At Eternity’s Gate

Happens every year. The film that comes out that I really don’t wanna see, and will only go to if it gets a major Oscar nomination. Actually, there’s two of those this year, but today we’re talking about At Eternity’s Gate, which scored a Best Actor nod for Willem Dafoe.

Dafoe plays painter Vincent van Gogh. Today, van Gogh is a highly respected and beloved artist, but that wasn’t the case while he was alive. We look at some of the last days of his life and the struggles he endured to create his work.

Here’s the thing. I really do love a good art musuem (Art Institute in Chicago is my favorite). However, I tend to go thru them pretty quickly. I want to take it all in, and it doesn’t take too long to figure out if I like a painting, and then move on. With few exceptions, I can’t really stare at a painting for hours. I get that’s how some people enjoy their art, but it’s just not my thing.

I say all that, because that’s sort of how this movie felt, like I was staring at a painting for a couple of hours. I could appreciate the beauty of it and the artistic quality, but it’s not really a world I wanted to inhabit for too long. I got bored right away, in need of more narrative action.

Dafoe’s performance was fantastic, and while he wouldn’t have been my choice for that last spot on the shortlist, he’s still a deserving actor. It just wasn’t enough to get me into this film.

At Eternity’s Gate – \m/ \m

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