**Disclosure: I was sent on an all expense paid trip to LA for the “A Monster Calls” press day. All opinions are my own.
First I want to say there are no spoilers in my review. I mean what is the sense of going to watch it if you already know exactly what to expect, am I right? I haven’t read the book yet but I am told the movie does vary from the book, but that is a norm I think.
All of the actors play their parts perfectly. The four main characters are Felicity Jones who plays the “Mum”, Sigourney Weaver as Felicity Jones’s Mum (and Grandma to Lewis MacDougall (who plays Conor O’Malley). Liam Neeson is the actor behind the very interesting “Monster” and I have to say besides Lewis’s character he runs a close second. Who am I kidding I pick all four my favorites, each for their own reasons.
For Conor O’Malley being a young boy is not an easy task. His Mom is ill, he is picked on at school and lives with a secret that haunts him each night as he sleeps. I also felt bad that his father lived in the US and that he hardly saw him and he couldn’t be there many times that Conor needed his guidance. I praise the actor behind Conor O’Malley for his acting which brought me in and brought tears I didn’t realize were possible during a movie such as this one. My heart ached for him in many instances and I am sure you will feel the same way after watching it.
Felicity Jones shows just what she is made of in her part as Conor’s Mum. Her part made me wonder what I would do if I was in her position. Sigourney Weaver plays two parts to me one as a Mum and one as a Grandma. Trying to be there for her daughter and not agreeing with all of her choices, yet trying to be a Grandma to a young boy that she doesn’t know quite how to relate to.
Liam Neeson portrays his part strongly from the moment he comes into the movie until the very end. His wisdom is timeless and made me think of a lot of different instances in my life that I could relate to.
- A few of the lines that stuck out to me a lot and I have even felt in my own life were:
- “Sometimes love just isn’t enough”
- “Not everyone gets their ‘happily ever after’, some get messily ever after”
Life isn’t always perfect but we take out of it what we put into it. We all have our own “truths” but until we face them or make them known they can/will haunt us.
I feel so thankful that I had the opportunity to go see “A Monster Calls” at an advanced screening back in November. The whole premise of the movie still sits in my heart and mind after almost two months of watching it.
“A Monster Calls” comes to select theaters December 23, 2016, and nationwide January 6, 2017.
Directed by J.A. Bayona (“The Impossible,” “The Orphanage”)
Written by Patrick Ness, based on his novel A Monster Calls
Starring Sigourney Weaver, Felicity Jones, Toby Kebbell, Lewis MacDougall, and Liam Neeson
A visually spectacular and unabashedly emotional drama from director J.A. Bayona (“The Impossible”). 12-year-old Conor (Lewis MacDougall) is dealing with far more than other boys his age. His beloved and devoted mother (Felicity Jones) is ill. He has little in common with his imperious grandmother (Sigourney Weaver). His father (Toby Kebbell) has resettled thousands of miles away. But Conor finds a most unlikely ally when the Monster (portrayed by Liam Neeson in performance-capture and voiceover) appears at his bedroom window one night. Ancient, wild, and relentless, the Monster guides Conor on a journey of courage, faith, and truth that powerfully fuses imagination and reality.
Rated PG-13 I 108 Minutes
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