The Glass Castle: Review

I've not been feeling like writing for basically the entire week and this film really does not seem like it deserves a ton of time dedicated to writing but I like to review most new releases. The Glass Castle is one of the more misguided films that I've seen in 2017. It's tonally very confused, unsure of whether it's trying to be cute and whimsical or depressing. What's presented on screen most of the time is quite harrowing but everything seems to be lacking in any impact. Harrelson and Watts are good but their characters are very difficult to care for and the film begs you to be sympathetic with them just to shove more of their despicable behavior in your face. It doesn't work and after a while, I was completely checked out.
The real big problem that this film faces is how clean it feels. It's a very Hollywood-ized take on a very rough story. It's all very simplified surface level stuff that I never felt once even tried to challenge the audience. It clearly states its mind throughout and even seems to contradict what it's trying to say here and there. It has moments but as a whole, it's misguided, confused, remarkably ineffective, and exhaustingly didactic. (4.75/10)

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