Author: JMcNaughton

“Wonder Wheel” is a new movie from Woody Allen full of drama and dialogue, Allen’s favorite topics. However, in this case the drama is weak and the dialogue is ponderous and overblown. Woody Allen is not devoid of talent, but in this case, he seems to have misplaced his writing skills. They were replaced with a first-year college student attempt at writing ‘serious’ drama. The story is very slim and the characters are two-dimensional at best. The actors are giving it their best shot, but it’s hard to make an impact with such light-weight material.

In 1950 at Coney Island, there is a large Ferris wheel ride called (strangely enough) “Wonder Wheel”. Ginny (Kate Winslet) is a failed actress with a young son, and her first husband left her. She is now married to Humpty (Jim Belushi), an easy-going guy who works at the merry-go-round in the amusement park. Humpty and Ginny, who works as a waitress at a bar in the park, both live with her son in a tiny apartment next to the Wonder Wheel. They have little money, and things are usually tense between them. But it is about to get worse.

Humpty has a grown daughter from his first marriage, named Carolina (Juno Temple). She had left and gotten married to a gangster, and Humpty was not pleased. But her marriage went bad, and she left the mob life, and then talked with the FBI. Carolina is now a marked woman, and she is being chased by some thugs who want to kill her. But Carolina goes back to the one place that she knows will have someone to take her in. She goes back to Humpty and his meager life. But she will now share a space with Humpty and Ginny and her son, and this makes everyone feel on edge. She also has dangerous thugs coming after her, so everyone is also very nervous.

Ginny destroyed her first marriage by being unfaithful, and she is again falling into this same pattern this time. She is sneaking away to make time to be with Mickey (Justin Timberlake). He is a grad student and works as a summer lifeguard in the park. Mickey also acts a narrator during the entire movie, which makes his character seem even more awkward. He talks a good game to Ginny, so much so that she thinks he is truly in love with her. Mickey then meets Carolina, so his infatuation is torn between the two women. Ginny is furious and makes several bad decisions that will affect everyone involved.

There are numerous loose ends and unanswered plot points. Ginny takes a lot of money that Humpty had saved, and she spent it on Mikey. Ginny’s son has a habit of starting fires and causing destruction. Ginny’s first husband was a drummer and she was an actress, but all of these things are mentioned and appear to have some deeper meaning. But nothing becomes of any of the things that get mentioned and discussed. So why bring any of these up at all? No answer…

There is something very odd about the screen images at some points. There are times when the screen is awash in a garish reddish-orange color, but it slowly turns into a dark blue tint. Sometimes a character is in a harsh bright light, and then other times when they are hidden in shadow and darkness. Part of this is supposed to reflect living under the lights of the Ferris wheel next door. But it is not a good look for the movie. The characters are subject to a weird pattern of lighting that does not look realistic.

The screenplay is a major sticking point. The dialog seems very ‘theater’ based, and not so much prepared for a cinematic experience. The script feels very full of high ideals and expectations. But it fails to deliver on any of it. There is talk of metaphors and allusions to great theater works, but it just shows how weak this story line is compared to those major works. The actors are doing a admirable job putting their best effort into the movie. However, the result is off-the-mark because the story and the dialog lets them down. Woody Allen has made some very memorable movies. This is not one of those movies.

Coney Island is probably a great place to visit in real life. The actual Wonder Wheel looks very impressive and must be a fun ride. But the Woody Allen treatment of “Wonder Wheel” is not all that good. His version goes around and around, but it never gets you anywhere. This one from Allen is not worth the ride.

“Wonder” is based on a popular book by the same name that deals with a young boy with a severely deformed face. Due to some genetic trait, the youngster was born with many medial issues and has undergone 27 surgeries to make him inch toward being normal. He has a close-knit family, with a loving mother and father a slightly older sister. His world is about to radically change, because mom will no longer home-school the boy and he will attend fifth grade with all other kids his age. It will be a world of ‘Wonder’.

Auggie Pullman (Jacob Tremblay) is the boy with a medically-corrected face and a huge heart. Isabel (Julia Roberts) is his mom and will no longer put her life on hold to home-school Auggie. She was close to getting a Master’s degree and wants to pursue that once more. His dad, Nate (Owen Wilson) is always very supportive, but he knows to let mom have her way. His sister Olivia (Izabela Vidovic) – called Via – is about to start high school. So, there are many changes in the Pullman household.

Auggie is very shy and awkward with people that he meets. They usually stare at him because of his face, and knows it make them uncomfortable. He tries to downplay that it makes him feel a little weird about himself, because he wants to expand his world. He normally loves to run around with a space helmet and pretend he is an astronaut, because that makes him feel better. But when he goes to school, he will need to fend for himself. He meets the principal named Mr. Tushman (Mandy Patinkin). There is also a kid in his class that seems to like him named Jack Will (Noah Jupe). But there will also be some people there who will snub Auggie and some who will bully him.

The movie follows the school year for Auggie and for Via. They both have some challenges, but then they both meet some new good friends. For Auggie, there is the new routine of a middle-school, and for Via it is learning to branch out into theater and a new romance. Their time in school has its ups and downs, but with help from mom and dad, they seem to work out the issues. There is a school play, a science fair, an overnight field trip – all the usual things to school-age kids. The most troubling event that happens is when the family dog gets ill.

Each of the main characters gets a little mini-chapter in the movie, where they get to tell more of what they think of the whole thing. It works out ok for most of the characters, even when it retreads a couple of scenes over and over (from a different perspective). There is no great revelation, other than to choose to ‘be kind’.  There are some valiant attempts to give this movie more meaning than just a different type of kid that goes to a new school.

But this resembles the 1985 movie “Mask” which was a true story of a young boy with a similar problem. That movie did a good job to make an awkward kid feel ok about a facial deformity. It turned out to be very popular and won quite a few awards. So perhaps “Wonder” is destined to join in that exclusive club. But it will all depend on the acting and the story. In this case, the acting is superb, but the story is very ho-hum.

Jacob Tremblay and Noah Jupe (in a smaller role) are both incredibly good in their roles. Tremblay has the added weight of facial prosthetics to give him the look of Auggie. But they are terrific in this movie and make a very good impression. Izabela Vidovic as Via also does a great job to play the sister that tends to be ignored by mom and dad always giving time to the younger, sicker brother. Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson do a fine job as the mom and dad, but their story is not one that is front and center. Mandy Patinkin plays his role like a favorite uncle at a family reunion.

The biggest issue is that there is not all that much going on. The movie stretches over a year period, but the characters do not seem to grow at all. There is no big hurdle to get over, nor any major issue to tackle. It is all just there, going on from one day to the next. The level of bullying is not all that major, and the difficulties adjusting to the new school come and go quickly. So there is not any tension built up or any big outcome that you look forward to…

The movie “Last Flag Flying” is a somber reflection of the human costs of war, and it just happens to have a wild and raucous fun side. It deals with the start of the Iraq war, when a man loses a son in combat, but then calls on old Viet Nam war buddies to help him out. The result is a quiet declaration that war is never good, but that the military way of life is required (and preferred) in a dangerous world. And that patriotism is more than flying flags, it is being ready to defend your way of live and your beliefs.

Larry “Doc” Shepherd (Steve Carell) seeks out an old friend in Portsmouth named Sal Nealon (Bryan Cranston). Sal runs a run-down bar and grill (with no grill). They both served in Viet Nam many years ago. There is some unspoken reason that Doc spent a couple of years in the brig. But they brush that off and go to find one other pal from that old war. Richard Mueller (Laurence Fishburne) is now a Baptist pastor and is happily married. When they were back in the war zone, the former Marines were not holy, but a Holy Terror.

Doc reveals that his reason to seek out his buddies is that could help him bury his son. Larry Jr. was also a new Marine who went over to Iraq in 2003, but he returned in a military casket. Doc needs the help of Sal and Mueller so that he can cope with the loss of his only son. Also, on top of that is the death of his wife earlier that year. So, the aging crew gets on the road to travel first to Arlington, then to Dover – to where his son is delivered from overseas.

They meet a young Marine named Washington (J. Quinton Johnson) who was a close friend of Larry Jr. and he tells them how he was killed. Doc refuses to have his son buried in Arlington, instead he wants to transport his body to his home in New Hampshire. The initial thought is to rent a U-Haul truck, and that has limited success. The Marine corporal in charge will help in getting the body and casket to Doc’s hometown. But he ordered Washington to take the train and stay with the old fogeys and with the casket as a moving Honor Guard.

There is not a huge action-packed sequence that happens, and most activity happens in cars, trucks and trains. But the amazing thing to watch is not the events or action, but the perfectly cast actors in each role. They each have a very distinct character and they interact with a wit and sparkle that brings each to life. The old war dogs have a deep secret that they eventually talk about, and they do everything that they can to right an old wrong.

All the acting of Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston and Laurence Fishburne is excellent. Cranston has the most frantic and watchable role. But Carell does an incredible job with the role as a broken man. Fishburne is a middle-ground of dignity and reason between the other actors. They have a very observable way of making the old friends who have not met in over twenty years look believable and natural. Also, Richard Linklater style of direction fits the story well, as it flows and meanders to the conclusion.

This movie will not ask you to stand up and cheer for foreign wars, whether they be in the South Asian Pacific or in the Middle East. It will ask you to silently bow your head to honor those whom have made great sacrifices to ensure America’s freedom. Hoorah…