"The Goldfinch," a good movie about a great book

Donna Tartt’s bestselling novel “The Goldfinch” was made into a movie released on Friday, Sept. 13. Since the novel spans 800 pages, even devout fans were skeptical of its ability to be condensed and turned into a movie. Turns out the fans were right. The movie has all the framework for a great film: strong acting, cinematography and pace. But what it does not capture is the thoughtful relationships that make the book so memorable.  The novel, renowned for its nuanced look at relationships and the effects of trauma, follows thirteen-year-old Theodore Decker in the aftermath of a bombing at an art museum that killed his mother. Decker makes it out alive, smuggling his mother’s favorite piece, The Goldfinch, with him. From there, the plot bounces between past and present, New York and Las Vegas, watching Theo grow up mourning the loss of his mother. Through both the book and movie, it is clear that the smuggled painting is Theo’s lifeline, the only connection that he has left to his mother.  Given the complex plot, the movie does a solid job at capturing the essence of some of the most vividly written characters of this decade. Nicole Kidman is well cast as Mrs. Barbour, the reserved socialite mother of Theo’s childhood friend, Andy, who takes in Theo for the months following the bombing. When Theo’s alcoholic father (Luke Wilson) returns from the desert to retrieve Theo after deserting him and his mother, he brings his new girlfriend Xandra (Sarah Paulson). One can read about Xandra’s Juicy-Fruit-Gum habit or her trashy style, but seeing it embodied by Paulson adds another dimension of attitude and charisma. Another stellar performance is that of Boris (played by Finn Wolfhard and Aneurin Barnard), a humorous, enigmatic Russian kid who befriends Theo in Las Vegas in the aftermath of his mother’s death. Both actors for Boris skillfully play the character, showing just how much Theo and Boris need each other. Unlike Boris, other characters fall short, primarily Pippa who is Theo’s childhood love interest. In the book, Pippa is an integral part of Theo’s internal thoughts, following him wherever he goes and present in every interaction. However, the movie fails at capturing this, thus making their storyline more of an afterthought than the heart-wrenching relationship depicted in the book. The 800-page-spanning love that is so thoughtfully developed by Tartt is unrecognizable in the limited screen time they have together. Without hearing all of Theo’s thoughts, as you can in the book, a crucial component is lost. Beyond the acting, the cinematography is impressive, with vivid shots of barren Las Vegas suburbs and the raucous dive bars of New York City. The colors on the screen capture the feeling of the movie -- distraught, vibrant and nostalgic.  Tartt didn’t win the Pulitzer Prize in 2014 because of her riveting plotline (though the plot is fantastic), but because of her characters. She got into Theo’s head, making him remarkably close to the reader by the end of the novel. While you empathize with the characters in both the novel and movie, the movie does not fully capture the pain of loss that the book illustrates so well.