A MONSTER CALLS (2017) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

a monster calls (2017) movie

Genre             |  Fantasy Drama

Classification   |   M

Running time   |   108 minutes

Released         |   27 July 2017

cast

Lewis MacDougall ... Conor
Sigourney Weaver ... Grandma
Felicity Jones ... Mum
Toby Kebbell ... Dad
Ben Moor ... Mr. Clark
Liam Neeson ... The Monster (voice)

director

J.A. Bayona

writer

Patrick Ness ... (screenplay by)
Patrick Ness ... (based upon the novel written by)
Siobhan Dowd ... (from an original idea by)

cinematographer

​Oscar Faura

music

​Fernando Velázquez

film editor

Jaume Martí
Bernat Vilaplana

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box office result

Worldwide             $47,309,313 ​ ​

Australia                 $​​​​​​​​​​​117,568

North America       $​​​3,740,823

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the best dialogue

Conor: Your stories never made sense to me.
The Monster: Because humans are complicated beasts. You believe comforting lies, while knowing full well the painful truth that makes those lies necessary. In the end, Conor, it is not important what you think. It is only important what you do.
Conor: So what do I do?
The Monster: What you did just now. You speak the truth.
Conor: That's all?
The Monster: You think it's easy? You were willing to die rather than speak it.

The Monster: Stories are wild animals... if you let them loose, who knows what havoc they may wreak.

The Monster: Here is the end of the tale.
Conor: I'm afraid.
The Monster: Of course you are afraid.It will be hard, it will be more than hard. But you will make it through, Conor O'Malley.
Conor: You'll stay?
The Monster: I will be right here.

A MONSTER CALLS (2017) MOVIE IMAGES

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A MONSTER CALLS (2017) STORY SYNOPSIS

​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. His father has resettled thousands of miles away. But Conor finds a most unlikely ally when the Monster (Liam Neeson) 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.

A MONSTER CALLS (2017) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 25 July 2017
​Pop Movee Rating ⭐⭐⭐½

A MONSTER CALLS finally arrives in Australian cinemas over six months after its debut elsewhere around the world. Strangely, a movie that seems suited to a family cinema outing, especially during School holidays, J.A. Bayona’s adaptation of the Patrick Ness novel hits during something of a dead patch in the local cinema market, as SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING has come and gone and the next wave of broad cinema entertainment doesn’t start to release until mid-to-late August.

This may prove to be a blessing in disguise for the local release of A MONSTER CALLS, as the likes of DUNKIRK, WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES and A GHOST STORY won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Bayona’s movie, on the other hand, is well-crafted tale featuring a solid central performance from young Lewis MacDougall, ably supported by Sigourney Weaver, Felicity Jones, Toby Kebbell and the vocal talents of Liam Neeson. But, be prepared, this is no Pete’s Dragon.

At its core, A MONSTER CALLS is a coming of age story. Young Conor (MacDougall) finds himself in a terrible situation. His Mother’s health is failing and it’s been left to Conor’s Grandmother (Weaver) to provide a roof over the young man’s head during her daughter’s increasingly frequent visits to the hospital for treatment.

Everywhere Conor turns, his life seems to grow more complicated. At School, he’s the victim of merciless bullying, while on the homefront, the arrival of his estranged Father (Kebbell) doesn’t help to ease the tension and pain the young man is suffering. A talented artist, Conor is able to find some measure of solace during the night as he sits alone in his room drawing, propped up at his study desk, at times, staring out into the dark night, straining to see if there is anything other than the uninviting black.

Almost by sheer force of will, Conor is confronted by an ancient Tree Monster (voiced by Neeson) who tells the young man that he will share three stories with him and, at the end of the third story, Conor will share a story with the Monster and confront the truth that he continues to avoid. Is he dreaming? Is he imagining this Monster? What is its significance to him?

The author of A MONSTER CALLS, Patrick Ness, was, rather fortunately, on hand to adapt his novel into the movie’s screenplay, so the themes of his story remain intact, as does the metaphorical allusions associated with the work’s title. What prevents A MONSTER CALLS from being truly great is the emphasis on the darkness of Conor’s life.

Bayona and Ness don’t hold back from dishing out both the physical and emotional punishment upon their young protagonist. Whether it’s in the School yard, at his Grandmother’s home or with the Monster, the poor kid never gets a break. This downbeat approach sucks the energy from the viewer as it becomes clear that neither Conor or the audience are going to get away with a ‘Hollywood’ ending. It’s commendable that Bayona sticks to his guns, as there’s few movie makers currently going around who can find the beauty in the horrific like this Spaniard can.

It’s more than likely the reason why Bayona picked up the directing gig for the JUARASSIC WORLD (2015) sequel, FALLEN KINGDOM, due out in mid-2018. He brings a visual sensibility that lends itself to the central cinematic idea of telling stories through moving images. Essential to Bayona’s success with the film’s visual appeal is his long-standing Cinematographer, Oscar Faura. The working relationship between Bayona and Faura dates back to 2007 when the latter worked on Bayona’s break-through production, THE ORPHANAGE.

Since then, Faura has gone on to photograph THE IMPOSSIBLE (2012), again with Bayona, THE IMITATION GAME (2014) , A MONSTER CALLS and also just wrapped lensing FALLEN KINGDOM... As it is claimed, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the movie that Bayone and his production team have crafted is beautiful, but it is also a sad tale of a boy forced to grow up too quickly in the face of life’s real horrors; proving that there is no escape when the Monster really does come calling.

A MONSTER CALLS MOVIE (2017) USEFUL LINKS

​A Monster Calls (2016) - IMDb
​A Monster Calls (film) - Wikipedia
​​A Monster Calls (2017) - Rotten Tomatoes

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