Staying true to style Woody captures life and wonderment in its own amusement park holding strong acting, excellent script with great camera work.
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fran-6591northstar5 March 2019
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dierregi13 February 2018Winslet is Ginny a flawed woman who keeps sabotaging her life. Her story unfolds in the 50's, but not in the cozy and warm environment of Radio Days.
This is a tragedy of almost epic proportions, as hinted by mentions of O'Neil and Shakespeare. The tragedy of a woman, pushed by the circumstances to act in a despicable way.
Surely we always have a choice to behave fairly, but given our flaws, would we really take it?
Ginny feels trapped: she is married with drunkard Humpty, has a sh***y job and a pyromanica son from the previous, failed marriage. The only ray of sunshine is her affair with the younger Mickey.
She dreams of moving in with Mickey, although it is not clear what would happen to her job and her son - but we gather that at least dumping the husband for more pleasant company would be welcomed.
Enters Carolina, Humpty's daughter, and all of Ginny's dreams are shattered. Carolina was married to a gangster and is now a marked woman seeking an hiding place. Inevitably, Caro falls for Mickey setting Ginny's jealousy in motion.
The story does not work well from the gangster's angle. Real gangsters would have checked Humpty's house more carefully and, once discovered the lies, would have eliminated the whole family.
But the focus here is Ginny's story and Winslet delivers. Excellent photography and soundtrack, too. -
boblipton9 December 2017These days, even the college-educated don't recognize the classics. Spike Lee can film LYSISTRATA, but so long as he moves it to Chicago and calls it CHI-RAQ, no one makes the connection. Instead, they complain that he is slandering Chicago. Well, no doubt, that's what the municipal authorities said about Aristophanes at the time. In this movie, Juno Temple flees from her mobster husband to take refuge with her alcoholic father, James Belushi, and step-mother, Kate Winslett and her pyromaniac son from her first marriage; they've got marginal jobs. The story is told from the viewpoint of Justin Timberlake, who spent the war in the navy. Now he's a lifeguard, studying to be a playwright, conducting an affair with Miss Winslett and falling in love with Miss Temple.
Woody Allen's script makes several references to Eugene O'Neill, and were they living on Nantucket and complaining about how their lives were ruined because the father had made too much money playing the Count of Monte Cristo to attend to his art, everyone would recognize this as LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT. However, Mr. Allen has set it in the neighborhood he grew up in and made the fact that they're so broke they're living in a bankrupt freak show house an important plot point, so this will either be overlooked or seen as blasphemy.
This is one of Mr. Allen's serious movies. I join the general population in not being as fond of those as the ones that make me laugh out loud. Yet I take a good deal of pleasure in his recreation of 1950s Coney Island (although his "Greenwich Village hovel" is remarkably clean for the era) and his clear-eyed vision of a world, now vanished, that existed more surely than the one I live in now sometimes seems to. -
garyhammerma10 December 2017Is this a masterpiece in the canon of Woody Allen films? No. Is it a solidly entertaining experience that's worth a couple hours of your time and the price of admission? Absolutely. Kate Winslet, Jim Belushi, and Juno Temple all turn in excellent performances. While Justin Timberlake is hampered by some awkward, stilted dialogue, he has some shining moments as well. The plot is engaging and unpredictable, and the setting and soundtrack are stylish and pure Allen. Yes, the story line has some flaws and derivative elements--and I think the film could have benefited from some more aggressive editing--but it is wholly inaccurate to dismiss it as an abysmal piece of garbage, as so many critics seem eager to do. It's clear to me that some critics have allowed their distaste for Allen's personal missteps to color their view of this film, and that's unfair not only to Allen but also to the rest of the cast and crew, not to mention the public.
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In Coney Island, in the 50´s, the thirty-nine year-old waitress Ginny (Kate Winslet) is a former aspirant actress married with the carousel operator Humpty (Jim Belushi) in an unhappy marriage. She has a problematic son from her first marriage, the arsonist boy Richie. She is a frustrated woman that is having a love affair with the younger lifeguard Mickey (Justin Timberlake), who is an aspirant writer. When Humpty´s estranged daughter Carolina (Juno Temple) arrives in Coney Island seeking for shelter from her husband, who is a gangster, Humpty learns that Carolina has denounced him to the police and now he wants to kill her. Humpty lodges Carolina at home, affecting their lives.
"Wonder Wheel" is a dramatic unconventional romance by Woody Allen with a storyline of shattered dreams, unrequited love, jealousy and betrayal. The performance of Kate Winslet is top notch and Juno Temple, Jim Belushi and Justin Timberlake have also great performances. They all perform human characters very well developed. The film looks like a play, with few locations, but the cinematography is beautiful. The stylish soundtrack follows Woody Allen high-standard. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Roda Gigante" ("Ferris Wheel") -
AlsExGal25 December 2022...from Amazon Studios and writer-director Woody Allen. In 1950's Coney Island, former wouldbe actress and current waitress Ginny (Kate Winslet) is unhappily married to occasionally violent carousel operator Humpty (Jim Belushi). Ginny's son (Jack Gore) from her first marriage is a budding pyromaniac, and she's also having an affair with aspiring writer and current lifeguard Mickey (Justin Timberlake). Their routine is upended when Humpty's daughter Carolina (Juno Temple) shows up on their doorstep, looking for a place to hide out from her gangster husband who wants her dead for talking to the cops. Carolina catches the eye of Mickey, and Ginny starts to spiral out of control.
Allen does a pastiche of Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams, with sad, desperate characters looking for meaning in their lives. But at least Allen isn't shy about admitting his inspirations, as a character in the film gives the collected works of O'Neill as a gift. Winslet is good, although I had to grow into her performance, which is big and broad. This is one of the first times that I've seen her playing a woman worried about her age (she's turning 40 in the film; Winslet was 41 or 42 when they filmed it). Belushi is another name for the list of performers I never expected to see in a Woody Allen movie, but he fits his role perfectly. Pop singer Timberlake also acquits himself well. If it all doesn't add up to a lot in the end, it's still enough of an interesting character study to be worth a view, as is the colorful, evocative cinematography by Vittorio Storaro. -
Horst_In_Translation14 January 2018"Wonder Wheel" is a new American movie that runs for 100 minutes roughly and it is the newest effort by Oscar winner Woody Allen as writer and director and as locations are always crucial in his works, here he pays tribute to his hometown (home city?) New York, or, to be more specific, to Coney Island. Actually his next work is also about New York. But back to this one here: The film is hitting European cinemas these days and you will find several cast members in here who are somewhat big names, most of all Kate Winslet, but also Timberlake, Belushi, Temple and a few more. This award-winning film is really all Winslet's film though and the longer it goes, the more you will find her character at the center of it all. Even the scenes with Timberlake's character talking to the audience vanish completely eventually, which is kinda nice as they added nothing and were as forgettable as Timberlake's performance itself. If you compare Belushi to Timberlake, you will see that one held his own next to Winslet pretty well and the other not so much. All in all, it was a solid watch. On some occasions, you will find Allen's great attention to detail, like the two inclusions of Bora Bora, while other parts felt a bit shoddy and rushed, especially how JT's character all out of nowhere eventually sees through all Winslet's character did. It did not seem too realistic and how Allen has characters get away with much worse crimes in other films, it was surprising how he had it all solved in here. There is an increasing tendency of the crime component in his works, even if it is never graphic or anything, just implied like the disappearance of Temple's character for this one here. Winslet's character sure is among the more interesting I have come across this year and I am a bit surprised she did not get too much awards attention for her role here. It may have to do with the weak critical reception for the film itself. But it wasn't that bad overall really, even if the title may not have been the best choice.
There is situational comedy here and there, a lot of it coming from a young boy with an unhealthy obsession with (setting) fire, but the humor here is not as frequent or maybe even as dark as in other Allen films. This one is definitely more of a family/relationship drama than anything else and then the crime and comedy components follow in second. Really, you never get an Allen film without the crime component these days, but I'm fine with it. All in all, it was a success, even if it definitely wasn't as good as his brilliant recent film starring Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone. Maybe the script as a whole was not on par with Allen's attention to detail that is still really convincing and I'm sure you will find something new and intriguing on third, fourth and fifth watch. Temple and especially Timberlake didn't impress me either, so other casting could have been favorable too. Still, if you like Kate Winslet as much as I do, then this one really deserves to be seen, is almost a must-see in my opinion. And please don't follow the advice of people telling you not to watch it because of decisions made by Allen concerning his personal life. Don't strip yourself of seeing a quality film for such reasons. It would be a bad decision. Watching this one is the right decision and I am positive you will enjoy it. The characters have interesting shades and you really don't need to find them likable to enjoy the watch as a whole. Thumbs up. Go see it. -
peggynight11 December 2017I love that Woody is still making movies. And I really hang out for them. I was hoping there was one in the wings and this took me by surprise. See it for the little Woody there is in it but...
Unfortunately, it was quite painful to watch. Some of the acting was fine, but they were struggling to deliver a story that went nowhere, contained very little if any of Woody's sparkling wit, and had Justin Timberlake attempting to cut it with real actors. Ordinarily Woody's casting is impeccable, but... JT?? I was thinking OK, I'll give him a chance, but no.
The typical, period music (which I usually love) even seemed tired and uninspired. -
lucaajmone-it9 January 2018Kate Winslet gifts us with another extraordinary creation. She gives the Wonder Wheel its heart and soul. Complex, contradictory, infuriating and deeply human. Kate Winslet goes to the epicenter of her character with fearlessness and honesty. Such a wonderful thing to see. I was reminded that acting , this kind of acting, is pure art. There are at least four moments of hers that I know that I'm going to see again and again. I'm not going to to tell you what they are so you can find them yourself without notice. I was puzzled and a bit put off by the casting of Jim Belushi and Justin Timberlake. Not that they are bad no but Kate Winslet is the personification of truth so when you cut from her to Belushi and/or Timberlake is a bit of a jolt. Am I missing something? I thought that in the 40's it could have been, Bette Davis, Eugene Pallette as the husband and Errol Flynn as the writer/lifeguard. Okay enough of that. I will highly recommend to all lovers of great acting not to miss Kate Winslet in Wonder Wheel..
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Good to see kate winslet finally in a role that has snatched every aspect of her acting ability successfully. Earlier in October i saw the movie " Mountain between Us" in the hope that after a long time i will be able to see something good from kate. But you all know it was disappointing. So at the start i was not so much positive about kate in this movie. But soon i realize she has done a descent job as a wife of carousel operator, as a secret lover of a lifeguard and a opposition of a teenage love mind seeking the same man for love.
Apart from kate other actors and actresses has also done well. The plot set against an Amusement park in Coney Island is real good and it has got good depth in both writing and executing emotions from them.
The time of the plot was in 1950.Always like to see those past times,their existing fashions, motions,life styles,thoughts and backgrounds in films.
Over all a good drama or thriiler you can say that has ability to capture you and your thoughts. Only faults can be said are it is not a fast movie with lot of incidents happening rather it is a movie of friction between minds with a descent angle where you will slowly sink into the moving waves of it. -
jvanderkay13 December 2017This film is terrible. Unbelievable dialogue, flat characters, hokey plot. I felt very sorry for the actors -- even Justin Timberlake, who had the worst assignment (breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to the camera). They tried so hard (maybe sometimes too hard, to overcome the awful script) but it was in vain. Woody Allen should retire quietly from public and professional life, if this is the best he can do these days.
The look was nice, I have to say. and some of the old tunes on the soundtrack were great. But the many repetitions of one particular song were just too much. I hope I never hear it again. -
Wonder Wheel is NOT Woody Allen's best film, it is a bit underdeveloped and has a major casting flaw, but it IS his best film in many years. I think his best films overall are Crimes and Misdemeanors, Hannah and Her Sisters, and Interiors.
I am not a big fan of Blue Jasmine or Midnight in Paris, but I do think that both are decent films in some ways. Blue Jasmine was close to being great, but for me that film was histrionic in a way that I found uncaring, cold, heartless and even mocking in the treatment of Cate Blanchett's character Jasmine. Blanchett was wonderful in the role, but the audience was told to laugh AT her and not with her - and that I found to be a serious flaw in that film. To borrow from that film's obvious inspiration, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE - "deliberate cruelty is not forgivable!" - and I think Allen was cruel to his flawed protagonist whether he intended it or not.
In Wonder Wheel, Allen borrows obviously from O'Neil and Tennessee Williams, but puts his own dramatic twists to it. This film has humorous elements, but it is absolutely a drama and in my opinion his best drama in over 20 years.
The film starts off a bit clunky for the first few minutes, but if you give it your attention and get past the awkward Justin Timberlake intro, you will soon be engrossed in the characters, the set-up, and ultimately rewarded with a very honest exploration of DEEP PERSONAL DISAPPOINTMENT, jealousy, self-delusion and evil deception. Sound fun? Amazingly, the tragic lead character is actually very fun to watch, but you do feel sympathy for her despite the fact that she is her own worst enemy and in many ways the enemies of others, too. The character development of Ginny (Kate Winslet) is the best thing about the film. She is one of Woody Allen's most interesting creations in his entire career. She is absolutely a tragic character - NOT the hot mess rip off of Blue Jasmine that many critics are claiming! Ginny is a much richer, more sophisticated character, and Kate Winslet plays her with agonizing honesty. This is one of the top performances in Winslet's entire career, which says a lot. Belushi and Juno Temple are very good, too.
The film's biggest flaw is Justin Timberlake. He's not a bad actor, but he is very miscast here. He lacks the charisma for this particular character, and it doesn't help that his character is presented to the audience with a distracting storytelling device - talking directly to the audience as narrator. This movie would have been much better without that, and I wish Allen would have either made the lifeguard more humorous, or taken a sharper turn and made him more cunning. He was neither - too safely written AND portrayed, and it is the film's most obvious and main flaw, sadly.
However, Kate Winslet is utterly captivating and you cannot take your eyes off her. There are many wonderful moments where she reveals Ginny in such sublime ways, in such subtle ways, that the louder moments have greater impact because really see and feel all sides to this tragic, very sad woman. My favorite scene in the film involved Winslet and Temple in a bedroom, just the two of them. The scene was completely breathtaking - and one of Allen's most superb moments in his career. Winslet takes this scene to a level of brilliance, and I don't think I will ever forget how it made me feel. It was shockingly naked and I felt like I was watching an emotional porno with Ginny baring all to the audience while at the same time concealing all and deceiving the character sitting next to her. An amazing achievement in writing and acting there, highlighted by brilliant cinematography.
Vittorio Storaro deserves tremendous credit for his extraordinary cinematography, particularly in the scene mentioned above. Together, he and Winslet have enriched Allen's latest film to a much higher glory that it would have otherwise achieved. The script is underdeveloped in areas, particularly pertaining to the lifeguard Mickey (Timberlake) and in a few other areas as well. That being said, this is otherwise a very good film, and in some moments it is a brilliant film.
The current wave of sexual politics sweeping over Hollywood at the moment has resulted in Allen being swept up, yet again, in sexual controversy. Based on facts made public long ago, Allen does not belong in that category, in my opinion. I believe him and I do not believe Dylan Farrow or Mia Farrow. I believe Dylan was coerced as a child by her vengeful mother, and as an adult continues to believe the lie that was fed to her. I believe the results of Woody Allen's voluntary polygraph test, I believe the findings of the court that found no evidence of wrong doing on his part, and I believe the timing of Mia Farrow's claim against him make it almost impossible to believe her story. I think her motive to destroy his life and career is obvious.
I also think that in a few years time, after Allen is gone, the slew of critics who have trashed this film so unfairly, with such mob-driven, cowardly political blinders on, will look back with embarrassment when they realize it is a very personal and sophisticated drama and will probably one day be seen as Allen's best late-career film. -
stubbytate-3617421 July 2018I won't regale you with the plot - too many reviewers have accomplished that already with massive grace and style. I will say the story itself has a wonderful premise. The acting was superb and I was quite enjoying the interactions and complexities.
But, that being said, this ending was a bit too much for me and was so disappointing that it made the rest of the story....forgettable. I cannot get the ending out of my head. -
ferguson-67 December 2017Greetings again from the darkness. It's worth saying again – Woody Allen (age 82), regardless of what you think of him personally, is remarkable in his ability to create, write and direct a new movie each and every year. That being said, after watching his latest, it should be noted that he is the one filmmaker who really shouldn't ever write a story with a step-daughter as a character especially if romance is involved. Sometimes we just can't separate the art from the artist, no matter how hard we try.
The setting is Coney Island in the 1950's, and our narrator is a lifeguard recounting the 'one summer' story of a carousel operator, his beaten-down (and beaten-up) wife, and a surprise visit from the husband's adult daughter. The lifeguard is Mickey, a dreamer and would-be writer played by Justin Timberlake. The carousel operator is known as Humpty and is an alcoholic lout played by Jim Belushi, while his wife Ginny, disillusioned that life has crushed her dreams, is played by Kate Winslet. Humpty's daughter Carolina is on the run from her mobster husband, and seems to cause trouble without really trying. She is played by Juno Temple. Ginny's young son Richie (Jack Gore) also lives with them. He is a pyromaniac and movie fanatic – two pastimes effective at avoiding school.
Director Allen utilizes a beautiful color palette combined with nostalgic sounds and music to create a look that he then blends with a story and performances that seem to intentionally knock-off Tennessee Williams. Belushi, Timblerake and Winslet in particular come across as overly-theatrical in their approach to heavy dialogue – these characters are defined by what they say, not what they do.
Ginny plots to keep Humpty off the booze, so he doesn't hit her; all the while, she is sneaking off to enjoy the talents of a young lifeguard who lacks the fortitude to prevent her from falling too hard. Humpty is thrilled for a do-over with Carolina and reverts to treating her as his little girl despite the mob contract lingering over her head. It's impossible to miss the similarities between the redheaded Richie and young Alvy from Mr. Allen's classic ANNIE HALL (who described living under the Cyclone).
As Ginny half-efforts parenting her troubled young son, she also juggles the guilt she carries from cheating on her first husband. Simultaneously, Mickey the lifeguard starts falling for Carolina, as the mobsters close in. Periodically Woody flashes his writing brilliance, as in this exchange between Carolina and Mickey: She says, "You've been around the world", and he responds, "Yeah, but you've been around the block." So despite the look and feel of nostalgia, the themes are timeless cheating and abusive spouse, disillusioned adults, and youngsters dreaming of a better future.
The too-often blustery dialogue syncs with the too-often over- acting, yet cinematographer Vittorio Storaro (winner of 3 Oscars – APOCALYPSE NOW, REDS, THE LAST EMPEROR) keeps things visually appealing throughout. The only "quiet" moments occur as Richie is lighting yet another fire. Recurring issues of migraines, booze, stress, moodiness, and rain are prevalent, and perhaps the saving grace is that we are left singing Jo Stafford's "You Belong to Me". -
drednm9 January 2018WONDER WHEEL iss a big surprise. After reading several sour reviews, I wasn't expecting much but Kate Winslet is terrific, the story is quite good, and the look of the film (luscious cinematography by Vittorio Storaro and production design by the always underrated Santo Loquasto) is fascinating.
Story has Winslet unhappily married (to Jim Belushi) and working in a clam house on Coney Island in the 1950s. She meets a lifeguard (Justin Timberlake) and embarks on a doomed love affair with him just as Belushi's daughter (Juno Temple) from a previous marriage returns after her marriage to a gangster has failed. It's sort of a Blanche du Bois meets Eugene O'Neill plot with a twist of the Sopranos.
Everyone is good but Winslet certainly steals the show. The 1950s Coney Island is something to see, and Winslet's house, practically under the giant Wonder Wheel, is awash is garish lights from the ride. Scenes move from orange to blue to red hues. Quite fascinating. Oh, and Winslet has a strange son from a previous marriage. For me this is Allen's best since BLUE JASMINE.
It's such a treat to see good actors actually getting to act in long, uncut scenes and without the camera whipping around and edited into 10-second info-bytes. The soundtrack includes a terrific number by the Mills Brothers I don't think I've ever heard before: "Coney Island Washboard."
Kate Winslet is outstanding, Jim Belushi and Juno Temple are very good, and Justin Timberlake is better than I expected. Great film from a great American filmmaker: Woody Allen. -
Brooklyn's Coney Island represents unbridled fun but is also a metaphor for the fickleness of the American Dream. The promise of happiness calls out from behind facades of colour and bright lights but offers too brief respite from the harsh realities of life. Woody Allen's Wonder Wheel (2017) uses this tension between appearances and reality in almost every scene.
Set in the 1950s, a messy plot is overlaid with a nostalgic recreation of the noisy atmosphere of Brooklyn's fun fair that is run by social fringe-dwellers with spent dreams. Short-tempered Humpty (Jim Belushi) barely makes a living running the carousel wheel and lives with wife Ginny (Kate Winslett) in a cramped first floor apartment that was once a freak show gallery. The spectacle and noise of the carnival is a constant backdrop to the claustrophobic space that feels like a cage for prowling primates. Humpty struggles to stay off the booze while Ginny is a tormented soul in her loveless marriage. She lives out the memories of her abandoned acting career through a melodramatic affair with lifeguard Mickey (Justin Timberlake), the wannabe scriptwriter and know- all narrator who is always telling us how to interpret the story. Humpty's estranged 25-year old daughter Carolina (Juno Temple) arrives, fleeing from the mob after talking to the FBI and needs a place to hide. She falls for Mickey and Ginny falls apart, but not before she stumbles onto a callous but perfectly undetectable scheme for murder.
Wonder Wheel has all the hallmarks of classic early American theatrical melodrama: the apartment set is designed around semi-enclosed stage rooms and the acting style is hyper-dramatized. It is heavy with dialogue and prolonged monologues that feel as if the film is trying hard to tell rather than show. Humpty's temper tantrums are repetitive, Mickey's pretentious narration is irritatingly self-indulgent and Ginny's self-conscious and over-cooked ramblings become wearying. Like her budding pyromaniac son from her first marriage, she tries to crash and burn the things she hates in life without giving the audience a reason to care. She is desperate to play one of the oldest roles in theatre: the older woman who thwarts her rival for romance, runs away with the younger man, and is set free from her mid-life identity chains. But after the fun of Coney Island, reality must return and the wheel of life keeps spinning.
If you are a fan of theatre the performances might please but as cinema it feels forced. The script, dialogue, and characters are unconvincing, although the filming and period sets are excellent. While Kate Winslet's performance is over-stylised it is memorable for its intensity. In the Weinstein/Trump climate, Woody Allen's work is being shunned by many, but that is not why Wonder Wheel is struggling critically. Simply put, it is far from his best work. -
Woody Allen often is an interesting and insightful director, whose films regardless of how they come off overall look great, have great soundtracks and he often knows how to get strong performances out of actors, at his best his writing was a fine mix of the hilarious, the poignantly dramatic and the thought-provoking.
Allen's glory days were in the late 60s through to the early 90s, with the 70s and 80s (which saw masterpieces like 'Annie Hall', 'Crimes and Misdemeanours', 'Hannah and Her Sisters', 'Radio Days' and 'Manhattan' for example) being particularly good decades. From mid-90s onwards he became hit and miss, with the odd gem like 'Midnight in Paris' and 'Blue Jasmine' but generally his glory days are long gone.
As far as his films from the 2010s decade go, 'Midnight in Paris' and 'Blue Jasmine' are vastly superior, but 'Wonder Wheel' does fare much better than 'You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger" and particularly 'To Rome With Love'. It isn't great and doesn't quite have enough wonder, far from being one of Allen's best, but it is not terrible, much better than critics have said it to be and is a long way from being one of Allen's worst. In terms of ranking, it's somewhere around low-middling.
'Wonder Wheel's' biggest selling point is the cinematography, which is truly magnificent. Every shot takes the breath away and bathed in rich vivid colours. The setting is also beautiful. The soundtrack also is an ideal fit, giving a real sense of period as well as being a wonderful soundtrack on its own.
Some of the writing is poignant and thought-provoking (this is a serious Allen effort so there is very little in the humour department), succeeding in not making things too black and white, good and bad, every character has flaws while having enough that stops us from hating them too much (or at least that's my stance and perhaps not a popular one).
The story did maintain interest, didn't come over as dull to me and thematically and characterisation-wise it's a long way from simple, pretty heavy themes handled seriously. Allen directs nicely and efficiently enough and the relationships intrigue. Most of the performances are good. Astounding in Kate Winslet's case, inhabiting her way in a way that's both intense and moving. James Belushi similarly excels in an atypically serious role for him and Juno Temple is luminous.
Justin Timberlake however is far less successful. Have to agree with those who found him miscast and out of place, he also came over as annoying and badly overdid the neurotic aspects of his character in a film where generally the neuroses were overdone. He suffers from the worst of the dialogue too, as said there is enough evidence of good writing elsewhere but some of it is also unnatural and over-heated.
Like the script, the storytelling is uneven too. Enough of it is poignant, thought-provoking and insightful, other parts (too many) are overwritten melodrama that doesn't quite come together and there is as noted elsewhere a staginess that is not going to connect with some because it doesn't allow the drama to fully expand.
Other than Timberlake's performance, the other biggest problem is the ending. Another instance of one that's far too inconclusive and like Allen didn't know how to end it, plot points were begging for resolution and were instead left hanging in the air or too ambiguous.
In conclusion, didn't work entirely for me, which is disappointing for an Allen film, but not a bad film by any stretch with a good deal to recommend (especially the cinematography and Winslet). 6/10 Bethany Cox -
walther-4681222 July 2021This movie was not one of Woody Allen's best but woody's worst movies are better than most of the offal being produced by Hollywood today.
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bkrauser-81-31106425 December 2017"Oh, spare me the bad melodrama." Kate Winslet's character lights a cigarette, striking a pose against the neon like a skirted Revlon doll. Justin Timberlake's Coney Island lifeguard and self-described romantic stands mortified. As does the audience but not for the reasons director/writer Woody Allen might have hoped for when he first penned his newest film Wonder Wheel. For by the time Kate Winslet barks that nakedly obvious line, I half wanted to shout back "ditto". I didn't, for the sake of the other two people in the theater watching this overcooked trainwreck but something tells me they were thinking the same thing too.
Wonder Wheel sucks. It is, in this writer's opinion the first abject failure in Woody Allen's impressive 48 year repertoire. Not just a disappointment, not just a simple misfire, not just a below-average comedy that tries and fails to garner a constant stream of laughs, a la Anything Else (2003) or Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001). No this thing is a certified stinker. An arch, cloying, overwrought, and callous melodrama that took the worst instincts of Edward Albee and Tennessee Williams and blunted them until every aspect of the script resembled a high school dramatist's idea of truth and consequence.
Thing is I've been a longtime Woody Allen apologist (only in respect to his work as a filmmaker just to make that clear). I've admired his work since a teen. I admit his late period work isn't as transformative as his early comedies and mid-period dramedies, yet I always claimed up until this point that Allen has never made a terrible film. Now it is seems I must eat crow.
Wonder Wheel is a kitchen sink drama concerning a middle-aged carousel operator named Humpty (Belushi) and his despondent second wife Ginny (Winslet). Their life of mundane anonymity is made topsy-turvy with the unexpected arrival of Carolina (Temple), Humpty's daughter from his first marriage. Formerly a gangster's wife, Carolina now finds herself penniless and on the run after turning informant. Meanwhile, Mickey (Timberlake) and attractive young lifeguard finds himself orbiting around Ginny and Carolina; becoming an inadvertent catalyst to brewing resentments and jealousies.
Much of what you'd expect from a Woody Allen joint is written into the margins. Timberlake fills in as the neurotic, well-read writer/bulls**t artist balancing two women, Winslet swings for the cheap seats as the woman scorned and Belushi tips the scales as a blue collar palooka that chafes harshly against the stories loftier ambitions. Yet everything about Wonder Wheel feels just the slightest bit off. The characters, what they feel, what they go through and what they say is stilted and artificial - echoes of other better stories told with more conviction. Since there's no real tension from the film's crime element, we basically see these broadly drawn caricatures ramble, spew and sit; nary a plot point around to offer up conclusions.
With nothing really to grab onto, no unifying themes or layered characterizations, everyone involved is more or less on their own up on the screen. In order of success: cinematographer Vittorio Storaro does a wondrous job painting this dinky little stage play with the right amount of light and color. His use of natural overcast, soft tones and neon combined with optimal digital photography served as the only tool with which most emotion was amplified. Kate Winslet also manages to more or less walk away from this mess unscathed thanks to the power of one hell of an Ethel Merman impression. Finally, while some may find Juno Temple to be far too dollish and innocent as the world-traveled gangster's wife, it is fair to assume she does her best based on what is written.
But of course for every carefully set frame there's a Jim Belushi or a Justin Timberlake lumbering about, mucking up the machinery. Belushi's character especially seems especially thin, sounding at times like a dude playing Boatswain at Summer Stock and somehow managing to bungle his lines. Timberlake on the other hand simply exudes smugness. Every time he waxes poetically about Hamlet and fanes passively about his apartment in Greenwich Village he sounds like a college aged Jordan Belfort who just discovered the cliffnotes version of "The Iceman Cometh".
Wonder Wheel is the equivalent of having old furniture being bequeathed to you by long-gone grandparents. Sure it looks nice but everything about it is outmoded, creaky and reeking of mothballs. It's blunt, obvious, boring, and melodramatic and lacking nearly all the wit we've come to expect from such an affair. This one is a hard one to say no to, it really is, but believe me when I tell you Wonder Wheel is worst case scenario Woody Allen (artistically speaking). -
Alexander_Blanchett14 January 2018I liked it. Its not a perfect film but surely not as bad as many people make it out to be. And i judge the art of the artist and not the artist himself. Its a strong drama which just like Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine" centers around a woman who is trapped in an unhappy life and on the verge of a breakdown. Kate Winslet plays that woman wonderfully and gives one of her strongest performances in ages. Her voice, her expressions, everything was top notch and what the character needed. A very interesting turn. Jim Belushi also gives a very strong performance with many different facettes, its hard not to like him even though he is unlikeable in many ways. For Belushi it is new theretory as he is rather used to funny roles, while this one was rather a serious attempt. Juno Temple was fine but did not do anything outstanding. Justin Timberlake is the weak link of the film. Totally miscast. I really did not buy his performance at all. Him and the ending, which left too many open questions and strings, were the weaker parts of the film.Also some of the lighting was a bit off or even over the top. It surely is not Woody Allen's strongest film but one of his better of the decade. The whole look and feel of Corny Island of the 50s was pitch perfect as well.
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Quinoa198424 May 2018I can see coming to this a bit later why it got some negative reviews and didn't do well with audiences: our main character here (as seen through the eyes of lifeguard Justin Timberlake), as played by Kate Winslet, is a miserable person. I don't know how much of that translated as her being just unhappy or that her misery turned her so much into being unlikable that it turned off audiences. It's certainly not an easy movie to take in that regard, as Ginny is not someone who is only in a loveless marriage (that may be arguable too as Jim Belushi's character has love for her, just not much on the return side), or with a hopeless kid (who is a pyro, which I'll get to in a moment), but who's dreams were completely dashed for... one of those ordinary, hard-knock lives that, well, we all leave. I think if Woody Allen had tried to present this script to Brian Cox in ADAPTATION he'd have been yelled at and forced out of his class.
While Ginny is unhappy and ultimately does some bad things (one that she can never walk back from even if she tried), I think it was wise for Allen to cast Kate Winslet. Like Cate Blanchett a couple years ago in Blue Jasmine, this is a BIG character in how she projects herself, only her delusions of grandeur only come out when she isn't quite so unhappy around the Timberlake character. She wanted to be an actress but had to give it up, as so many of us give up the things we want to be or strive for, to... marry and have a kid (though a former husband/lover is alluded to as well). On top of this, the whole surrounding I think has to be deliberate; set this movie on a regular street corner and it wouldn't have the same pop. Here, there may be a suggestion of the carnival going on with the setting on Coney Island - Allen channeling Fellini and other giant-emotional Italian filmmakers but on a different level - as there's all this fun around everyone and yet life is the continuous struggle it always is, and compounded by that.
But back to Winslet, there's something about her as a presence on screen where you instinctively want to feel sympathy for her, and her star quality lends itself to that (maybe Allen was aiming for a sort of Joan Crawford thing here too, I can't be sure). I think with someone else, it would be much more difficult to watch what Ginny does and becomes her, the decisions she makes with this "poetic" lifeguard, and that the tone is SO theatrical. The lighting reflects this too, as Storaro in some scenes will change the lighting as if it were on stage, as characters like Ginny talk about something and it becomes redder or bluer or more orange or white. The setting helps to accentuate this, and I liked that aspect of it. And along with Winslet, Belushi, Temple and Timberlake are playing to the balcony.
Again, I can see why this doesn't work for a lot of people. There were times watching it when I thought it was going TOO big even within the context Allen had set up. And it's not exactly the newest kind of ground for Allen (though in full disclosure, infidelity dramas are like catnip for me). But I still felt engaged because the writing of them was interesting, and I found it fascinating how Allen was navigating this look and feel that was hyper-realistic, of the color scheme being so bright and popping out like out of a selection of postcards from the era, and yet having dialog that attempts at least to stay in realism... except when monologues come flying and the theatrical comes around again.
And Ginny's son fits in as a running-gag as metaphor; no matter what traditional punishment comes (spanking) or in psychological ways (therapy), the kid will continue to burn things because the fire is... something that's tangible, I suppose (love doesn't seem to be there at any rate - do we ever see Ginny actually show affection for her son? Doesn't seem like it to me, with the migranes and self-involvement).
I'm not sure it all works, but enough of it did, plus the performances, that I'd put it in the category (like Cafe Society) as a very strong minor work (or a decent major one). -
nikatnyte29 December 2017I normally enjoy even Woody Allen's lesser films, but this one was painful. It was as if he scribbled the plot down on a napkin and let that serve as the shooting script. As a result we have absurdly one-dimensional characters, laughably self-conscious dialogue and scenes that go on for WAY too long.
What makes it doubly frustrating is that there are good actors in this one. Poor Kate Winslet tries her best to breathe some believability into her one-note character, but fails (anyone would). The last scene, in which she has something of a Blanche DuBois breakdown, is very hard to watch. Jim Belushi and Juno Temple are similarly impressive in doing the best they can with their cardboard-thin roles.
Justin Timberlake is probably the most irritating, playing a Woody Allen stand-in, a pseudo-intellectual who wants to write 'meaningful' plays. Why is he breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to the audience? It makes no sense. Neither does the character of Winslet's son. Okay, he's a pyromaniac. Is that supposed to be funny?
I throw my hands up with this one. Woody, please make an effort next time. -
filmmekker5 December 2017I've noticed the critics who have panned this film always mention the alleged off screen 'crimes' that Mia Farrow has made it a second career to spread. Don't be fooled by those critics. This is a great, engrossing film. The performances are uniformly wonderful especially Kate Winslett. If she isn't at least nominated for an Oscar for this performance, the malice many feel for the writer/ director can only be blamed. The cinematography is beautiful as well.
What a great achievement for Woody Allen, to put out such a great film at the age of 81. He's a remarkable artist. -
Prismark105 December 2018Woody Allen has three things going for him in Wonder Wheel. A barnstorming performance from Kate Winslet. She is like a mixture of Norma Desmond and Blanche Dubois. Terrific cinematography by Vittorio Storaro. Allen frames the film like a stage play. Further cementing its roots to Tennessee Williams or Eugene O'Neill.
Set in 1950s Coney Island. Carolina (Juno Temple) married a mobster at the age of 20 years of age despite her father's warnings. Caroline did not want a safe and colourless man. She wanted excitement and danger.
Carolina found danger alright, she is on the run from the mob as she has talked too much to the police. She goes back to her father Humpty (Jim Belushi) who runs a carousel in Coney Island.
Humpty was lost when Carolina ran away as his wife also died. He met and married Ginny (Kate Winslet) who has a son Richie from her first husband. Richie has behavioural problems, he keeps skipping school and sets fires to things.
Ginny was an actress, her first marriage fell apart as she cheated on her husband. Now she is unhappily married to Humpty who can be violent when drunk and she works as a waitress, a job that she hates.
Neurotic, drinking on the sly, popping pills, hating where she works, lives. Ginny finds solace from young lifeguard Mickey (Justin Timberlake) who she is having an affair with. He has travelled the world, read books and is a bit of a dreamer. Mickey gives Ginny a good time and plans to have a better time when he later meets Carolina.
Wonder Wheel is about damaged people. There is very little comedy. It is an intense and dark drama that becomes grimmer. A flawed film by Woody Allen, I did think the screenplay was undercooked.
Humpty should had sent Carolina away, there was no way she could remain safe in Coney Island. The danger became more acute when two gangsters came to talk to Humpty.
At the end the story is about insecure, unstable, selfish, deluded Ginny. You just know she does not deserve any happiness. -
davidklarsen28 November 2017This movie is a twisted piece of garbage. It takes place at Coney Island where everyone works. Despite great performances from Kate Winslet, Jim Belushi,and Juno Temple, there is no point or redeeming value in this film. Just a bunch of muddled garbage. Not intelligent at all. SPOILER ALERT. Ginny(Kate), has an affair with Mickey(Justin) despite being married to Humpty(Jim). She's had affairs in the past she regrets and now has a brat kid that sets fires. Carolina(Juno), is Humpty's daughter. She shows up at Humpty's house after a five year absence because she ran away with a mobster and broke her fathers heart. Now the Mob is looking for her. Mikey also like Carolina but does not have an affair with her. Of course Ginny finds out and is jealous. The mob eventually shows up. Ginny has a chance to save Carolina but hangs up the phone rather than warn her. The mob wipes out Carolina. Mikey finds out what Ginny did. He leaves. Humpty gets drunk and fights with Ginny. He apologizes and says he can't live with her. Ginny is stuck again. End of Garbage. What's the point?