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The Death & Life of John F. Donovan

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The Death & Life of John F. Donovan is a 2018 Canadian drama film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Xavier Dolan, in his English-language debut. The film stars Kit Harington, Jacob Tremblay, Natalie Portman, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, Thandiwe Newton, Ben Schnetzer, and Jared Keeso. It deals with themes of celebrity, tabloid media in Hollywood, mother-son relationships, and homosexuality.

The Death & Life of John F. Donovan
Teaser poster
Directed byXavier Dolan
Screenplay by
Story byXavier Dolan
Produced by
Starring
Narrated byMichael Gambon
CinematographyAndré Turpin
Edited by
Music byGabriel Yared
Production
companies
  • Lyla Films
  • Sons of Manual
Distributed byLes Films Séville
Release dates
  • September 10, 2018 (2018-09-10) (TIFF)
  • March 13, 2019 (2019-03-13) (France)
  • August 23, 2019 (2019-08-23) (Canada)
  • December 13, 2019 (2019-12-13) (United States)
Running time
123 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish
Box office$3.3 million[1][2]

It is presented as three different sequences of scenes interspersed during the film: a series set in 2017 showing a young actor who reminisces about the written correspondence he shared as a child with an American TV star who died since then, and two other series set in the mid-2000s depicting the lives of both characters at the time of the correspondence.

The Death & Life of John F. Donovan had its world premiere at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was critically panned, with many critics describing it as Dolan's worst directorial effort.[3][4]

Plot

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In 2017, Times journalist Audrey Newhouse interviews popular actor Rupert Turner about his recently published book Letters to a Young Actor. The book collects letters he received from John F. Donovan, an actor he corresponded with as a child and who died from a drug overdose.

In a flashback to the mid-2000s, Turner is a child actor who is bullied by homophobic schoolmates and emotionally abused by his mother. Turner idolizes Donovan, who plays the lead character in the teen drama series Hellsome High. The tabloid press frequently speculates that Donovan is gay and closeted; when gossip regarding Donovan soliciting male prostitutes makes headlines, his correspondence with Turner is made public, sparking malicious speculation about the nature of Turner and Donovan's relationship. Donovan writes his final letter to Turner, and dies shortly after.

In the present, Turner says he does not know whether or not Donovan's death was related to the scandal. Newhouse muses that she initially dismissed Turner's book as "mishaps from the First World," but has reconsidered based on their meeting.

Cast

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Production

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In December 2014, it was announced that Kit Harington and Jessica Chastain would star in the film, with Xavier Dolan directing the film from a screenplay he wrote with Jacob Tierney. Harington would portray the titular character while Chastain would portray a journalist.[5] That same month, it was announced Susan Sarandon and Kathy Bates had joined the cast of the film. Sarandon would portray the role of Donovan's mother, while Bates would portray the role of his manager.[6][7]

In November 2015, it was announced that Adele was in talks to appear in a cameo role.[8] That same month, Michael Gambon, Bella Thorne, Chris Zylka, Emily Hampshire, and Jared Keeso joined the cast of the film.[9] In February 2016, Natalie Portman, Nicholas Hoult and Thandiwe Newton joined the cast.[10] In July 2016, it was announced Ben Schnetzer joined the cast of the film, replacing Hoult.[11] In February 2017, it was announced Jacob Tremblay had been cast in the film.[12] In June 2017, Amara Karan joined the cast of the film.[13]

Gabriel Yared composed the film's score,[14] which was recorded in July 2017.[15]

Filming

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Principal photography began on July 9, 2016, in Montreal.[16][17][18] The first block of principal photography concluded on September 3, 2016.[19] In February 2017, production resumed in Montreal, before being completed in the spring of 2017 in London and Prague.[20][21]

Post-production

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In February 2018, Dolan confirmed via Instagram that during post-production, Jessica Chastain's character had been cut from the film for timing and pacing reasons.[22][23] In an interview in October 2018, Bella Thorne mentioned she had filmed some scenes, but they were with Chastain's character and thus were cut from the film.[24]

Release

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The film was invited to premiere at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival in May, but (according to artistic director Thierry Fremaux), Dolan still was not happy with the film, and opted to continue editing.[25] The film later had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2018.[26][27] This was Dolan's first film to have a world premiere at TIFF.

The film was released in France on March 13, 2019,[28] in Canada by Les Films Séville on August 23,[29] and in the United States on December 13, 2019, by Momentum Pictures.[30]

Reception

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On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 19% based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 3.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "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."[3] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 28 out of 100 based on reviews from 12 critics, indicating "Generally unfavorable reviews".[31]

IndieWire dubbed the film the "worst" of Dolan's career; they also called the screenplay "soapy" and "clumsy".[4] The Guardian gave the film one out of five stars, deeming it a "dubious mess".[32] NOW Magazine called the film "mediocre at best".[33] RogerEbert.com criticized Dolan's music choices and wrote that the film has "major flaws", but praised Tremblay's performance.[34][35] The Hollywood Reporter called the cast "impressive", but called the film a "half-baked, cumbersome, overlong psychodrama".[36]

In a positive review, Screen International wrote that the film "may revisit a lot of familiar territory for Dolan but on this form it is good to welcome him home."[37]

References

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  1. ^ "The Death & Life of John F. Donovan at The Numbers". The Numbers. Archived from the original on April 25, 2023. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  2. ^ "The Death & Life of John F. Donovan at Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on April 22, 2023. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "The Death and Life of John F. Donovan (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Archived from the original on 2020-01-14. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Kohn, Eric (2018-09-11). "'The Death and Life of John F. Donovan' Review: Xavier Dolan's Worst Movie Stars Kit Harington as a Depressed TV Star". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 2019-05-28. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
  5. ^ Yamato, Jen (December 4, 2014). "'Game Of Thrones' Star Joins Jessica Chastain In Xavier Dolan Celebrity Satire". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 15, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  6. ^ Myles, Sarah (10 December 2014). "Sarandon And Bates Join The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan". We Got This Covered. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  7. ^ O'Felt, Chris (December 9, 2014). "Susan Sarandon and Kathy Bates Board 'Mommy' Director's First English-Language Project (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 13, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  8. ^ Jafaar, Ali (November 11, 2015). "Adele In Talks To Take Cameo In Xavier Dolan's 'The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  9. ^ Seetoodeh, Ramin (November 18, 2015). "Bella Thorne, Chris Zylka and Michael Gambon Join 'The Death and Life of John F. Donovan' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on June 21, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  10. ^ McNary, Dave (February 9, 2016). "Natalie Portman, Nicholas Hoult Join 'Death and Life of John F. Donovan'". Variety. Archived from the original on July 11, 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  11. ^ Erbland, Kate (July 29, 2016). "'The Death and Life of John F. Donovan': Ben Schnetzer Replaces Nicholas Hoult In Xavier Dolan's Next'". Indiewire.com. Archived from the original on December 5, 2022. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  12. ^ Kit, Borys (February 8, 2017). "Jacob Tremblay to Star in Xavier Dolan's 'The Death and Life of John F. Donovan' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  13. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (June 19, 2017). "Amara Karan Joins 'The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan'; Luke Tennie To Star In Indie Drama 'Vengeance'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  14. ^ "Gabriel Yared to score Xavier Dolan's 'The Death and Life of John F. Donovan'". Film Music Reporter. October 6, 2016. Archived from the original on April 22, 2023. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  15. ^ "Gabriel Yared". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 2019-12-26. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  16. ^ Roxborough, Scott (May 17, 2016). "Cannes: Xavier Dolan on His Competition Entry and His Love of 'Home Alone'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  17. ^ "Xavier Dolan Talks Louis Vuitton, Movies & Adele". Daman. June 20, 2016. Archived from the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  18. ^ Evry, Max (July 27, 2016). "Xavier Dolan's The Death and Life of John F. Donovan Begins Filming". Coming Soon. Archived from the original on February 21, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
  19. ^ Dolan, Xavier (September 1, 2016). "Off to NY for last 2 days of shooting on first unit of #deathandlifeofjohnfdonovan Gonna sleep it off for the next months after though. Happy but exhausted". Instagram.com. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  20. ^ Kelly, Brendan (September 13, 2016). "Xavier Dolan still smarting from scathing reviews of Juste la fin du monde". Montreal Gazette. Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
  21. ^ McNary, Dave (February 8, 2017). "'Room' Star Jacob Tremblay Joins Xavier Dolan's 'Death and Life of John F. Donovan'". Variety. Archived from the original on September 25, 2022. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  22. ^ Fernandez, Matt (February 5, 2018). "Jessica Chastain Cut From Xavier Dolan's 'The Death and Life of John F. Donovan'". Variety. Archived from the original on April 27, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  23. ^ Hooton, Christopher (February 5, 2018). "Xavier Dolan explains why he cut Jessica Chastain from The Death and Life of John F. Donovan". The Independent. Archived from the original on April 27, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  24. ^ Bramesco, Charles (October 12, 2018). "Bella Thorne on Her Haunted House and Those Paparazzi Photos". New York. Archived from the original on December 26, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  25. ^ Tremblay, Odile (27 March 2018). "Xavier Dolan, privé de Cannes?". Le Devoir. Archived from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  26. ^ Pederson, Erik (August 1, 2018). "'The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan' World Premiere Set For Toronto". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  27. ^ "The Death and Life of John F. Donovan". Toronto International Film Festival. Archived from the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  28. ^ "Xavier Dolan". Instagram. January 25, 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
  29. ^ "Xavier Dolan's "The Death and Life of John F. Donovan" hits theatres in August". www.citynews1130.com. 26 June 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-09-28. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
  30. ^ Lattanzio, Ryan (November 15, 2019). "Xavier Dolan's Long-Delayed 'Death and Life of John F. Donovan' Finally Receiving a U.S. Release". IndieWire. Archived from the original on August 8, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  31. ^ "The Death and Life of John F. Donovan Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  32. ^ Lee, Benjamin (2018-09-11). "The Death and Life of John F. Donovan review – Xavier Dolan's wild misfire". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2018-09-16. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
  33. ^ Ritchie, Kevin (2018-09-11). "TIFF review: The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan". NOW Magazine. Archived from the original on 2018-09-18. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
  34. ^ Tallerico, Brian (11 September 2018). "TIFF 2018: The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, Vox Lux | Festivals & Awards |". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on 2020-04-04. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
  35. ^ Castillo, Monica. "The Death & Life of John F. Donovan movie review (2019) | Roger Ebert". rogerebert.com. Archived from the original on 2020-04-04. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  36. ^ "'The Death and Life of John F. Donovan': Film Review | TIFF 2018". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2018-09-18. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
  37. ^ "'The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan' - Toronto Review". Screen. Archived from the original on 2018-09-18. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
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