Stephen Chboksy’s Wonder (2017) is based on R.J.Palacio’s
best-selling children’s novel of the same name. It tells the story of a tween
boy named August Pullman (aka Auggie), who was born with facial deformity, a rare congenital condition that’s termed as ‘Treacher Collins
Syndrome’. The film opens with Auggie’s sharp voice-over remarking, “I know I'm
not an ordinary kid…ordinary kids don't make other ordinary kids run away
screaming in playgrounds. I know ordinary kids don't get stared at wherever
they go….I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's
probably worse.” Throughout this opening voice-over Auggie hides his face
within astronaut’s helmet. A little later when the face is revealed, we, like
the many strangers Auggie faces, stare at him which is involuntarily accompanied
by feelings of pity. And the make-up design by Arjen Tuiten plus the little CGI
tweaks perfectly brings alive Auggie’s face, aligning finely with readers’
imagination of the boy’s face. Soon, we get to look past the face, pulled-in by
‘Room’ fame Jacob Tremblay’s heart-warming performance.
RJ Palacio’s novel became a YA phenomenon. It’s an
unapologetically sentimental work about the essential and powerful nature of
kindness. Director Stephen Chboksy, who himself has written a successful YA
novel and filmed it (Perks of Being A Wallflower), mostly understands how to
get to the heart of the story without yielding to emotional falsity. When the
film starts Auggie’s parents (Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson) decide to enroll
him in fifth grade. Having been home-schooled his entire life, the boy must now
to prepare himself for facing a larger audience – a setting that’s guaranteed
to be cruel. “It's like leading a lamb to the slaughter,” says Auggie’s cool,
friendly dad. But mom feels it is time for him to go into the world and try to
fend for himself. The boy is also reluctant to give up the kid-sized NASA space
helmet he uses to deflect stares in the street. Still, to struggle and win over
the new setting of bullying and thoughtless behavior, Auggie has to take off
without the comfort of the helmet.
Wonder does contains couple of moments or more where it
takes shortcuts to squeeze out emotions. But the larger part of narrative
boasts a level-headed attitude and a big heart. With a running time close to
two hours, Wonder might make viewers wonder about the humdrum of sticking to
affluent ten year old’s perspective, even though he has an extraordinary heart.
Thankfully, staying true to the novel’s tone, screenwriters Jack Thorne, Steve
Conrad, and Chbosky weaves the story through the viewpoint of multiple
characters, bringing to surface distinctly individualistic problems that are
invisible when looked from the other side. This jumping narrative structure
doesn’t work as perfectly as in the novel format. However, this approach makes
‘Wonder’ a whole-hearted family tale than just exhibiting the troubles and
aspirations of Auggie.
Although Jacob Tremblay’s intuitive acting skills and 90
minute make-up application occupies a great place in the film’s marketing
campaign, the other very interesting aspect of Wonder is Izabela Vidovic, who plays
Olivia Pullman, 15 year old sister of Auggie. Olivia is the ‘normal’ kid, but
she has also put up with feelings of being an invisible child. As she bitter-sweetly
states, ‘family revolves around the son’. In a conventional narrative
trajectory, Olivia would be acting out or gain grim sense of satisfaction by
being nasty to Auggie. But here the caring, average teenager copes with life’s
challenges in a genuine, organic manner. We think her decision to conceal
Auggie’s existence from the boyfriend would lead to some dramatic confrontation
later. What ensues is much more poignant and naturalistic. Izabela shows how a
performance could remain equally arresting by just being nice and kind enough. Usually
in the films pushed under ‘feel-good’ or ‘inspirational’ category, the
secondary characters simply remain as a device or a caricature to help boost
the central character. Interestingly, in Wonder, the omnipresent earnestness to
understand others’ problems makes it a cut above those overtly sentimental
works.
Not every plot point and character decision in Wonder is
precisely calibrated to manipulate our emotions. The big touching moments
happen in a more organic manner. Take Auggie’s reconciliation with his friend
Jack Will (Noah Jupe) over a game of mine-craft or Auggie’s reaction to the
death of their family’s beloved dog Daisy or Auggie’s first fight in the
wilderness camp, those pivotal moments are handled in a understated and
restrained manner. Olivia’s instantly great performance in the play or Auggie’s
surprising award truly comes off as sure-fire sequences conceived to exploit
viewers’ sentiments. And it exactly does that, although the good all-around
performances didn’t keep me from shedding joyous tears in those emotionally manipulative
scenarios. If there is a weakening factor in Wonder, then it must be its
near-obsession in displaying that everything turned good for everyone. The very
real problems like stress and money are largely absent in the narrative.
Despite feeling for Auggie and his family, the very minimal exploration of the
parents’ mental and financial strain and their unfaltering behavior simply
keeps them as angelic creatures (irrespective of the dynamic presence of Julia
Roberts and Owen Wilson). Stephen Chbosky’s uneven pacing plus his penchant for
hitting few emotional notes too hard (for eg, the totally unnecessary scene
featuring the grandma) also dissipates some of the narrative’s cuddly warmth.
Nevertheless, the core story’s themes of compassion, tolerance, and kindness
stay intact to ring out its commendable message.
Trailer
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