Tanya’s Score: Good*
Rated: 14A
Starring: Mrs. Urban; a driving baby; a stranger boy
Plot: When a young boy’s (Oakes Fegley) mother is tragically killed, his life is upended and follows an unpredictable, interesting and sometimes turmoil-filled path toward adulthood.
Tanya’s Verdict: I enjoyed reading the book The Goldfinch (although truth be told it was not an easy one to immerse oneself within). Currently, I am struggling to reconcile the dismal reviews that top film critics gave this movie with the film that I watched as I quite enjoyed it.
Of course – with the book clocking in at over 700 pages, obviously much had to be condensed and even altered to fit into the two-and-a-half hour time frame. But even so I thought the movie did a wonderful job at capturing the essence of the book and the main character of Theo Decker.
That said – I do feel I was able to understand the characters and their motivations more so than anyone who hadn’t read the book. And I believe the book offered a more satisfactory conclusion than the movie was able to. But still – it was a fine film that was sometimes sad and tragic and sometimes pleasant and uplifting. Either way, I found it interesting and enjoyable to watch.
*Four score descriptions: Sh**; Okay; Good; Great