The Glass Castle reunites Brie Larson with Short Term 12 director Destin Daniel Cretton. This film tells the true story of Jeanette Walls growing up in a dysfunctional family led by a drunken father who promises more than he delivers. The story bounces between 1989 where Jeanette is successful, and her poor childhood years when the family was jumping from home to home. Jeanette's father had a lot of dreams but never manages to execute any of them. His drinking prevented him from holding down a job and adequately caring for his children.
Larson plays older Jeanette in all the scenes from 1989, as well as some scenes when Jeanette was a teenager. It seems that after Larson's Oscar win she can do no wrong. While her scenes don't feel very important in the first half of the film, as her role develops, she conveys plenty of strong, deep emotion. Jeanette is also played by Ella Anderson and Chandler Head in her younger years. Head portrays the youngest version we see of Jeanette and capably portrays a cute kid who has already gone through a lot of hardship. She did a great job showing the bond between her and her father and her loyalty to him. Anderson's performance was solid, but in my opinion, didn't hit as well as Head's. Rex, the father, is played by one of my favourites - Woody Harrelson. Harrelson excels at bringing to light the eccentric nature of his character and when the script calls for it, he delivers some very deep emotion. One can’t help but both love and hate him throughout the film. His motivations and dreams are admirable (despite the lack of follow through) and there are tender moments he shares with Jeanette showing he evidently loves his daughter. In contrast, we also witness his darker moments, usually initiated with alcohol, and taking money from his children to accommodate his addiction in lieu of providing food and shelter for his family. While I found the character compelling, I didn't find enough development as to why he behaves as he does. It was eluded to at one point but no concrete details are given, and I think more detail would enrich his character. Naomi Watts, portrays Jeanette's mother, and much like Harrelson, plays a frustrating parent with their heart in the right place but their actions not. I think her performance is good but she may have benefited by having a larger role, as the main focus is on Jeanette and her father. The focus on Jeanette and her father is understandable but in ways largely takes away from the film. In my opinion the most interesting relationships in the story are between Jeanette and her siblings, as they all stick together through everything the family goes through. Unfortunately they aren't given a chance to develop as much as Jeanette and their parents which I think does a disservice to the great bond between the siblings.
As far as the technical side of things goes, I think the score and cinematography are both strong. While neither are special by any means, there is a simplicity to them that is both beautiful and fitting to the story. The score is the kind of score that you don't really notice during the film, but when you think about it you realize it did a lot to build the story. Unfortunately I don't think the writing and directing do the story justice. As I said earlier, I think certain aspects of characters are underdeveloped and the way the film jumps from different times in Jeanette's life make me wish for more information in between, especially as she gets older. I found some scenes were very well directed but many didn't have enough entertainment or emotion to drive them forward and seemed to drag on. I think a lot of these poorly paced scenes have moments that could be cut down to continue pushing the story without losing too much steam.
In my opinion this film tells a great story hidden under some disappointing writing and directing. However I find that the strength of the story and the overall strength of all the actors involved give this movie enough for me to give it a fresh rating, and recommend it to other moviegoers.
Larson plays older Jeanette in all the scenes from 1989, as well as some scenes when Jeanette was a teenager. It seems that after Larson's Oscar win she can do no wrong. While her scenes don't feel very important in the first half of the film, as her role develops, she conveys plenty of strong, deep emotion. Jeanette is also played by Ella Anderson and Chandler Head in her younger years. Head portrays the youngest version we see of Jeanette and capably portrays a cute kid who has already gone through a lot of hardship. She did a great job showing the bond between her and her father and her loyalty to him. Anderson's performance was solid, but in my opinion, didn't hit as well as Head's. Rex, the father, is played by one of my favourites - Woody Harrelson. Harrelson excels at bringing to light the eccentric nature of his character and when the script calls for it, he delivers some very deep emotion. One can’t help but both love and hate him throughout the film. His motivations and dreams are admirable (despite the lack of follow through) and there are tender moments he shares with Jeanette showing he evidently loves his daughter. In contrast, we also witness his darker moments, usually initiated with alcohol, and taking money from his children to accommodate his addiction in lieu of providing food and shelter for his family. While I found the character compelling, I didn't find enough development as to why he behaves as he does. It was eluded to at one point but no concrete details are given, and I think more detail would enrich his character. Naomi Watts, portrays Jeanette's mother, and much like Harrelson, plays a frustrating parent with their heart in the right place but their actions not. I think her performance is good but she may have benefited by having a larger role, as the main focus is on Jeanette and her father. The focus on Jeanette and her father is understandable but in ways largely takes away from the film. In my opinion the most interesting relationships in the story are between Jeanette and her siblings, as they all stick together through everything the family goes through. Unfortunately they aren't given a chance to develop as much as Jeanette and their parents which I think does a disservice to the great bond between the siblings.
As far as the technical side of things goes, I think the score and cinematography are both strong. While neither are special by any means, there is a simplicity to them that is both beautiful and fitting to the story. The score is the kind of score that you don't really notice during the film, but when you think about it you realize it did a lot to build the story. Unfortunately I don't think the writing and directing do the story justice. As I said earlier, I think certain aspects of characters are underdeveloped and the way the film jumps from different times in Jeanette's life make me wish for more information in between, especially as she gets older. I found some scenes were very well directed but many didn't have enough entertainment or emotion to drive them forward and seemed to drag on. I think a lot of these poorly paced scenes have moments that could be cut down to continue pushing the story without losing too much steam.
In my opinion this film tells a great story hidden under some disappointing writing and directing. However I find that the strength of the story and the overall strength of all the actors involved give this movie enough for me to give it a fresh rating, and recommend it to other moviegoers.
Rating: 3.2/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
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