Sometimes the world of film critics and Oscar pundits inadvertently sabotage a movie that really could be considered a Best Picture contender. I remember Jeff Wells talking about it really early on but getting shut down by people who said it wasn’t good enough. And maybe, to them, it isn’t. But an A+ is a pretty great sign that it will be well liked and make a lot of money, is moving, well written and well acted.
Someone asked me if I thought Julia Roberts could get a supporting nod if the film somehow makes it into Best Picture. The answer is: I don’t know. It feels a little late. The movie doesn’t have any kind of aggressive campaign and in the Oscar race you really have to demand your place in line and work to keep it (provided the film is good enough).
But it seems to me that rumors of this film’s chances have been off base. I do think a film like this could make it in if it landed with the right people at the right time. Then again, how many movies starring children can be in the Best Picture race in a given year? With The Florida Project being the right kind of gritty for the critics, can Wonder get any kind of traction too? The Oscars are forever caught between rewarding films the public likes and rewarding films the critics approve of. Lately, the critics have been winning that war. But it never hurts the whole Oscar industry to include a film the actual ticket buyers have seen and loved. Just saying.
For Wonder to get in, roughly 100 to 150 people would have to say that movie is the best film of the year. Maybe some will. Maybe they won’t like the films they’ve seen so far and this will be the one that zooms ahead of all of the others. Coming in late like this is tough any film. Usually if Scorsese, Eastwood, Spielberg or Tarantino are attached they can overcome the late entry problem. Still, you just never know.
Here’s David Edelstein on Wonder:
On The X-Files, Fox Mulder had a poster of an alien spaceship with the words, “I Want to Believe.” I wouldn’t mind having a Wonder poster with the same phrase. I want to believe that people can be good, if not instinctively good, then by following the right examples, or even through shame at doing bad. Perhaps I’ve overpraised Wonder, but as a wise man once said, “When given a choice between being right and being kind, choose kind.”
Even grumpy Glenn Kenny liked it, making it a critics pick and writing:
Directed by Stephen Chbosky, who wrote the screenplay with Steve Conrad and Jack Thorne, the movie has a cast that’s wonderful from top to bottom. As Auggie’s parents, Ms. Roberts and Mr. Wilson are doing things we love to see those actors doing. (Ms. Roberts lets loose with her trademark ebullient laugh at least once, and Mr. Wilson explains life’s issues to Auggie in a droll drawl.) All the young people in the ensemble, anchored by Mr. Tremblay’s Auggie, are perfect.
“Wonder” is that rare thing, a family picture that moves and amuses while never overtly pandering. Mr. Chbosky’s 2012 feature, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” split the difference between the sentimental heart-tugging associated with more standard Hollywood fare, and the intelligence and intimacy often associated with independent films. He accomplishes something very similar, and equally worthwhile, here.
More reviews here. As for me, I know that there won’t be anything left of my face if I dare watch this movie. It will all have melted off in a waterfall of salty mom tears.