a WONDER musing

Based off its marketing, WONDER looked like a conventional inspirational tale about a boy with a facial deformity who overcomes hardships in school. To my pleasant surprise, this movie was so much more than that.

ROOM breakout Jacob Tremblay’s cute face is lost under the makeup, but his charisma and charm aren’t. The rest of the cast is rounded out by dependable character actors, with Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson turning in heartfelt performances as the parents, and (at most times) great younger actors. The sister and her teen friends do very solid work in some scenes, but give really awkward line readings sometimes, and the same can be said about the kids. It’s forgivable, though, because of the earnestness emanating through.

This movie really got me when “Via” popped on screen. Olivia (Izabela Vidovic) mentions in her voiceover that “Auggie is the sun, and my dad and mom and me are the planets orbiting the sun.” Expecting every minute to involve Auggie (Jacob Tremblay), I was more emotionally affected by seeing the effect on his family because of his deformity. Most people don’t have disabilities, but we all have dealt with someone who has been so unfortunate.

Because this movie looks at other perspectives rather than just Auggie’s, it becomes a unique story. There are so many characters and traits that we can all latch onto, and it coalesces into a beautiful movie. It’s not without its faults, though; the film feels too long, with a ‘climax’ at a school camp, and it can get too emotionally sappy. Otherwise, WONDER is a wonderful (sorry, you knew it was coming!), touching story that proves that it’s not that hard to be a good person.

RATING: BEST OF THE BEST

(Refer to my rating system HERE!)