Review: 'The Goldfinch' feels like an attractive forgery rather than a real masterwork

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Oakes Fegley and Ansel Elgort play young Theo Decker over two periods in his life following the death of his beloved mother in “The Goldfinch.”
USA TODAY

“The Goldfinch” is, to borrow a term from the medium of its source material, not exactly a page-turner.

The adaptation of Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is a messy jumble of a drama that, to be fair, frequently looks amazing. Directed by John Crowley (“Brooklyn”), “The Goldfinch” (★★ out of four; rated R; in theaters nationwide Friday) bounces between timelines as its main character endures a series of unfortunate events, though only at times do you really feel for the boy (and later young man) whose life is forever altered by a terrorist bombing that takes his mother’s life and spurs an impulsive decision with consequential ripples.

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After he survives a deadly explosion at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, 13-year-old Theo Decker (Oakes Fegley) is essentially orphaned, since his deadbeat dad, Larry (Luke Wilson), left six months earlier. He comes under the care of a school chum’s wealthy family, and as he comes out of his shock, Theo finds a connection with friend Andy Barbour (Ryan Foust) and especially Andy’s mom Samantha (Nicole Kidman). 

What he keeps secret, however, is the Dutch painting “The Goldfinch” that he retrieved from the ruins of the bombing. He keeps it safe as he moves from the Barbours’ place in New York to Las Vegas after Larry and his new girlfriend (Sarah Paulson) show up months later to take Theo. Neither of them are parents of the year, and Theo strikes up a friendship with his Ukrainian classmate Boris (Finn Wolfhard), who also isn’t a great influence.

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Ansel Elgort). A successful businessman in his 20s, he’s also gone down a bad path of self-medication, though a chance encounter brings him back to the Barbours, where he strikes up a relationship with their daughter, Kitsey (Willa Fitzgerald). However, he still holds a flame for Pippa (Ashleigh Cummings), the girl he was standing next to when the bomb went off.

It’s a lot of soapy melodrama and underdeveloped characters that never really go anywhere. Even though we spend time with Theo and understand that he feels his life shifted forever the day his mom died, only fleetingly do we get a sense of his internal self – and usually when he’s a kid. But none of these personalities really comes alive, a casualty of adapting a dense, 760-page tome.

The acting also is stiff and forced across the board, and let’s not forget the iffy Russian accents. Only Jeffrey Wright really gives off any warmth as Hobie, a kindly antiques dealer who acts as a friend and mentor to young Theo and later partners with him to sell furniture. Even though a lot of time is spent with any number of supporting characters, the movie only plumbs intriguing depths when Hobie’s in a scene with one of the Theos.

The plot has its problems, yet thanks to Oscar winner Roger Deakins’ cinematography, there are some artistic, wonderfully done scenes. The explosion, especially as you see more of what’s happened, makes clear its destructive power, in general and in Theo’s life. (When he thinks about his mother, ash appears in front of him to tie reality into his dream life that she still haunts.)

“The Goldfinch” tries hard to be a masterwork like the painting that shares its title, but ends up feeling more like a forgery.

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