The Goldfinch
Consolidated Ward Theaters
Pupule rating: 3.6 (out of 4)
I'd never heard of this film, let alone the novel, until earlier this evening. But on a free night, that's what popped up on my screen at Ward. Hmm. Critics gave it a 20-something. Audience gives it a 70-something. Classic. Worth a try on discount night.
The recliner seats at Ward are wonderfully comfortable, still among the Top 2 of all recliner seats in Oahu theaters. I say this because The Goldfinch has the pace and grind of a 1990s NBA team, without the gore and violence. It's finesse, though the well runs deep emotionally.
This plot shuffles between a timeline that begins with a boy who is caught with his mother in a bombing at a museum, and skips to his looming dilemma as an adult. The irony of this film, as much as I enjoyed it — Jeffrey Wright of Westworld brings depth and calibration — it came up short at the very moment it needed to SHOW, not tell.
I will leave it at that. The 2.5 hours of play time probably had everything to do with the reasons why the climax — which would have been insanely interesting on film — wasn't played out before our eyes. It's not troubling enough to damage my appreciation, but it breaks the basic rule of drama. You never tell. You show.
Budget. Time. Logistivs. Who knows? Some critics, I'm sure, guffawed at the way the story twisted so that the line between Point A and Point Z would conveniently connect. Heck, it didn't matter to me. Just execute. And this film do that for 98 percent of the way.
Nicole Kidman has a key, but background role in this flick. I have yet to see a Kidman movie that I didn't enjoy. She still got IT.
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