The Death and Life of John F. Donovan

Name: The Death and Life of John F. Donovan
Genre: Drama
Released: December 13, 2019
Duration: 123 min
Rating: 28
Cast: Amara Karan, Bella Thorne, Ben Schnetzer, Chris Zylka, Emily Hampshire

2019

METASCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Ratings

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5.9

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5.9	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Ratings

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The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan

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Movie Details & Credits

Momentum Pictures | Release Date: December 13, 2019 | R

Starring: Amara Karan, Bella Thorne, Ben Schnetzer, Chris Zylka, Emily Hampshire, Jacob Tremblay, Jared Keeso, Kathy Bates, Kit Harington, Michael Gambon, Natalie Portman, Sarah Gadon, Susan Sarandon, Thandiwe Newton

Summary: A decade after the death of an American TV star, a young actor reminisces about the written correspondence he once shared with the former, as well as the impact those letters had on both their lives.

Director: Xavier Dolan

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 123 min

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Critic Reviews

Allan Hunter

Sep 12, 2018

John F. Donovan may revisit a lot of familiar territory for Dolan but on this form it is good to welcome him home. Read full review

The Playlist Jason Bailey

Sep 12, 2018

Every time Dolan generates a head of steam, he’s betrayed by his script, by the self-conscious formality of the dialogue, or the clunkiness of the structure. Read full review

Mike D'Angelo

Dec 10, 2019

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. Read full review

Stephen Dalton

Sep 12, 2018

Dolan has labored hard to yoke together these tricksy, time-jumping, intertwined plots, reportedly editing down a mountain of material over two years. In the process, a whole character played by Jessica Chastain was surgically removed. But however long he tinkered, Dolan has not quite salvaged a story whose default setting seems to be mirthless, ponderous navel-gazing. Read full review

Jeannette Catsoulis

Dec 12, 2019

Struggling to connect the filaments of past and present, youth and maturity, Dolan seems lost, his signature vivaciousness and sense of fun almost entirely muted. Instead, what lingers is a feeling of being lectured to — which isn’t much fun at all. Read full review

Peter Debruge

Sep 13, 2018

What could have been a powerful ode to the impact that movies have in shaping our identities — and by extension, the reason broken people are drawn to the profession, through which they hope to reach others like themselves — becomes an over-the-top celebration of Dolan himself. Read full review

The Guardian Benjamin Lee

Sep 12, 2018

None of it rings remotely true and his insistence on playing out so many scenes at such a high level can make it an excruciating watch. Read full review

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User Reviews

MattBrady99

Dec 18, 2019

Oof.

The Death & Life of John F. Donovan was a hot mess. Not terrible, but how do you go from "Mommy" to this? It feels incredibly cliche with certain music choices that feels stripped from Xavier Dolan’s playlist. I can tell Dolan wrote the movie, because there's a character in the movieOof.

The Death & Life of John F. Donovan was a hot mess. Not terrible, but how do you go from "Mommy" to this? It feels incredibly cliche with certain music choices that feels stripped from Xavier Dolan’s playlist. I can tell Dolan wrote the movie, because there's a character in the movie that blush over Kit Harington good looks for no other reason.

The acting from everyone was at least good - Jacob Tremblay, Susan Sarandon and Kathy Bates being the stand outs, and the amazing looking cinematography made it visually pleasing.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

KenR

Jun 30, 2021

Yet another movie to shout its one-note message about gender confusion and celebrity. Xavier Dolan’s first English-speaking movie is so chaotic in its narrative, the first half appears to belong to a totally different film. Its choppy, almost amateurish editing leaves the viewer irritated,Yet another movie to shout its one-note message about gender confusion and celebrity. Xavier Dolan’s first English-speaking movie is so chaotic in its narrative, the first half appears to belong to a totally different film. Its choppy, almost amateurish editing leaves the viewer irritated, while attempting to grasp what motivates his somewhat boring characters. His women tend to come across as either hopelessly lost or superficially meddlesome - while his men don’t seem to project any direction, apart from bullying or same-sex attraction. There are moments of attempted profound statements regarding superficial relationships, and the press, yet even these come across as heavy-handed philosophy and pretentious.

As moviemakers are now getting to be younger, it looks like audiences can expect more and more gender confusion and PC virtue signaling. Some cinematography is nicely set up but it’s mostly foiled by music selections that tend to feel like they also belong to another movie. Gabriel Yared’s original score is as usual, quite lush but songs chosen to accompany other selected scenes are out of touch with the overall feel. Hopefully, some future young storytellers will get over their personal obsessions with their inverted sexuality and perhaps mature enough to also consider the interests of the wider community.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Ajmovies

Jan 15, 2020

With a great cast that this movie has I’m just shocked how bad this is. 10%

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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