Wonder (2017) – or why it didn’t work for me: not quite a review.

Wonder is about a young boy (Auggie) who has a facial deficiency. In short: he has, almost, no face; only scars. Yet, his mother enrols him to school because she realizes that a boy needs social contacts apart from his family. The movie follows his first year.

For starters (Spoiler):

what’s up with Owen Wilson and dead dogs?

As I wrote in the title this article isn’t a review per se. Rather it is a train of thought I had as I wondered why this movie didn’t truly struck a chord with me. I’m not heartless; I breathed heavily when the movie demanded it from me and I might even have shed a single tear - but only one.

At the end of Bridge to Terabithia I was pouring…

The reason for this I will try to explain here:

Feel good

Wonder is a ‘feel good’ movie. So, basically this movie wants as little obstacle in the way as possible to reach the happy ending. So, like Forrest Gump before it there is only a touch here and there that allows the viewer to understand the bigger picture.

In Forrest Gump it was Robin Wright balancing on a balcony and later dying of cancer. This was the darkness this movie brought. But since the movie was solely focussed on Forrest’s happy-going life this wasn’t a ‘big’ issue to trouble the viewer with.

It’s not like Forrest lost both his legs,

In fact, the gunshot he received and the following hospital physiotherapy was downplayed (in contrast to, e.g. Regarding Henry).

The same happens in Wonder. You don’t get to see the kid grow up realizing he is different. He already knows it the moment the movie starts. That way the movie is 'allowed' to downplay a lot of the horrible things that happen to him; since he already knows how to deal with most of them.

Some drama

But as Forrest Gump got shot so does our little hero encounter hardship along the way. His best friend betrays him and there’s a bully involved.

Since these are kids you can’t really blame them. Kids have a tendency to be stupid (even though adults have, certainly, taken up the challenge).

But these events are solved pretty much without any actions of our hero.

The best friend realizes what he did and the bully is caught by the adults. Auggie only has to ‘take’ the bad things happening to him and leave it up to the other characters to solve it. In short: The main character of Wonder goes throughout the movie without any conflict solved by him.

Which brings me to the main point I’m trying to make:
Doing nothing, apparently, brings virtue.

Without spoiling too much (it’s a feel good movie after all) Auggie gets a prize in the end (basically) for daring to attend school.

This, I must admit, is indeed a brave step for him. But not enough for me to make the movie interesting.

Also the movie stays well clear of any changes to the human psyche disfigurement has.
Our hero becomes a ‘Jesus figure’- without any faults.

Wonder could have been an intriguing tale about a disfigured boy recognizing his own weaknesses as he tries to make social contact. Instead the movie offers a ‘fallen hero without any conquest’ who has other people fight for him.

Even Harry Potter knew that it was Neville who should win the House Cup instead of Harry.

And a bit of a review

Wonder is a greatly acted showpiece. Owen, Julia, Jacob Tremblay and the rest of the child actors are perfectly fine as the best friends and bullies. Tremblay especially is great as the hero of our story (even though I can’t wait for his high-pitched voice to break) who shines through his magnificent make-up. It is, however, the story that pulls this movie down.

So that’s where the movie fails for me. It’s a great movie with wonderful scenes and acting, But, in the end, Wonder fails to deliver on the one thing it (to me) set out to do: to tell the story of a disfigured boy carving his place in the prejudice world. No, other people carved it for him and he got a prize for ‘simply being in’ it. Almost there, but no.