The Glass Castle (2017)

A young girl comes of age in a dysfunctional family of nonconformist nomads with a mother who's an eccentric artist and an alcoholic father who would stir the children's imagination with hope as a distraction to their poverty.

Director:

Destin Daniel Cretton

Writers:

Destin Daniel Cretton (screenplay by), Andrew Lanham (screenplay by)

Stars:

Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson, Naomi Watts

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brie Larson	...	Jeannette
Woody Harrelson	...	Rex
Naomi Watts	...	Rose Mary
Ella Anderson	...	Young Jeannette
Chandler Head	...	Youngest Jeannette
Max Greenfield	...	David
Josh Caras	...	Brian
Charlie Shotwell	...	Young Brian
Iain Armitage	...	Youngest Brian
Sarah Snook	...	Lori
Sadie Sink	...	Young Lori
Olivia Kate Rice	...	Youngest Lori
Brigette Lundy-Paine	...	Maureen
Shree Crooks	...	Young Maureen (as Shree Grace Crooks)
Eden Grace Redfield	...	Youngest Maureen

Storyline

A young woman reflects on her unconventional upbringing at the hands of her artsy, nonconformist parents, which sometimes resulted in the family living in poverty. Now married to a man who works in finance in New York, she faces criticism from her parents that she's betrayed their values..

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Plot Keywords:

restaurant | painting | hospital | alcoholic | funeral | 

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Taglines:

Find beauty in the struggle.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic content involving family dysfunction, and for some language and smoking

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Instagram

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 August 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

El castillo de cristal

Filming Locations:

Welch, West Virginia, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,678,548, 13 August 2017, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$17,273,059, 12 October 2017

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$9,764,032, 20 August 2017

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lionsgate, Netter Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sadie Sink, having already been a vegetarian, became a vegan after being inspired by Woody Harrelson and his family, with whom she became very close.

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Goofs

When Rex and Jeannette are looking at the stars in the middle of the night, she chooses one and he says it is Venus. Not possible because Venus is only seen in the early morning in the east, or early evening in the west.

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Quotes

Rex: What does an investment banker use as birth control? His personality.

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Connections

Referenced in Midnight Screenings: Tulip Fever (2017)

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Soundtracks

My World
Written by Donnie Owens (as Donald Owens) and Waylon Jennings
Performed by Waylon Jennings
Courtesy of Fervor Records

User Reviews

An indie beauty: powerful acting with a dysfunctional family.

"Your values are all confused." Rex (Woody Harrelson)

Fortunate we all are to have families that dysfunction in even small ways because they provide us with stories for a lifetime. Such is writer/director Destin Daniel Cretton's The Glass Castle, a story based on Jeannette Wells's (Brie Larson) family, overloaded by a dad, Rex,whose outsized personality, big brain, and capacity for booze dominates the four children through their adult years.

The commendable element infused by writers Cretton and Andrew Lanham is the realism enfolding odd characters, where bad things happen when dad drinks and kids have to forage for food while dad shrinks their little lives as he drinks. Having no food for days is not unusual for the Wells family, due to dad's drinking up their meager holdings. However, the kids learn how to survive, a commendable achievement in a dependent world, even in later 20th century.

Jeannette's and Rex's relationship is the ballast of this sometimes surreal film; artist mother Rose Mary (Naomi Watts) is too busy painting to be bothered with their hunger or dad's ranting. Jeannette's early accident with the stove is a visceral reminder that the bohemian life can hold some dangerous consequences.

Yet Rose's artistry is probably a source for Jeannette's writing excellence as dad's verbal fluidity is. Although he's the smartest man his daughter ever knew, he just doesn't stop talking. The film very smartly lets us see the dark and light sides of the characters, not unbefitting a West Virginia where talking is like breathing—colorful and crass but you have to do it to survive.

The central motif of the title is the glass castle Rex hoped to build, an energy efficient beauty with glass all around to let Nature in without letting the rough invade. Well, it never gets built, and the world does intrude. Happy for us because it's a great story, just like our own.

While the reconciliation at the end seems too neatly tied up, most of the film has a grit to remind us that although family is not always fair, it may be the best life has to offer.