The Death and Life of John F. Donovan (2018)
Stars: Kit Harington, Natalie Portman, Jacob Tremblay
Runtime: 123 minutes
Synopsis: A decade after the death of an American TV star, a young actor reminisces the written correspondence he shared with him, as well as the impact those letters had on both their lives.
Performances: 4/5
Screenplay: 3/5
Editing: 3/5
Cinematography: 4/5
Score/Soundtrack: 2/5
Verdict: I have been fascinated by Xavier Dolan's directorial career ever since his critically acclaimed debut "I Killed My Mother", a semi-autobiographical movie which he wrote, directed, and starred in between the ages of 16 and 19 (!) Since then, he has a made a number of equally interesting films such as "Mommy" (which all of you should watch) or "It's Only the End of the World".
"The Death and Life of John F. Donovan", however, was absolutely panned by critics, receiving an abysmal score of 28 on Metacritic (for comparison, "Venom" received a 35 and "Suicide Squad" got a 40) and an exceptionally low rating of 19% on Rotten Tomatoes. But since it was directed by Dolan and starred the likes of Kit Harrington, Natalie Portman, Jacob Tremblay, Kathy Bates or Susan Sarandon, I decided to give it a try anyway.
And while I'll admit that it's not Dolan's best effort (the bar is set too high anyway), I can't for the life of me understand why critics hated it so much. Because even looking at it from a somewhat objective lense, it's undeniably a well-shot film (the 35mm cinematography is gorgeous) elevated by pretty great performances. The story itself, albeit a little chaotic due to its unnecessarily non-linear structure, was also a very interesting one that reminded me at time of "The Hunt" and in which the impact celebrities have on their young fans is explored. The film's soundtrack is perhaps the only element that didn't work at all for me as it really felt out of place in certain scenes. There was also a distracting scene featuring Michael Gambon in which he goes full Dumbledore that felt out of place.
I very much enjoyed "The Death and Life of John F. Donovan", and its negative reception will forever be a mystery for me. It's definitely not Dolan's best flick but his touch is certainly present throughout it, and that's reason enough to check it out if like me you're a fan of the young Canadian filmmaker.
FINAL GRADE: 7/10
"The Death and Life of John F. Donovan", however, was absolutely panned by critics, receiving an abysmal score of 28 on Metacritic (for comparison, "Venom" received a 35 and "Suicide Squad" got a 40) and an exceptionally low rating of 19% on Rotten Tomatoes. But since it was directed by Dolan and starred the likes of Kit Harrington, Natalie Portman, Jacob Tremblay, Kathy Bates or Susan Sarandon, I decided to give it a try anyway.
And while I'll admit that it's not Dolan's best effort (the bar is set too high anyway), I can't for the life of me understand why critics hated it so much. Because even looking at it from a somewhat objective lense, it's undeniably a well-shot film (the 35mm cinematography is gorgeous) elevated by pretty great performances. The story itself, albeit a little chaotic due to its unnecessarily non-linear structure, was also a very interesting one that reminded me at time of "The Hunt" and in which the impact celebrities have on their young fans is explored. The film's soundtrack is perhaps the only element that didn't work at all for me as it really felt out of place in certain scenes. There was also a distracting scene featuring Michael Gambon in which he goes full Dumbledore that felt out of place.
I very much enjoyed "The Death and Life of John F. Donovan", and its negative reception will forever be a mystery for me. It's definitely not Dolan's best flick but his touch is certainly present throughout it, and that's reason enough to check it out if like me you're a fan of the young Canadian filmmaker.
FINAL GRADE: 7/10
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