The Toronto Film Festival saw the first screenings of The Goldfinch, a star-studded adaptation of Donna Tartt’s novel. Tartt’s modern Dickensian tale divided critics and readers in book form, and it seems the debate will continue onto the screen. The Goldfinch won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2014; reports say that the film has tried to be extremely faithful to its source material—a tactic that does not seem to have worked for some.
With about 30 reviews filed, The Goldfinch is currently at 28% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a negative critical consensus about it trended on Twitter. (Of course, it’s quite likely that score will go up once the press at large has had the chance to see for themselves.) The movie features the likes of Nicole Kidman, Ansel Elgort, Sarah Paulson, Jeffrey Wright, Luke Wilson, and Finn Wolfhard, and was directed by Brooklyn‘s John Crowley. Elgort stars as protagonist Theo, “a young man whose troubled childhood leads him to the world of art forgery.”
Let’s take a look at some of those Tweets. As with everything Goldfinch-related, folks are in a fighting mood.
Point:
THE GOLDFINCH is a disaster.
My #tiff19 review: https://t.co/yzNz8fKWUM pic.twitter.com/49e84c9rz7
— david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) September 9, 2019
The embargo’s up on THE GOLDFINCH, a handsome, earnest and deathly dull adaptation of Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. #TIFF19 https://t.co/odfgDvZPy9
— Glenn Sumi (@glennsumi) September 9, 2019
THE GOLDFINCH is one of the worst movies I’ve seen all year. It’s shockingly bad. https://t.co/VJdD9rLDP1
— Matt Goldberg (@MattGoldberg) September 9, 2019
{Update} This movie was astonishing bad. A long, meandering, convoluted mess that reeks of white privilege with no consequences for terrible actions. #NowWatching #TheGoldfinch
Listen/ subscribe to the podcast for the full review tomorrow -> https://t.co/9PUtVjXUCf pic.twitter.com/wAtw4uDo3e
— About To Review podcast/ John Reviewer (@abouttoreview) September 10, 2019
Counterpoint:
THE GOLDFINCH is not at all a disaster! https://t.co/UTPpeKeqcd
— Richard Lawson (@rilaws) September 9, 2019
Well. Ya know what. I’m gonna say it. I liked The Goldfinch.
— karsten runquist (@RunquistKarsten) September 9, 2019
okay, “the goldfinch” surpassed my expectations and was fucking fantastic #tiff19
— bridge @ tiff (@chalamundo) September 9, 2019
Can’t believe I’m alone on this but THE GOLDFINCH is great. A heartbreaking coming of age meditation on grief. Oakes Fegley steals this movie. Had some structural issues here, and thought the ending doesn’t quite stick the landing but I’m not forgetting about this one. #TIFF19
— Ben Shane @ TIFF19 (@izmebenji) September 9, 2019
Ardent fans of the novel like myself will ADORE #TheGoldfinch. It’s freaking awesome. Ansel Elgort has some great moments and Anuerin Barnard is uncannily perfect as Boris. But without a doubt the film BELONGS to Oakes Fegly & Finn Wolfhard. It’s like watching 2 different movies
— Caroline Gill (@cgthescholar) September 10, 2019
The book appears to have a supportive, dedicated fanbase intent on following it faithfully to the film.
currently reading the 4 positive reviews of the goldfinch and ignoring the rest
— g (@strangerjoyces) September 9, 2019
yeah anyways watch the goldfinch september 13th in a theater near you pic.twitter.com/lkmgAhjoiA
— bella alcazar ✨ (@BelAlyse) September 9, 2019
me reading some of the bad reviews of The Goldfinch pic.twitter.com/enxEZ7Wxql
— ϟ ⎊|| IT 2 SPOILERS (@bringpeterback) September 10, 2019
It may boil down to an essential divide:
the goldfinch reviews are hilarious because all the bad ones are from people who originally disliked the book and also misunderstand the source material like yeah no shit you’re not a fan of the movie
— (@younghamIet) September 9, 2019
Can’t believe the news that The Goldfinch, a boring novel, has been turned into a boring movie, will wonders never cease
— Jeremy Gordon (@jeremypgordon) September 9, 2019
me getting ready to watch the goldfinch as every male critic hates it and calls it boring pic.twitter.com/CLOMFGi5ny
— boob radley (@b00b_radley) September 10, 2019
Without a horse in this race, I’ve been enjoying some of the resulting memes.
finn wolfhard could do superbad but bill hader couldnt do the goldfinch
— boris pavlikovskys dealer (@deadlights) September 9, 2019
my therapist: the goldfinch ratings aren’t real, it can’t hurt you
the goldfinch ratings: pic.twitter.com/aumwtarE14
— tana (@aylatesermabe) September 10, 2019
Did you have an opinion on Tartt’s novel? Will you be seeing The Goldfinch? More importantly, what’s your dream cast for The Secret History?
Carel Fabritius
The Goldfinch pic.twitter.com/0z3SPLKGVg— PubHist (@Pub_Hist) September 8, 2019
(via Twitter, image: Warner Bros.)
Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!
—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—
