One of the most underrated films of the 2010s was Destin Daniel Cretton’s Short Term 12 – a brilliantly acted, hugely emotional look at the foster care system that helped introduce us to the talented Brie Larson. Four years later, Cretton and Larson have teamed up again, this time to bring Jeannette Walls’ critically acclaimed memoir, The Glass Castle, to the big screen. The results? Well, Cretton’s an undeniably talented director, but there is a certain ingredient found in Short Term 12 that is missing here.
There are few, if any, memoirs released in recent years that would lend themselves so easily to a cinematic adaptation than The Glass Castle. Walls spent much of her childhood running from tax collectors with her nontraditional parents, and Cretton brings her incredible story to the screen with three of the best actors working today: Larson, Woody Harrelson, and Naomi Watts. Set in 1989, the film shows Walls as a young, engaged journalist living in New York City who suddenly comes into contact with her parents, who are squatting in an abandoned apartment, after an extended period of estrangement. As Walls tries to determine whether she wants to connect with her parents again, we see flashbacks to her childhood, showing how her alternative upbringing often walked the tightrope between eccentric and abusive.
As Walls, Larson delivers another strong, layered performance – but her work feels more like a supporting part here. Instead, much of the spotlight seems to be placed on Woody Harrelson, who steps into the shoes of Rex Walls, an alcoholic who took his children on the road as he avoided paying his considerable debts and failed to hold down a job. Harrelson finds the middle ground necessary to play a man who loves his kids, but is unknowingly hurting them. Harrelson is likable enough to make his character more than a one-dimensional villain, but absolutely kills the darker moments. While Harrelson has become a reliable character actor, his work here is his most challenging film performance since The Messenger in 2009, if not The People vs. Larry Flynt more than 20 years ago. Naomi Watts also delivers a solid performance, along with the many child actors that make up the Walls family, but Harrelson is the reason to watch.
When a film explores complicated father/daughter relationships, as well as heart-wrenching topics like alcoholism and child abuse, it’s easy for even the weakest director to play his audiences like an instrument. The Glass Castle is certainly guilty of falling back on the greatest hits of family dramas to pack an emotional punch. It’s hard not to have a reaction to countless scenes of traumatic childhood experiences, but many of the emotional beats feel lazy and expected. Where Short Term 12 has a sense of rawness to it that makes the film cut deep, The Glass Castle >feels, very much, like a movie that’s trying to pull at the heartstrings, and this transparency is not very impressive. That’s not to say the story isn’t impressive, or that the film isn’t well directed – it’s competently made and entertaining throughout. But its lack of sincerity prevents it from achieving greatness, and makes the ending ring false.
At its best moments, The Glass Castle is a well-acted example of Oscar bait with a terrific ensemble turning in commendable work. At its worst, the film feels like a by-the-numbers TV drama that somehow scored an exceptional cast. It’s easy to imagine The Glass Castle as, say, a Lifetime movie, with only the cast bringing the film up the A-list. With a less clichéd script, this could have been avoided.
