film we picked up at the library is The Fault in Our Stars, the story of two teenagers who meet at a cancer support group, which leads to hanging out more together. What becomes a close friendship based on a shared life-and-death experience leads to a love-lost-to-death relationship, but not in a way you expect as you make your way through the story.

Hazel is undergoing continued cancer treatments with little hope for recovery, Augustus has lost a leg to cancer but is full of enthusiasm for life, always lifting her spirits. She has "wasted" her special wish earlier in life to go to Disney World, so he uses his to take her to Amsterdam to meet their favorite author, where they finally fall helplessly in love. Fouling their experience, they find their author isn't what he purports to be. Finally returning home, everything turns for the worse. But is their hope?

Hazel is played with perfection by Shailene Woodley, sometimes bright and hopeful, sometimes full of despair. Augustus is played with eloquence by Ansel Elgort, philosophical and brave and the supportive partner. Willem Dafoe plays an acerbic and acidic author darkened in his outlook on life by experiences he refuses to share.

This is really a story about star-crossed lovers whose crossing is destined too soon to pass in the night, but it's also about the passionate love of life and the unfairness of conditions beyond your control. It depends almost entirely upon the quality of the lead actors to pull off the story, and they do it with excellence. There is real chemistry between Woodley and Elgort, and thus you feel a passionate connection between Hazel and Augustus, for whom you yearn for a long life together. Yet The Fault in Our Stars is actually a tragedy, and so, like Romeo and Juliet, it is a love story that will not be.

The Fault in Our Stars will always be one of my favorite movies because it's the first time my daughter -- usually an animation and action film fan -- actually asked to see a romance film. Is she growing up a bit? Watching it with her, it was sort of like my first dance with her, seeing the young lady in her blossom just a little. (Don't tell her I said that!)