Three Cheers for “The Goldfinch”

A review on the new movie based off the best selling book, “The Goldfinch”

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The movie cover of best selling novel, “The Goldfinch.”

‘The Goldfinch’ was released, September 13, 2019, and has been known as one of the biggest box office flops of 2019. For the majority, ‘The Goldfinch’ was a disappointing movie adaptation from a bestselling book, but for me, it was one of the best movies I’ve seen in 2019. ‘The Goldfinch’ is about a boy named Theo who loses his mother as a child in a bombing at a museum. The movie follows Theo as he struggles with living with his dad and his dad’s girlfriend. Theo then meets Boris through school and they become close friends quickly.

The introduction of the movie and the way the movie portrays Theodore Decker’s traumatic experience gives an insight into what he has gone through and why the bombing in the museum, and his mother’s death, has affected him so much and shaped him to be the person he is. The only voice overs in the movie, being at the beginning and end, gave me chills and really ended up hitting the feels. 

The actors, Ansel Elgort and Aneurin Barnard playing their characters, Theo and Boris.

The movie portrayed young Theo and Boris’ friendship beautifully. It showed and compared the trauma they both experienced as  children that made them grow closer in relationship. One thing I disliked about the movie is that I would have liked to see a better relationship between adult Theo and Boris, because I feel like Theo and Boris’ bond was a very crucial and important aspect to the storyline. On the other hand, the movie definitely made sure it completely covered the druggy part of the story. 

One of the only flaws I found in this movie is that although the movie’s runtime was only two hours and thirty minutes, it felt like it dragged on for eternities, especially at the beginning.  Along with the lack of character development in some characters that should have been more important to the movie, as they were slightly more important and emphasized in the novel. The movie could have been slightly better if maybe had more character development or if it had come to a shorter runtime. 

Although the movie has been absolutely slammed online by the media and critics, along with receiving a twenty-six percent on the site ‘Rotten Tomatoes’, ‘The Goldfinch’ was a great and beautifully filmed movie with a wonderful cast, and I highly recommend you go check it out.