(Mary Cybulski/Amazon Studios and Roadside Attractions)
The latest from director Todd Haynes (Carol) invites us to see the world through the wonder-filled eyes of children. But its most effective moment strikes when an adult (Julianne Moore) gets tears in her eyes.
Based on the novel by Brian Selznick (who adapted his book for the screenplay), Wonderstruck follows two runaway children, 50 years apart.
The story of Ben (Oakes Fegley) begins in rural Minnesota in 1977. Ben mourns the recent death of his mother (Michelle Williams), and after discovering among her possessions an antiquated book called Wonderstruck, about the Museum of Natural History, he runs away to New York. The story of Rose (Millicent Simmonds) takes place in 1927. She is starstruck with silent movie actress Lillian Mayhew (Moore) and runs away to New York (just a ferry-ride away) to find her.
Both children are deaf (Ben from a recent accident, Rose from birth), and what they can’t hear from the people around them parallels the information that Haynes and Selznick choose to withhold. What we can’t hear, or can’t know, the filmmakers seem to suggest, fuels our curiosity much as it does in the young and wonder-struck.
Selznick’s novel distinguished the threads with a blend of prose and illustrations. Haynes depicts Rose’s story in black and white with intertitles, while Ben’s quest is in color—a color that takes considerable advantage of ’70s New York fashion. But although we see Rose watching an uncanny impersonation of a silent-era melodrama, the depiction of 1927 New York is less convincing, and the score from the usually reliable Carter Burwell pumps up the wonder too cloyingly.
Even if the 1927 thread were more convincing, the shifting time period keeps us at a distance from both children, and it becomes difficult to engage with their plight.
Wonderstruck doesn’t really click until the final act, which, not coincidentally, is when the fractured narratives finally unite. By then, though, you wish the filmmakers had come up with a way to unfracture the whole thing.
What grounds the movie is another effective performance from Haynes regular Julianne Moore, who was perfect in Safe, by far his strongest conventional narrative. The reliable actress manages to take root in this flimsy dramatic structure, and the movie wouldn’t work at all if she hadn’t pulled off her key role.
Wonderstruck at times seems like a summation of Haynes’ previous films. The fractured narrative suggests I’m Not There, miniature models recall Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, a nostalgic gauze evokes Far From Heaven and Carol; there’s even a faint echo of Velvet Goldmine in the film’s closing scene. Unfortunately, its awkward structure keeps the viewer from being wonderstruck for a good 90 minutes. The last half hour may be worth it, especially to fans of Haynes and Julianne Moore. But the rest of you may wonder what else you could see.
WONDERSTRUCK
Directed by Todd Haynes
Written by Brian Selznick, based on his novel.
With Oakes Fegley, Julianne Moore, Michelle WIlliams, Millicent SImmonds
Rated PG for thematic elements and smoking
117 minutes
Opens today at Landmark E Street Cinema, Landmark Bethesda Row, AMC Shirlington, and Angelika Mosaic.
