My Take (there will be spoilers):
This was the best most horrible movie I have seen in some time. Cried like a baby through the majority of it. It was my intention to watch BFG but confused it with this one (which I had also saved to my must watch list). If you have had someone (you love dearly) who you cared for and watched suffer long and hard before they passed away, this will be a poignant film for you. When you know that it would be better if it “were over” both for them and (selfishly) for you – it gives you pause to think of why you are holding on. This movie shows how a young boy copes with the guilt of letting his mother go after she suffered extensively with cancer.
There were times that it was so brutal it was hard to watch. It made my heart hurt for all of the members of this family. The animation during the “story” scenes was great. It reminds me of another animation I have seen but I cannot remember from where (drats!) Sigourney Weaver has a spot on English accent (I am sure that it helps that her Mom is British). Loved Liam Neeson as the voice of the Monster and at the end the gentle way he handled the devastated boy.
As a side note: Lewis MacDougal was AMAZING in this – the kid – the character – the everything about him. Kudos kid, you will do well in the business.
Did you see the movie? Did you like or hate it? Let me know in the comments below!
IMDB Synopsis: A boy seeks the help of a tree monster to cope with his single mother’s terminal illness.
Starring:
Trailer:
Additional Movie Info:
It received a Rotten Tomatoes review of 87% Fresh. It received a Rotten Tomato audience rating of 82% liking it. Average Rating: 4/5 with a number of User atings: 23,640. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_monster_calls/
Movie Reviews:
Specs:
It had an estimated budget of $43M. It has a 108 minute run time. Release date: 6 January 2017.
Additional IMDB Trivia:
- The novel was originally started by Siobhan Dowd who left it unfinished, at her death. Patrick Ness finished the book with credits to her idea.
- Affecting an English accent was second nature to Sigourney Weaver, since her mother was British.
- Tom Holland , who collaborated with Director J.A. Bayona in The Impossible (2012) , was the stand in for the monster during filming. He received a special “thank you” during credits.
- The church that is featured is called St. Thomas’ at Heights, Delph, Oldham. A grade-2 listed building, which closed in 1963.
- Screenwriter Patrick Ness reveals in commentary that one of the pictures of a young Grandma is actually a publicity photo of Sigourney Weaver from Ghostbusters (1984).
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Liam Neeson, who provides the voice of the Monster, appears as Conor’s grandfather in the photo of Conor’s mother as a little girl being carried by her father.
- After his mother’s death, back at the house, when Conor scans through the photos on the wall, we see the image of Liam Neeson (voice of the Monster) holding her when she was a young girl for a second time, this could mean that he is her father and Conor’s grandfather.
Thoughts and Ponderances 