The Goldfinch

When I saw the first trailer for The Goldfinch, I was so intrigued by it that I decided to read the Pulitzer Prize winning book by Donna Tartt upon which the movie is based.  I was absolutely captivated by it, so much so that I stayed up reading well into the early morning hours on several occasions (not a very good idea during the first week of school) because I could not put it down.  It is an epic story that is Dickensian in scope so I wondered how it would translate to film.  I finally had the opportunity to see it yesterday afternoon and I loved it as much as I did the book!  Theodore "Theo" Decker (Oakes Fegley) is a 13-year old boy when his mother is killed by a bomb at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.  In the confusion after the explosion he takes a painting called The Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius from the rubble.  His life then becomes incredibly chaotic.  He is first placed with the Barbours, the wealthy family of a school friend, and he bonds with Samantha Barbour (Nicole Kidman) over art and antiques.  Just when he is about to be adopted by the Barbours, his estranged and alcoholic father Larry (Luke Wilson) and his girlfriend Xandra (Sarah Paulsen) show up to take him to Las Vegas.  Larry's motivation is to access Theo's trust fund to pay off his gambling debts.  He is left to his own devices much of the time and eventually meets Boris (Finn Wolfhard), the son of a Ukrainian emigre working on a mine in Las Vegas.  Boris introduces Theo to smoking, drinking, and shoplifting and the two of them eventually drop acid in a pivotal scene.  When Larry is killed in a car accident, Theo returns to New York and finds James "Hobie" Hobart (Jeffrey Wright) and Pippa (Aimee Lawrence), the business partner and niece, respectively, of Welty Blackwell (Robert Joy), a man who spoke to Theo in the museum before dying from the explosion.  Hobie restores antique furniture and allows Theo to live with him.  As a young adult, Theo (Ansel Elgort) is incredibly unhappy.  He is selling fake antiques which brings serious consequences to Hobie, is addicted to drugs, is engaged to Kitsey Barbour (Willa Fitzgerald) as a way to hold on to a relationship with the Barbours even though he has unrequited feelings for Pippa (Ashleigh Cummings), and becomes involved in a dangerous criminal underworld when he reconnects with Boris (Aneurin Barnard).  Throughout the turmoil, the one constant in Theo's life is the painting.  It is only when he realizes that the painting is a symbol of the guilt and trauma he feels over his mother's death that he can release it and be happy.  It seems like every critic in the world hated this movie but I loved it.  I can understand why people not familiar with the story about loss, survival, obsession, and the importance of art might find it confusing, especially because the explosion at the museum is shown in a series of random flashbacks, but having recently read the book I did not have that problem.  I will also concede that there are some elements of the story that do feel rushed, especially the ending, but I am still impressed with how faithful the movie is to the book (which is almost 800 pages).  The story is beautiful, the images on the screen are luminous, and the performances are incredibly powerful.  I'm glad I saw this movie, despite the dreadful reviews, and I recommend seeing it for yourself if you enjoyed the book.