The GoldFinch

Synopsis: Theodore Decker was 13 years old when his mother was killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The tragedy changes the course of his life, sending him on a stirring odyssey of grief and guilt, reinvention and redemption, and even love. Through it all, he holds on to one tangible piece of hope from that terrible day -- a painting of a tiny bird chained to its perch.

Movie Review:

“The Goldfinch” is a movie based on the best-selling novel by Donna Tartt and it follows a young boy named Theodore Decker who is taken in by a wealthy Upper East Side family after his mother is killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. After the tragedy, he steals a priceless piece of art known as the Goldfinch. Unfortunately for me, this movie was a complete disappointment—the plot sounds interesting but the audience quickly learns how boring this film really is. The only positive that I can say is that the cinematography shot by Roger Deakins was beautiful to look at in every scene. My favorite characters were Mrs. Barbour (Nicole Kidman), Hobie (Jeffrey Wright) and Theo (Ansel Elgot). Their relationships gave some much needed lightheartedness and levity to the movie and those scenes were worth watching but wasn’t enough to save the story. The problem about “The Goldfinch” is that there are so many unlikable characters in this movie like Larry (Luke Wilson) and Sandra (Sarah Paulson) — they are both so annoying to watch that I just want to erase them from my memory. Also, the story is so hard to follow…it jumps from past to present without warning and plot points are never explained. Finally, the runtime was brutal—2hrs and 29 minutes but felt like 4 hours. “The Goldfinch” was a wasted opportunity for an exciting thriller with a talented cast. For me one of the worst movies I have seen all year and this just proves that not all book adaptions make good movies. I am giving “The GoldenFinch” a 1.5 out of 5 stars.

Director: John Crowley

Cast: Ansel Algot, Oakes Fegley, Aneurin Barnard, Finn Wolfhard, Willa Fitzgerald, Aneurin Barnard, Ashleigh Cummings, Sarah Paulson, Luke Wilson, Jeffrey Wright, and Nicole Kidman

Runtime: 149 minutes