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Critics Consensus: The Glass Castle has an affecting real-life story and a hard-working cast in its corner, but they aren't enough to outweigh a fundamentally misguided approach to the material.
Critic Consensus: The Glass Castle has an affecting real-life story and a hard-working cast in its corner, but they aren't enough to outweigh a fundamentally misguided approach to the material.
All Critics (154) | Top Critics (38) | Fresh (78) | Rotten (76)
[Destin Daniel] Cretton wants to make an old-fashioned melodrama but fails to stylize the material in any compelling way
Clocks in at two hours and seven minutes but it's so intense that I was hardly aware of the time.
There are heart-tugging moments in The Glass Castle, but Walls's bestselling memoir needed to be roughed up and aired out. For it to match up to the book, the movie needed the glass to be smashed, not every shard treasured.
By laminating Walls' story with a Hollywood sheen, the narrative climaxes in an artificial and contrived manner.
Due to the herculean task of adaptation, "The Glass Castle" lacks the emotional potency of Cretton's earlier work and the unflinching detail of Walls' memoir.
Dark, dysfunctional, and filled with blinding hope, this is one glass house that's difficult to throw stones at.
The Glass Castle is tonally uneven and haphazard, and intentionally so. It accurately captures the experience of living in a dysfunctional family...
The story is about imperfection, in person and in family, so if the film is imperfect, it can be forgiven.
The tone jumps wildly between quirky family dramedy and the dark terrain of abuse narratives without finding the proper balance.
The Glass Castle remains as transparent and ethereal as the architectural wonder in its title because its treatment of its material is so rote.
The Glass Castle is a study in the power of family ties --and the resilience of children to overcome even the harshest of circumstances.
The movie has a phenomenal cast and a connection between the characters that gives it just the push it needs.
The story of a very unusual family plays on two time frames, with the emphasis on the past for quite a while. Harrelson is fantastic, of course, but so are the child actors. There are slow moments, but overall the story remains fascinating, never entirely judging the unconventional parents, always on the fence between failure and deep love. The fact that the pendulum ultimately falls very clearly on one of the two sides makes for a pretty touching ending, too.
Super Reviewer
Based on a best-selling memoir, The Glass Castle is a compelling character drama about family. As newspaper columnist Jeannette Walls prepares to start a new life with her fiancé she struggles to break free from her homeless parents whose bohemian lifestyle constantly kept them on the move and in poverty throughout her childhood. Starring Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson, and Naomi Watts, the film has a strong cast that gives some really good performances (especial Harrelson). And the script is incredibly well-written; telling parallel stories in the past and present that are both engaging and enhance each other, creating suspense and intrigue. However, the epilogue-ish ending seems forces and kind of counters a lot of the dramatic conflict and character growth. Yet despite its few weaknesses, The Glass Castle is a remarkably touching film.
Interesting true story, but honestly wore it's welcome out halfway through. I cared enough to finish it, but it was 2 hours that felt like 3.
The Glass Castle had its few moments of shines and tears to wipe away, but under the hood is where the film relies a huge problem on. Can be forgettable during time beings if not claimed to love it nor hate it. but somewhere in the middle that gives that mixed opinion feeling. If you want to find a better way to watch this film, wait for it on rental.
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