Written by Xavier Dolan And Jacob Tierney
Directed by Xavier Dolan
Audrey: "This last letter suggests he was full of hope..."
Rupert: "Which is why I am sure you will understand that, for obvious reasons, that is the version that I chose to believe."
After having watching six movies in French and predominantly set in Canada, I was interested to see what Xavier Dolan would be like out of his comfort zone. This movie felt like it was an adaptation but it's actually an original idea, co-written with Heated Rivalry creator/executive producer Jacob Tierney.
Focusing on an interview with Times journalist Audrey Newhouse (Thandiwe Newton) and an actor turned author named Rupert Turner (Ben Schnetzer), this film would also focus on the titular John F. Donovan (Kit Harington). In particular, the relationship between John and Rupert, which certainly impacted both of them.
In his younger years, Rupert (Jacob Tremblay) was enamoured with John's role in a show called Hellsome High. It's an undeniably cheesy show and it made Rupert the source of ridicule from his more mean spirited classmates. I got my own secondary school flashbacks when I was obsessed with Buffy The Vampire Slayer and I remember reading a similar essay about the show itself, so a certain scene made me want the ground to swallow me up. I hadn't thought about that in a very long time.
Anyways, while Rupert had a sympathetic teacher in Miss Kureshi (Amara Karan), he had a more turbulent relationship with his mother, Sam (Natalie Portman). Sam was furious about Rupert's writing to John and her resentment over her acting dreams never taking off was something she projected onto Rupert. However both mother and son did make amends and Sam encouraged Rupert's acting aspirations.
Going back to John - although it did hurt Rupert's feelings, it's not hard to see why he chose to deny the correspondence between them. John was a closeted gay man that the press were constantly trying to out. His relationships with his wife Amy (Emily Hampshire), mother Grace (Susan Sarandon), agent Barbara (Kathy Bates) and lover Will (Chris Zylka) all suffered for it as did John's career.
It wasn't so shocking to learn that John's life went down the pan and that he died shortly after being fired from the show that made his career. It's tragic and there's a gorgeously written scene between John and an elderly man (Michael Gambon) that was easily the best part of the movie. There's a lot of great scenes in a partly uneven movie.
Audrey started the film being scornful over the idea of having to interview Rupert and the latter seemed to take a delight in challenging her snobbery. By the end of the movie, I got the impression that maybe a friendship between the two had developed.
- Rupert did turn out to be gay. He even had a boyfriend played by Gijs Blom. The latter popped up briefly at the end.
- Jessica Chastain had a role as an antagonistic journalist but her scenes were cut.
- Standout music: Adele's Rolling In The Deep, Lifehouse's Hanging By A Moment and Green Day's Jesus Of Suburbia.
- Chronology: Set in 2017 in Prague. Flashbacks in mid 2000s England and America.
The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan isn't Xavier Dolan's strongest movie and there's a few scenes that I did find a little cringe (and one that gave me secondary school flashbacks). Saying that, there's strong performances throughout.
Rating: 7 out of 10
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