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The Death and Life of John F. Donovan

R Released Dec 13, 2019 2h 3m Drama TRAILER for The Death and Life of John F. Donovan: Trailer 1 List
19% Tomatometer 32 Reviews 54% Audience Score 250+ Ratings
A young actor reminisces about a dead American TV star and the correspondence they shared. Read More Read Less
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The Death and Life of John F. Donovan

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Critics Consensus

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.

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Critics Reviews

View All (32) Critics Reviews
Jeannette Catsoulis New York Times From its contrived structure to its forced speechifying, this story... never acquires the emotional potency or coherence its themes demand. Dec 12, 2019 Full Review Mike D'Angelo AV Club 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. Rated: C- Dec 11, 2019 Full Review Peter Debruge Variety A work of stunning technique eclipsed by its increasingly jaw-dropping solipsism... Sep 13, 2018 Full Review Ben Turner The Pink Lens Nothing but a prestige piece for a fictional character with inexplicable iconoclasm and half-baked coming-of-age schmaltz that tries really hard - and fails - to pluck at the heart strings. This is a fairly major misfire for Dolan. Rated: 2/5 Sep 1, 2021 Full Review Jason Adams My New Plaid Pants Man this thing flounders. My only thought at its end was what, pray tell, was the point of all this? Jul 14, 2021 Full Review Luke Gorham In Review Online These moments lead us to Dolan the pedant, whose explicit articulation of ideas obscures a career-long attention to character and form. Jul 29, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (60) audience reviews
John B I thought it was ok overall as the story started out interesting, but never really seemed to lead anywhere with the characters and by the end of it, I still wasn't really sure who John Donovan was. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/14/23 Full Review Dominique S Tried my best to like this because of Kit but it was all over the place. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review jelisije j The life and death of a closet gay book writer celebrity and the young boy who tells his tale of the man who gave him the courage to be himself. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review stewart m Lots of really good actors trying to make a schmaltzy script work. Cringeworthy at times. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review andy n The film is complicated, too complicated! Long, very long! There is little love! Good ending, and good lines of letter at the end of the film. But still, it's boringly contrived and not original! Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member The film tried too hard to be profound - and instead was simply boring. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Death and Life of John F. Donovan

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis A young actor reminisces about a dead American TV star and the correspondence they shared.
Director
Xavier Dolan
Producer
Xavier Dolan, Nancy Grant, Joe Iacono, Lyse Lafontaine
Screenwriter
Xavier Dolan, Jacob Tierney
Distributor
Momentum Pictures
Production Co
Lyla Films, Warp Films
Rating
R (Some Sexual Material|Language Throughout)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 13, 2019, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 13, 2019
Runtime
2h 3m
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