The Goldfinch
Came out; 2019
Time; 2 hours 29 minutes
Watched: Amazon
Rating; R for drug use and language
IMDB Rating; 6.3/10
Caution; Spoiler Alert
Staring.
Oakes Fegley as Young Theo Decker
Ansel Elgort as Adult Theo Decker
Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Babour
Jeffrey Wright as Hobie
Luke Wilson as Larry
Sarah Paulson as Xandra
Willa Fitzgerald as Adult Kitsey Barbour
Finn Wolfhard as Young Boris
Aneurin Barnard as Adult Boris
Story Line;
A boy in New York is taken in by a wealthy family after his mother is killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In a rush of panic, he steals 'The Goldfinch', a painting that eventually draws him into a world of crime
Thoughts.
My daughter loves this movie and when I asked her what she wanted to watch, this was the chosen movie.
I personally couldn't keep things straight. I was a bit confused. I got the concept of the movie but it was too much back and forth
CAUTION; Major Spoiler Alert
A
boy, Theo, is noticeably shaken and being held by the police. His
mother has died after an explosion during a visit to the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New York. He feels he is responsible for the death
of his mother. The whereabouts of his father are unknown. He has
given the police the name of a mother, Samantha Barbour, whose family
he knows from school. The woman agrees to take responsibility of him
as an obligation since no one in Theo's family is available. He is
clearly emotionally devastated, but shows no sign of crying. Police
repeatedly ask him questions about his location, his mother's
location, who and what else he has seen around the time of the
explosion, etc. The woman stands up for him and his apparent lack of
memory. Theo goes home with the mother. He makes good friends with
Andy, the curly-haired son who is just under his age. The family is
somewhat dysfunctional, especially visible in incidents involving the
strong-willed father and the impudent oldest son, Platt.
We
learn that Theo had received a ring from a man killed in the blast.
He was asked to return it to Hobart and Blackwell. Theo resourcefully
finds the address of Hobart and Blackwell in the phone book and
ventures out to deliver the ring. He is invited in and develops a
friendship with the antique dealer, Hobie, who had lost his business
partner Welty in the blast. Hobie is taking care of Pippa, the
red-haired daughter of Welty Blackwell who Theo admired immediately
before the blast. Pippa has major head injuries and spends most of
her time in bed and is discouraged from listening to music since she
needs rest more than music practice. Pippa and Theo have a strong
bond since both just lost the main part of their families in the
explosion. Pippa's mother had already passed away prior to the
explosion due to illness.
Theo spends time at both the Barbour
family and the Hobie's shop and home. He learns about antique
restoration from Hobie. He develops stronger ties to Andy and Mrs.
Barbour. Theo is invited to join them for their summer vacation.
However, soon after that invitation, Theo's father shows up along
with his girlfriend. Theo disappointedly is required to travel off to
live with his father, Larry, and the father's girlfriend, Xandra, in
a mostly foreclosed neighborhood at the edge of the desert. Life is
lonely at the new school and in the neighborhood, until Theo meets
another loner named Boris. Boris is an awkward classmate who has
lived many places as his father is a miner. Boris has no mother and
his father is typically away. This allows plenty of time for Boris to
shoplift, experiment with drugs, and get into other mischief. Some of
these habits are adopted by Theo as well.
Through flashbacks,
we learn that Theo immediately after the explosion had been
encouraged by Welty to take the valuable painting, The Goldfinch, as
Welty was dying. Theo had kept it wrapped up, sporadically hugging it
as it was a source of comfort, his mother's favorite painting, and
the last art he had seen before his life was radically changed. It
becomes more and more clear that Theo's life all began its downward
spiral right at the moment of that terrible explosion.
Larry
happens to be in serious debt trouble and attempts to get Theo to
transfer $65,000 out of the inheritance from his mother. The plan
fails as the money can only be transferred directly to a school.
Larry is in despair and ends up getting extremely drunk and killing
himself in an auto accident. Theo and Boris learn of the father's
death during one of their drug trips. Soon after, Theo decides that
he must leave before he is assigned to a foster home. He heads back
to New York and moves in with Hobie.
The next scene shows Theo
after a few years have passed, and we see Theo as a young man -- no
longer a boy. Hobie has taught Theo about antique restoration and
Theo joins Hobie's company, working as the sales arm of Hobart and
Blackwell. His assistance leads to increased financial success,
although it becomes clear that sometimes Theo is selling the
reproductions as authentic antiques and not just as stated,
high-quality reproductions of antiques as Hobie had intended.
A
dissatisfied customer complains to Theo that he had been tricked
during his purchase of furniture that was offered to him as an
authentic. To further avoid trouble, Theo offers to buy it back even
beyond the purchase price. However, the customer actually knows far
more, has done extensive research, and announces that he knows that
Theo had taken "The Goldfinch". Theo does not let on that
he took it or has it. Tensions are high and the customer later
divulges his knowledge to the highly honest Hobie. Hobie confronts
Theo about the new information, and Theo regretfully confesses to a
much disappointed Hobie that the claim is true.
Other
tragedies have occurred. Andy and his father had passed away during a
storm on the open seas, and this has hit Mrs. Barbour hard. As for
Theo's love life: Theo's true love, Pippa is committed to another
man. Theo has therefore focused his affection for the now grown-up
daughter, Kitsey, of Mrs. Barbour. However, Theo finds that even
while engaged, Kitsey has been and remains romantically involved with
another man who she loves -- clearly not to the liking of Theo.
In
coping with the continued tragedies, Theo continues his drug habits,
and this once again brings him by chance in contact with the now
grown-up Boris. Boris is more wealthy now and has his own driver.
Boris confesses that he had actually taken the painting "The
Goldfinch" years ago from Theo. Theo had last opened it up
during one of their drug trips, of which Theo had no recall. Boris
had actually during the high-school days, secretly taken the painting
and unbeknownst to Theo, replaced it with a Civics book.
Since
then, the painting was truly lost and out of the country, no longer
in Boris's possession. However, Boris had a plan to get it back, to
set things right again between him and Theo. The plan involved money
and guns and dealing with professional crooks and did not go well.
The painting was again lost. Theo was now at the bottom of his
spiral, took a lethal dose of drugs and began hallucinating. Just
then, Boris rushes into the hotel room, forces Theo to vomit the
drugs out and returns Theo back to life. Boris also had served as an
informant about the missing painting and delivers Theo the news that
the police have finally found "The Goldfinch" and have
returned it to its rightful place in the museum. The movie allows one
to wonder after his second chance if Theo can overcome and achieve
the life to eventually surmount the terrible event.
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