Our review of Juste la fin du monde | It's Only the End of the World pointed out how little of an impact Xavier Dolan seemed to make on the screen. The Death and Life of John F. Donovan contains a lot more Xavier Dolan but not in the way his Quebec films have done.
The Death and Life of John F. Donovan has Dolan's familiar mother-son issues. Natalie Portman and Susan Sarandon play flawed mother figures to sensitive son figures in Jacob Tremblay and Kit Harington. The film is also a peek into the twisted worlds of acting and social media.
Dolan worked as a child actor; his letter as a child to Leonardo DiCaprio was clearly an inspiration. Rupert Turner (Tremblay) shares a correspondence with his favourite actor John F. Donovan (Harington). They keep the correspondence as their own personal secret.
The film takes us through both stories as well as the third story of the adult version of Rupert telling the story to a journalist in Prague (Thandie Newton).
Juste la fin du monde | It's Only the End of the World was the last Canadian film to make the shortlist for what was then the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Academy Awards. Saying that film is better than this film might be objectively correct. Subjectively, The Death and Life of John F. Donovan has more to offer, good and bad.
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The film features Adele’s Rolling in the Deep among significant music tracks. Dolan directed Adele's video for Hello. There was talk of Adele possibly appearing in the film but that did not happen. The Florence + the Machine version of Stand by Me comes at an emotionally meaningful moment. Donovan and his brother sing along with Hanging By A Moment by Lifehouse. Bittersweet Symphony by the Verve runs through the end credits. There are a few music video type moments in the film.
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Such as the nature of a film critic: I couldn't help but think of Denys Arcand's Stardom while watching The Death and Life of John F. Donovan.
The comparisons are obvious: A French-language Quebecois film director doing a film in English about social media and the price of fame. Arcand had done Love and Human Remains in 1993, 7 years before Stardom came out in 2000.
The styles of the films and filmmakers are different. There are very few, if any, as sharp about famous people as Stardom. The Death and Life of John F. Donovan also belongs high up on that list.
This might explain why Arcand and Dolan did these films in English. Arcand hasn't done a film in English since Stardom.
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"This is a story about intolerance, This is a story about how a business has been so scared to lose a public it claims illiterate and small-minded that has basically kept it illiterate and small-minded for decades." Rupert Turner as an adult gives the audience this reminder in the middle of the film. We don't know if this is a marker for Dolan or the audience as to why we are here. Reminders are good in life; not always in the middle of the film.
The cohesion is a mess. The 123-minute film drags in most of the first hour. The film actually gets a lot better when Dolan focuses on the mother-son relationships. Dolan is throws in bullying, social media, and a lot of other luggage.
John F. Donovan is a tortured human being in a lot of ways, but he isn't that interesting. One could blame this on the casting of Kit Harington. If Donovan were actually interesting, his character wouldn't be as messed up as Donovan needs to be in the film.
The adult Rupert Turner tells this story that isn't really his. His character doesn't know that much from the letters, so Turner telling the story to the journalist (Newton) feels false.
When Jessica Chastain was cut from The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, Dolan pointed out that the original cut was more than 4 hours long. The length of time is ideal but you feel like 25 minutes could be removed and replaced with more interesting content.
Dolan shoots scenes with such intimacy. This is Sam and Rupert Turner in a rare tender moment about how she will fight for him even if he struggles to fight for himself. At different points in the film, Dolan shoots up at Sam (Portman) to convey one idea and at another point, shoots down at her for different reasons. How the letters from Donovan are in green ink. Small but significant details. Most filmmakers don't have the insight and care Dolan puts into his films.
Dolan sparks wonderful performances from women, especially in mother-type roles. We mentioned Portman and Sarandon as flawed, complex maternal characters. Kathy Bates as Donovan's manager plays a maternal role in a straightforward, no-nonsense approach. Amara Karan plays Turner's teacher with a warmth and compassion toward the bullying Turner suffers.
Sarah Gadon (Alias Grace) has a limited role as a fellow actor on Donovan's TV series. She offers a soft, thoughtful touch in a key scene. Emily Hampshire (Schitt's Creek) doesn't offer that soft, maternal touch as Donovan's relationship partner. Her character has a sharp tongue and will make you forget Stevie Budd in a heartbeat.
Jacob Tremblay understands that fan is short for fanatic. His wired energy in playing Rupert Turner can seem too manic for Natalie Portman's mother character, but Tremblay gets that energy spot-on for that character.
Jared Keeso (Letterkenny) plays the more even keeled brother to Donovan. Keeso plays the brother character as secondary to Donovan in a late-night talk show sidekick fashion but without the jealousy so often seen in such characters.
There are a lot of small parts with talented people who know how to make their parts shine. Ari Millen (Orphan Black) has little to do on screen but plays his creepy, annoying part at just the right tone. Dolan knows how to make each actor feel special even in a limited role.
Dolan wrote the screenplay with fellow actor and writer Jacob Tierney. The writing is sharp and layered. Sarandon's character has very realistic dialogue for exactly who she is.
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The Death and Life of John F. Donovan doesn't qualify as a Canadian film case study since there are Canadian elements in the film. The film was shot in Montréal, Prague, London, and New York City. The cast is international with a healthy mix of Canadian actors in the mix. Tremblay, Hampshire, Keeso, Gadon, and Millen shine on the screen. Dolan and Hampshire both appeared in Good Neighbours, a Canadian film set in Montréal that is mostly in English. Good Neighbours was written and directed by Jacob Tierney, co-writer of The Death and Life of John F. Donovan with Dolan.
A Xavier Dolan film with the editing balance and sensibility of Juste la fin du monde | It's Only the End of the World and the energy and script of The Death and Life of John F. Donovan would be outstanding. Neither film can match up with Dolan's first 5 films, even Tom at the Farm. These films are worth a closer look especially Donovan for the genius elements of Dolan's work.
The Death and Life of John F. Donovan is a flawed film in many ways. The film also has great dialogue and wonderful acting performances. You almost certainly won't love this film but you can't totally hate the film. If you have a great deal of patience and you appreciate what Xavier Dolan brings to the screen, you will like this film. If you want to teach your students how not to edit a film, you will watch this film. If you love Natalie Portman and Susan Sarandon or any of the other famous people in this film, watch and fast forward to those parts of the film.
The Death and Life of John F. Donovan debuted at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. The film is playing at least through December 19 in theaters in Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle, Houston, Kansas City, Tampa, Dallas, Chicago, San Francisco, and Phoenix. The Death and Life of John F. Donovan is also available on VOD in the United States.
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