The Death & Life of John F. Donovan(2019)

Name: The Death & Life of John F. Donovan
Director: Xavier Dolan
Genre: Drama
Released: Aug 23, 2019
Cast: Kit Harington, Natalie Portman, Jacob Tremblay

Entertainment One

R
Rated R for language throughout and some sexual material
2h 3m
- Drama

Release Date: Aug 23, 2019

A decade after the death of an American television star, a young actor reminisces about the written correspondence he shared with him, as well as the impact those letters had on both their lives.

Official Website

Release Details

Original Release | Aug 23, 2019 | Limited

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Box Office Results

Results

Opening Weekend US & Canada:
$33,340
Total US & Canada:
$152,713
Total International
$3,173,651
Total Worldwide:
$3,326,364

Current Showtimes

orround

Wed Sep 2
Thu Sep 3
Fri Sep 4
Sat Sep 5
Sun Sep 6
Mon Sep 7
Tue Sep 8

Director & Top Cast

Xavier Dolan
Director

Kit Harington
John F. Donovan

Natalie Portman
Sam Turner

Jacob Tremblay
Rupert Turner

Technical Specifications

Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: Canada, United Kingdom

Language: English,Czech,French

Summaries

Storyline

Just before she is to head to Václav Havel Airport to catch a flight, political journalist Audrey Newhouse is given a last minute assignment in Prague by her editor: to interview actor Rupert Turner about his just released book which covers his years long correspondence with fellow actor John F. Donovan, who passed away approximately ten years ago from a drug overdose, with John and Rupert never having met despite that correspondence. At the time of the correspondence, John, a generation older, was an established star on television, he a series' lead portraying a mortal superhero of sorts, while Rupert was an adolescent/preteen schoolchild, he and his single mother at the time having moved overseas to Harrow in Metropolitan London. It was also a correspondence which neither John or Rupert had mentioned to anyone else until several years into it, those on Rupert's side of the story incredulous as to the authenticity of his claims, he already bullied at school which only increased because of it. It is an assignment that Audrey does not much want in not having read the book, in not being a "fluff" entertainment reporter, and believing, what little she knows of the book, Rupert, and John, the book itself a vanity piece for self-promotion. As Rupert tells his and John's respective stories, much of the latter from needing to read between the lines of the correspondence and knowing what happened to John, and the seeming parallels between the two letter writers a generation in age apart, Rupert tries to convince Audrey of the importance of the book, not only for himself as he saw the correspondence as saving him, but to others who may read it. — Huggo