Movie #1559 "Wonderstruck" I had heard wonderful things about this film before seeing it, so I was expecting it to be much better than it turned out to be --- in fact, it was a disappointment to me. Yes, it has a good ending ( but one that many people could figure out before seeing it, as I did) , but the getting there is drawn out, slowly paced, and not very smooth from one timeline to the next. Hats off to some of the edits being quite creative and smooth, but they were few and far between. When I think back to this film, I remember long discussions with characters taking time to write out most of the dialogue that is being told from one person to the next ---- I totally understand why, but I kept thinking, isn't there another way? --- do BOTH characters have to be hard of hearing? Yes, it makes the film stand out more, since it is more a silent film than a "talkie." And yes it ties the two kids together even though they live in two timelines, but I really don't think that having the boy hard of hearing was a necessity because it slowed down the story so much --- and it took away from the deaf girl's story, to me. I could be alone in this attitude, but that's how I felt. Now, it also could be because I am truly an audial person --- even when watching t.v. or some films, I rely on the spoken word, the sounds in the film, the music, Because this film does not rely on those elements, it didn't grab me at the beginning --- I thought the acting was weak and the script clunky in opening; in fact, I spent my time watching the great Michelle Williams trying to get this character across in a short amount of time and with very little dialogue to help her -- add to that, a rather weak delivery from her counterpart in the scene, the little boy. So the film didn't pull me in from the get go --- the story I really followed moreso is the little deaf girl --- her point of view, the subjective camera on what SHE sees and how she interprets the world was very intriguing to me, but that story kept getting interrupted by the other one, so it was hard to keep engaged ---- anyway, I wouldn't recommend this film (critics liked it better than audiences according to some websites) --- it is pretty, it tries to be different by depending on sound & visuals rather than dialogue, but the story drags --- the pay off is good, and the sets and costumes (NYC 1927 and 1977) are nifty, and those are what I enjoyed a lot as the story slogged along. 3 out of 5 stars
"WONDERSTRUCK" 1 HOUR AND 57 MINS 2017 PG
Based on the novel of the same name, this period drama unspools two tales that play out 50 years apart. In 1927, a girl runs away to New York City to meet the actress she idolizes, while in 1977, a boy travels to the Big Apple find his long-lost dad.
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