A Monster Calls

After a few weeks off to prep the Rath Awards (which I highly encourage you to check out HERE), I'm back at it. 

Not seeing a new movie for a little while was a good break, even if I did try -- and failed -- to see Rogue One again. It was sold out!

Regardless, there are a lot of great films coming out this January as carry overs from 2016 that I hope to see in the coming weeks. This film, A Monster Calls, being one of them. 

This one has had an odd release schedule indeed as I'm fairly certain it was originally supposed to come out several months ago. Likely when the studio heads heard of Oscar potential, they decided to push it and it somehow landed a tad awkwardly in January. 

Either way, this one has interested me because of the Oscar buzz. Adaptations of children's, or in this case, teenagers, novels don't often garner Oscar buzz so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Plus it was one of those rare book adaptations that I haven't read so that interested me even further. 

A Monster Calls is a great, well-made film that deserves the buzz it's getting and is a solid, albeit sad, way to start off 2017. It may be based off a "children's" novel, but it deals with real themes and it deals with them head-on, not afraid to sugar coat or avoid saying certain things. 

The film is a story about a young, bullied boy, Conor, who is going through a really rough time in his life. His dad left at a young age to live in America and his mom is now terminally ill, with treatment after treatment failing to cure her ailment. Conor loves to draw and is quite good at it. From his sketches and dreams emerges a monster that comes and visits him, helping to cope with the stress of potentially losing his mother and life in general (i.e. getting beat up at school). Any more minute details wouldn't add much to that synopsis, but suffice it to say it's heavy stuff. I really appreciated the film's blunt approach of Conor struggling with his mother's illness and the film never suggests anything less than the fact "the monster" is completely made up and a dream. There's no trickery, even when the monster has meaningful, but harsh talks with Conor. It's all handled in a refreshingly mature fashion that I could have honestly seen going the complete opposite way as a whimsical tale of monsters, and sketches, and dragons, etc. The movie cements itself as worthwhile because of the approach it takes. 

It seems Groot is a baby no more...

"I got the plans to the Death Star and then..."
"Mom, what are you talking about."

This would all be for naught though if we had weak performances, particularly by the central child. Luckily, Lewis MacDougall gives one of the best child performances in recent memory and surprisingly carries this film through and through. That's a huge burden to place on someone so young's shoulders, especially with heavyweights like Sigourney Weaver, Liam Neeson, and Felicity Jones also in the cast. But this is MacDougall's movie and the range of emotion that he shows for such a young actor indicates how great of a talent he is. In the film's most climactic, emotional scenes, he goes full out and is just as captivating as an adult actor/actress would have been. That isn't to say that everyone else does bad though. Liam Neeson is a pitch-perfect casting choice as the tree-based, Groot-esque Monster. The gravel in his voice that we've all come to know is suited well for a "scary", mentoring companion. Weaver does good work too here as her role increases in time throughout the film. Felicity Jones once again is fantastic too and likely had a difficult job of what is essentially slowly decaying throughout the course of the film. Her performance is just as heartfelt and heartbreaking as MacDougall's. 

There are some things I wish A Monster Calls would have done better though. For starters, its pacing is slightly off and it feels sluggish in parts, like it's trying to delay the next scene or set of scenes. At nearly 2 hours I think some trimming would have been applicable. I also would have liked it if the original score could have been more unique than just a common tug-at-your-heartstrings attempt. It shows signs of life here and there but overall is forgetful, and I think this is a perfect film to pair a really memorable score with. The rest of the film is gorgeous though. Monster constantly looks eerily real as if a wooden tree had actually come to life, and there are moments of fantastic imagery and cinematography throughout. For some reason a few scenes of Conor drawing, with the camera highly zoomed in on the pencil tip and paper, were so memorable to me, not to mention mesmerizing, that I was a bit taken aback. It really is a gorgeous film that just helps it build that much more credibility to being more than a youth adaptation. 

The last Taken film really took a toll on Neeson...

I won't be seeing A Monster Calls again -- I don't see the need to -- but that doesn't mean it's any less of a strong, well-made movie. It's likely to become a powerful, meaningful film to young teenagers trying to deal with the grief of a passing loved one and I imagine that, for those in that situation, it's very therapeutic. Now I got to go see something a little lighter -- Hidden Figures, here I come!

CONS:

• Has a few pacing issues where it feels like its purposely dragging its feet. A little overlong and could have used some trimming
• Unremarkable original score
• A few lower quality special effects

PROS:

• Takes a very forward and mature approach to dealing with grief, our true thoughts associated with it, and loss
• Unique and memorable cinematography and imagery
• Lewis MacDougall gives a superb child performance and carries the film. Certainly a talent to watch
• The remainder of the talented cast is just as good and provides support to him throughout the film
• Fantastic special effects
• It will definitely hit you right in the feels and tug at your heartstrings. Relatable to almost anyone 

 Rath's Review Score | 8/10