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The Death & Life of John F. Donovan

2018

Xavier Dolan

Kit Harington, Jacob Tremblay, Natalie Portman, Thandiwe Newton ...

6.0

1,188

Drama The story of an American movie star with everything working out for him who has a secretive correspondence with an 11 year old in London.

	Author	Review
United States	Stephen Dalton The Hollywood Reporter	"[A] half-baked, cumbersome, overlong psychodrama (...) A story whose default setting seems to be mirthless, ponderous navel-gazing"	NEG
United States	Brian Tallerico rogerebert.com	"Tremblay gives a phenomenal performance (...) He’s reason alone to forgive most of the major flaws of [the film], I just wish there were so few of them that I could recommend seeing his work more whole-heartedly."	NEU
United Kingdom	Benjamin Lee The Guardian	"It’s frustrating, given how Dolan does touch upon themes that could be interesting to explore, that there’s no depth to any (...) [It] feels like Dolan is parodying a Dolan movie (…) Rating: ★ (out of 5)"	NEG
United Kingdom	Allan Hunter Screendaily	"Cinematographer André Turpin lends a warm, burnished glow to a beautiful looking film and Dolan’s script (...) is filled with sharp speeches and self-justification."	POS
United States	Jason Bailey The Playlist	"This is a script where, in scene after scene, all the seams are showing (...) Sarandon’s scenes are pure soap camp (...) 'John F. Donovan's representational value is worth noting"	NEG
United States	Peter Debruge Variety	"A work of stunning technique eclipsed by its increasingly jaw-dropping solipsism (...) An over-the-top celebration of Dolan himself"	NEU
United States	Adam Chitwood Collider	"It doesn’t really work, and some bits of the film are a total mess (...) It all just feels a bit silly. Dolan’s reach here far exceeds his grasp."	NEG
United States	Eric Kohn IndieWire	"A shocking misfire that nevertheless demonstrates the sheer confidence in his storytelling that Dolan has cultivated over a decade of movies (...) A movie that just got lost somewhere in the editing room."	NEU

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