‘The Goldfinch’ is a slow coming-of-age story that draws you in despite its issues

Posted on September 20, 2019

By MARK VIOLA

I’ve often said that your reaction to a film adaptation of a well-received book often comes down to your connection to the original source material. Last week I gave praise to “It: Chapter 2,” mainly because I felt it was an improvement over the first film in translating Stephen King’s sprawling horror epic to the big screen. This week I find myself in the opposite situation with “The Goldfinch,” based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Donna Tartt.

Unlike “It,” which I had read and really enjoyed prior to seeing the movie, I have never read “The Goldfinch,” but based on what I’ve seen, fans of the book feel the movie does not live up to their expectations. As for myself, I enjoyed it, although that could also be due to my love of coming-of-age stories.

“The Goldfinch” film is definitely not for everybody, with a meaty two-hour, 29-minute runtime in which not a lot actually happens. It’s not perfect to be sure, because like “It,” this is a book that had to be trimmed down considerably on its way to the visual medium.

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