What can I say? I have said it before. This time, every year, the movies that hope to make a splash, during award season, begin to materialize. Some films are obviously in the running, while others are more subtle. It can be challenging to predict. As a critic, I do not necessarily walk into a screening with thoughts of seeing a film that is going to “wow” me or impress me or dazzle me. It has always been best for me to approach each movie with the same, neutral mindset. With that in mind, “The Goldfinch” began…

Based on the 2013 novel by the same name (written by Donna Tartt), John Crowley (‘True Detective’) took a seat in the director’s chair, joined by Peter Straughan (“The Snowman”) as the screenwriter. It took two years for the film adaptation to be finalized and set to create. Amazon Studios made an enormous investment, totaling to over one-third of the overall budget for the movie. Casting took a lot less time (note that some of these characters had younger, flashback counterparts, much like the recent “It Chapter Two”): Ansel Elgort (“Baby Driver”) played as the lead character of Theodore Decker (also known as Theo) and his younger self was played by Oakes Fegley (“Pete’s Dragon”), Nicole Kidman (“Aquaman”) portrayed Samantha Barbour, Aneurin Barnard (“Dunkirk”) played as Boris Pavlikovsky while his younger self was played by Finn Wolfhard (“It Chapter Two”), Sarah Paulson (“Glass”) portrayed Xandra, Luke Wilson (“Arizona”) played as Larry Decker and Jeffrey Wright (“Hold the Dark”) portrayed James Hobart (also known as Hobie). These are, merely, the most-significant actors and actresses of the film and there are others of great importance, as well.

The layout of this story is a bit unorthodox. Often times, when a story is preparing to go backwards in time, we will see a definitive marker between the separate moments in time and once the past is played out, we simply go back to where we were, beforehand. However, “The Goldfinch” maneuvers between two, distinctive moments in time, once the present time has been established. I found myself wondering what it was that I saw at the beginning and when we might get back to that moment. Have patience, for it DOES arrive, but later than sooner.

The childhood of Theo has many layers and plays out like something of an epic tale. We do not know what has happened to his mother, at first, but there is a significant payoff, as time goes on in the story. Her importance may not be as great as one would think, but it is manifested in a beautiful way, from my personal perspective. Again, have patience, because the payoff arrives later, rather than sooner. Theo divides his time, as a child, between two families, which have very different impacts on his life. You will see, even before things fully play out, which is more positive and which is more negative. I must mention that there are a couple of scenes which seem to serve little to no purpose beyond just establishing specific characters of importance. Despite all the minutes that made the final cut of the movie, these few scenes I am alluding to came across as mildly incoherent.

Luke Wilson and Finn Wolfhard, in my opinion, provide the most satisfactory performances, at this time in the story. They seem to represent two, raw emotions, which are connected, but not the same. Although Wilson’s character lacks any real depth, I found myself thinking that this was the most-powerful performance I had seen from him, perhaps, ever. As for Wolfhard, his charisma, as an actor, was quite visible and he probably stands the greatest chance of earning any acting achievements for his portrayal in this film. Simultaneously, though, many of the scenes he interacts in are unforgettable within the full context of the whole movie.

By the time the story moves along to another moment from the past, which is much closer to the established, present time, the film has already approached the running time of some feature-length movies. Personally, I enjoyed THIS moment in time much more than the other, mainly because I was wooed by the charming performance of Theo, as an adult, by Ansel Elgort. I could not help but smile, at times, and I often looked forward to what the next interaction might entail. If the pacing and timing of the other past moment could have been similar, I think things would have turned out better, overall. Still, I was not feeling let down and as the ending came closer, the plot only got more-interesting.

It is important to stay focused on the interactions of Theo and Hobie, more than any of the others. The title of the book AND the film pertain to a small painting and everything it represents, historically. These two characters are joined by that painting, though I will not disclose to what extent. As I have said before, the unveiling of this meaning comes later in the story. There is, yet, another character of great importance, whom is also connected by the apparent tragedy AND comedy of how this painting gets passed around: Ashleigh Cummings as Pippa, also played by Aimee Laurence. The time that she and Theo share is memorable, but limited. In this case, it is hard to say what else could have been done to enhance this relationship, so, I have no complaints, here. Hopefully, YOU can find what you see relatable. I certainly did and it was bittersweet.

“The Goldfinch” will not be everyone’s cup of tea, so to speak. I liked the movie, overall, even though it has its flaws. Apparently, these flaws have been penalized, by some critics, much more than I have. All I can say is, “Do NOT be fooled by what you will see next to the movie title link on, say, Rotten Tomatoes AND remember that the average score is not always reflected by the overall rating.” Furthermore, sometimes, the audience score is much different from that of the critics. In this case, I am more on the side of the audience. The screenplay is very good and there are strong acting performances along the way. I approve!

Director: John Crowley
Screenwriter: Peter Straughan
Based on: ‘The Goldfinch,’ by Donna Tartt
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Oakes Fegley, Aneurin Barnard, Finn Wolfhard, Sarah Paulson, Luke Wilson, Jeffrey Wright, Nicole Kidman, Ashleigh Cummings, Willa Fitzgerald, Denis O’Hare, Boyd Gaines, Peter Jacobson, Luke Kleintank and Robert Joy
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date: September 8th, 2019 (TIFF) and September 13th, 2019 (US)