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The Death and Life of John F. Donovan finds writer-director Xavier Dolan flailing at profundity with a technically assured drama that never makes sense of its own ideas.
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Release date: Dec 13, 2019
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All Critics (26) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (5) | Rotten (21)
From its contrived structure to its forced speechifying, this story... never acquires the emotional potency or coherence its themes demand. Dec 12, 2019 | Full Review…
From its contrived structure to its forced speechifying, this story... never acquires the emotional potency or coherence its themes demand.
Jeannette Catsoulis
In any case, what remains of John F. Donovan is a barely coherent mess, and so eager for your approval that it's hard to feel anything but sorry for it. Dec 11, 2019 | Rating: C- | Full Review…
In any case, what remains of John F. Donovan is a barely coherent mess, and so eager for your approval that it's hard to feel anything but sorry for it.
Mike D'Angelo
A work of stunning technique eclipsed by its increasingly jaw-dropping solipsism... Sep 13, 2018 | Full Review…
A work of stunning technique eclipsed by its increasingly jaw-dropping solipsism...
Peter Debruge
A spectacular mash of half-baked ideas... Well, that, and a movie that just got lost somewhere in the editing room. Sep 12, 2018 | Rating: C- | Full Review…
A spectacular mash of half-baked ideas... Well, that, and a movie that just got lost somewhere in the editing room.
Eric Kohn
[Dolan's] film falls victim to his worst tendencies. Sep 11, 2018 | Full Review…
[Dolan's] film falls victim to his worst tendencies.
Brian Tallerico
Dolan's English-language debut whinges about personal neuroses rather than probing homophobia or celebrity. Sep 11, 2018 | Rating: 1/4 | Full Review…
Dolan's English-language debut whinges about personal neuroses rather than probing homophobia or celebrity.
Kate Taylor
Its spectacularity is almost asphyxiating, but... each frame is also an excuse to plunge into the euphoria of its drama. [Full review in Spanish] Dec 18, 2019 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
Its spectacularity is almost asphyxiating, but... each frame is also an excuse to plunge into the euphoria of its drama. [Full review in Spanish]
Aitor Salinas
"The Death and Life of John F. Donovan" is a potentially powerful story, though one not successfully told in the slightest by Xavier Dolan. Dec 14, 2019 | Rating: 1.5/4 | Full Review…
"The Death and Life of John F. Donovan" is a potentially powerful story, though one not successfully told in the slightest by Xavier Dolan.
Joey Magidson
Intended as a complex examination of the emotional toll of celebrity, this drama instead feels as shallow and pretentious as the characters it portrays. Dec 13, 2019 | Full Review…
Intended as a complex examination of the emotional toll of celebrity, this drama instead feels as shallow and pretentious as the characters it portrays.
Todd Jorgenson
Dolan's most conventional film, and consequently the dullest. [Full review in French] Aug 28, 2019 | Full Review…
Dolan's most conventional film, and consequently the dullest. [Full review in French]
Kevin N. Laforest
Even for someone like me who admires Dolan, the finished film is a bit of a mess. But it's kind of a beautiful mess, one that still has the power to be affecting. Aug 23, 2019 | Rating: C | Full Review…
Even for someone like me who admires Dolan, the finished film is a bit of a mess. But it's kind of a beautiful mess, one that still has the power to be affecting.
Karen Gordon
The three-story narrative is the film's biggest misstep, by giving short shrift to what should have been the whole point of the film - the titular "death and life" of the main character. Aug 23, 2019 | Full Review…
The three-story narrative is the film's biggest misstep, by giving short shrift to what should have been the whole point of the film - the titular "death and life" of the main character.
Chris Bumbray
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