directed by Stephen Chbosky
written by Chbosky, Steve Conrad and Jack Thorne, based on the novel by R.J. Palacio
These days we find ourselves living in nasty times, with so much unpleasantness greeting us every single day, every moment we open a newspaper or turn on the news. While most of the movies I watch are a welcome escape from the drudgery of everyday existence, with their fantastical worlds and characters that can overcome all adversity with their gumption and, occasionally, their super powers, it's not often that I watch a movie about completely ordinary people that is so comprehensively enthralling that it just overwhelms me with how life-affirming it is. One such movie was the 1994 masterpiece The Shawshank Redemption, and anyone who has seen Frank Darabont's prison drama will know the magnitude of the intended compliment when I say that the new film Wonder is similar in its emotional impact.
August "Auggie" Pullman (Jacob Tremblay) is, for the most part, just like many other American ten-year-olds. He loves science, computer games and Star Wars, he has a loving family in his parents Isabelle (Julia Roberts) and Nate (Owen Wilson) and his big sister Via (Izabel Vidovic), and he's about to start middle school after having been home-schooled his whole life by his mom. The only problem is that the reason that his family has kept him away from the outside world for so long is that a birth defect has left him with prominent facial disfigurement, even after multiple surgeries have been performed on him to basically build his face. When he arrives at his new school he meets some nice people, like Principal Tushman (Mandy Pantinkin), and homeroom teacher Mr. Browne (Daveed Diggs), but as expected, he runs into a very unpleasant bully named Julian (Bryce Gheisar) who makes his life a living hell. Fortunately, even amidst these tribulations, Auggie is still able to connect with some kids Jack Will (Noah Jupe) and Summer (Millie Davis), but even that may not be enough to drown out the sheer meanness of Julian and his cronies. Through it all, Auggie, for the love of his parents, does his best to make his new situation work, and it all comes down to whether the people who surround Auggie will choose to be kind or cruel to him.
Given the film's subject matter, a highly-affecting, much-beloved young adult novel, it would have been easy enough to lay the sentimentality on thick with elements like an overbearing orchestral score and lots of weepy moments. Julia Roberts may be fifty, but she did star in Steel Magnolias nearly 30 years ago, so she knows her way around a good tearjerker. It all would have made perfect sense; Auggie is the ultimate outcast, after all.
Stephen Chbosky, however, goes for a surprisingly nuanced approach, one in which nearly every pivotal character, even the initially unsympathetic ones, gets a little slice of the narrative. As difficult as Auggie's life may be, he's not the only one with problems, and this little nugget of truth is best exemplified in his sister Via's narrative arc, in which she feels abandoned by her best friend Miranda (Danielle Rose Russell) who, in turn, has a sad story of her own. Jack Will, the boy whom Auggie befriends, has his own little story before they even meet. It's a remarkable technique that one usually only sees in English ensemble pieces, but Chbosky uses it to remarkable effect here, and it works well because he coaxes solid performances from every one of his actors, including his child actors, especially Trembay, who works harder than anyone else through heavy prosthetics. Julia Roberts, the biggest star in this movie by a long shot, restores quite a bit of the luster she lost of over the years, and demonstrates that she's got quite a bit of shelf-life left. Isabelle's reaction when Auggie walks out of school with a new friend, something that catches her completely off-guard, is priceless. Star Wars characters Chewbacca and Darth Sidious make hilarious and highly effective cameos.
Make no mistake, though, this film still goes for the broad moments; music still swells when it needs to, there are moments of agony and of redemption. It does jerk tears. More importantly, the film makes a clear and unequivocal statement about the virtues of kindness and the evils of bullying, and in this day and age, when heads of state are known for being petulant bullies, it is perhaps more relevant now than ever as it seeks to convey its needed message to those who need to hear it the most: children of all ages.
10/10
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