"The Death and Life of John F. Donovan" has Xavier Dolan crossing frontiers to finally reach American cinema after a decade of excellent exposure in previous
films in Canada such as "I Killed My Mother", "Mommy" and "Tom at the Farm". All substantial work, great visuals, well acted by the cast; at times he gave us profound
and meaningful film filled of life and reality but other times they were just masturbatory fantasies of dreamy dull realities (and even that, he accomplished the goal
of not making a bad film over the years). However, with this new venture he couldn't get me all that satisfied. It was hard to swallow, to see something beyond than
having a stellar cast but no depth to give them at almost any given moment. Of all of his works, this was Dolan's most disappointing film (as of now) and it breaks my
heart to say this because he's truly gifted in everything he does. This "Donovan" thing shows he can miss the mark, deliver little and makes us thinking not much far ahead.
It's not a bad film, it just tastes sour after its conclusion. Goes down as my least favorite film of his but manageable nonetheless.
A rather unusual premise conquers the viewer which is the broken barriers from two distant realities: the one lived by major TV star John F. Donovan (Kit Harington) and a young kid, a future actor (Jacob Tremblay) by exchanging letters over a period of time they were both facing hardships in their lives. When the famous guy dies, the grown kid (Ben Schnetzer) publishes about a book about the importance those letters had in both man's lives, and he's the one who chronicles their life together yet separated to a clueless reporter (Thandie Newton) who is forced to make an interview with the writer. Through flashbacks we get to see what really happened to Donovan before his tragic death, a sad about growth, love lost, identity issues, the loss of someone who had to live a life of lies instead of presenting himself who he really was in order to have a career. Paralel to that, there's the story of the excited kid whose best company is an actor living far away from him while he's in London, living with his mother (Natalie Portman), who abandoned the husband to secure a new life for the duo but the kid only faces rejection and hurt by his schoolmates, and doesn't deal all too good with the mother. His only solace is to write letters to his favorite actor from his favorite TV show who actually replies to them. All very intriguing and most viewers will probably guess that there's something fishy on the way, and the kid might be a key figure in the actor's demise.
Why going forward with this? Dolan doesn't sugarcoat America's industry of money and fame - success doesn't really open doors to you when you're out of the closet (be aware of the time the story takes place, a decade ago, so it rings true). The cast is great, with some off balance performances here and there (Kit was a good surprise for me); Gambon steals the show with one scene only; Dolan breaks the norm and the form of his usual works - goodbye slow-mo scenes (I like them but they were becoming quite tiring) As for the message...was it worth it? Was it needed to be said? As for our times it tells us it's relevant to understand how some prolific careers can be destroyed over what the public perceives from an artist but on the other hand the film, while almost reaching an explosive and realistic breaking point (the letter exchanges with the boy), it falters when the main concern by JFD is to get outed to the public. In our times? In our days? Does it matter, really? If set in the 1950's I would buy such scenario with gusto and completely understand it. It happens in our current era, some places but I'd only be fully immersed on a similar scenario had the director putting the setting into Hollywood's Golden Era. What he captures the best and I loved was the connection about two lonely souls living in world aparts. We're in a current shortage of heroes in this world and when you get the kind of thing the actor and the kid have with simple words conveying plenty of emotions, to the point where only one knows the other through the fake reality of a TV screen, to be able to read between the lines and say "I identify", it's truly brilliant.
Why not going (or maybe feel too annoyed while trying to enjoy the experience?): Mixed, sour feelings about this one cos we all know XD can do better than this. Again, he's too self-absorbed in with an overdone routine of gay characters and their inner struggle vs. the outside world. The gimmick of 'we hate our mothers, or we just can't stand their world and neurosis around us' is overdone in his works. Gotta grow up. Tells us something we don't know, or we hardly ever see - maybe, live and experience life a little longer because I'm becoming tired of stories about inner conflict and easy solutions (in the end, there's a relationship being formed. Love happens or conquers all). Tell about us the experience of a life together and then the events that lead to a break-up. His LGBT films aren't dealing with this issue; and trust me, we do need that kind of different view not because cinema is bringing lots of happy stories, cute couples without problems except coming out or infidelities here and there; or even struggle of identities. Since he's a focused artist that can touches strong themes with power, sensibility and artistic view, he must give us something that an Fassbinder would be proud of.
I wonder why not place the whole setting in Canada, Dolan's homeland? This American debut seemed to have too high of a shooting but aimed for too low. The whole kind thing of being a young actor and why the kid wants America so much rather than London, awkward gimmick by the way since it just doesn't happen is it a note to Dolan himself to show why he's not that known outisde the arthouse world? I wonder...But there were sequences were I just couldn't take it: the corny 'Stand By Me' sequence forces too much to get a cry from me; the editing was problematic with the years transition; and the final sequence was enraging because Hollywood fairy-tales can destroy a whole argument. Had it been a wiser script, Dolan and Jacob Tierney should've excised the whole thing between Newton and Schnetzer, so we could have a more comprehensive, cohese, challenging story that doesn't end up explaining too much about itself. Not only it takes a great deal of the film but their moments were heavily critical both from their characters but also the stiff performances from both. Why such a cynical unprepared reporter would follow a man who is apparently climbing on the wings of a dead actor to make up his own fame?
Not the most effervescent thumbs up I can give to it, but there you have it. Dolan makes a fine film that certainly will its audience and to those who haven't heard of it before this movie, they'll sure hear a lot more from him (future works and past work as well). Don't wait for him to get a Palme D'or to discover him, he has plenty of Grand Prizes from Cannes jury already, impressive collection of awards for someone of his age. 7/10
A rather unusual premise conquers the viewer which is the broken barriers from two distant realities: the one lived by major TV star John F. Donovan (Kit Harington) and a young kid, a future actor (Jacob Tremblay) by exchanging letters over a period of time they were both facing hardships in their lives. When the famous guy dies, the grown kid (Ben Schnetzer) publishes about a book about the importance those letters had in both man's lives, and he's the one who chronicles their life together yet separated to a clueless reporter (Thandie Newton) who is forced to make an interview with the writer. Through flashbacks we get to see what really happened to Donovan before his tragic death, a sad about growth, love lost, identity issues, the loss of someone who had to live a life of lies instead of presenting himself who he really was in order to have a career. Paralel to that, there's the story of the excited kid whose best company is an actor living far away from him while he's in London, living with his mother (Natalie Portman), who abandoned the husband to secure a new life for the duo but the kid only faces rejection and hurt by his schoolmates, and doesn't deal all too good with the mother. His only solace is to write letters to his favorite actor from his favorite TV show who actually replies to them. All very intriguing and most viewers will probably guess that there's something fishy on the way, and the kid might be a key figure in the actor's demise.
Why going forward with this? Dolan doesn't sugarcoat America's industry of money and fame - success doesn't really open doors to you when you're out of the closet (be aware of the time the story takes place, a decade ago, so it rings true). The cast is great, with some off balance performances here and there (Kit was a good surprise for me); Gambon steals the show with one scene only; Dolan breaks the norm and the form of his usual works - goodbye slow-mo scenes (I like them but they were becoming quite tiring) As for the message...was it worth it? Was it needed to be said? As for our times it tells us it's relevant to understand how some prolific careers can be destroyed over what the public perceives from an artist but on the other hand the film, while almost reaching an explosive and realistic breaking point (the letter exchanges with the boy), it falters when the main concern by JFD is to get outed to the public. In our times? In our days? Does it matter, really? If set in the 1950's I would buy such scenario with gusto and completely understand it. It happens in our current era, some places but I'd only be fully immersed on a similar scenario had the director putting the setting into Hollywood's Golden Era. What he captures the best and I loved was the connection about two lonely souls living in world aparts. We're in a current shortage of heroes in this world and when you get the kind of thing the actor and the kid have with simple words conveying plenty of emotions, to the point where only one knows the other through the fake reality of a TV screen, to be able to read between the lines and say "I identify", it's truly brilliant.
Why not going (or maybe feel too annoyed while trying to enjoy the experience?): Mixed, sour feelings about this one cos we all know XD can do better than this. Again, he's too self-absorbed in with an overdone routine of gay characters and their inner struggle vs. the outside world. The gimmick of 'we hate our mothers, or we just can't stand their world and neurosis around us' is overdone in his works. Gotta grow up. Tells us something we don't know, or we hardly ever see - maybe, live and experience life a little longer because I'm becoming tired of stories about inner conflict and easy solutions (in the end, there's a relationship being formed. Love happens or conquers all). Tell about us the experience of a life together and then the events that lead to a break-up. His LGBT films aren't dealing with this issue; and trust me, we do need that kind of different view not because cinema is bringing lots of happy stories, cute couples without problems except coming out or infidelities here and there; or even struggle of identities. Since he's a focused artist that can touches strong themes with power, sensibility and artistic view, he must give us something that an Fassbinder would be proud of.
I wonder why not place the whole setting in Canada, Dolan's homeland? This American debut seemed to have too high of a shooting but aimed for too low. The whole kind thing of being a young actor and why the kid wants America so much rather than London, awkward gimmick by the way since it just doesn't happen is it a note to Dolan himself to show why he's not that known outisde the arthouse world? I wonder...But there were sequences were I just couldn't take it: the corny 'Stand By Me' sequence forces too much to get a cry from me; the editing was problematic with the years transition; and the final sequence was enraging because Hollywood fairy-tales can destroy a whole argument. Had it been a wiser script, Dolan and Jacob Tierney should've excised the whole thing between Newton and Schnetzer, so we could have a more comprehensive, cohese, challenging story that doesn't end up explaining too much about itself. Not only it takes a great deal of the film but their moments were heavily critical both from their characters but also the stiff performances from both. Why such a cynical unprepared reporter would follow a man who is apparently climbing on the wings of a dead actor to make up his own fame?
Not the most effervescent thumbs up I can give to it, but there you have it. Dolan makes a fine film that certainly will its audience and to those who haven't heard of it before this movie, they'll sure hear a lot more from him (future works and past work as well). Don't wait for him to get a Palme D'or to discover him, he has plenty of Grand Prizes from Cannes jury already, impressive collection of awards for someone of his age. 7/10