The Goldfinch (2019)

User Review

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  d_riptide

  3 / 10

  I hate it when a movie of this magnitude has lots of potential to work off of but never finds its footing to exploit it.....and “The Goldfinch” unfortunately is no exception. I really wanted to like this movie, I really did. It had an interesting premise, lots of deep philosophical material/substantial themes, sublime cinematography and somewhat decent acting from a decent cast but when the film’s bad, it’s REALLY BAD. The characters don’t connect or speak through to you, most themes it inherits from the book are either half-assed or nonexistent and if you combine the awkward editing, uneven pacing and imbalanced tone together with a story whose complex narrative packs barely any forward momentum, then you don’t get a boring slog of a movie as much as an incomprehensible one.
  
  
  You can say that the film being true to the source material is a good thing but while that’s something I applaud the film for, its just as big of an issue as everything else. Any source of media like this has to make concessions when necessary because making a good film or game or book or show takes priority and sacrifice. It’s why Batman never runs out of gadgets, it’s why lightsabers are never one shot kills, it’s why every single person in the F&F franchise is practically a superhero or villain. By adding or removing a certain variable to/from the equation, the end result can alter dramatically as far as the ENTERTAINMENT factor goes. You might make a faithful adaptation but you make a horrible product because what works in one medium doesn’t necessarily work in another.
  
  
  This “piece of art” just didn’t connect to me. It’s beautiful to look at and glimpse over, but it felt mundane, there was barely any momentum and whatever should’ve been the strongest elements of it end up becoming completely inert. I can’t help but feel sorry for everyone who worked on this.

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