Wonder (2017) Full Movie
Dorian Aldrege
Wonder is a 2017 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Stephen Chbosky and written by Jack Thorne, Steven Conrad, and Chbosky. It is based on the 2012 novel of the same name by R. J. Palacio and stars Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, Jacob Tremblay, Noah Jupe, Izabela Vidovic, Bryce Gheisar, and Daveed Diggs.
The film, which follows a boy named August Pullman with Treacher Collins syndrome trying to fit in, was released in the United States on November 17, 2017, by Lionsgate. It received positive reviews from critics and audiences, with many praising Tremblay and Roberts' performances, Chbosky's direction, writing, musical score and faithfulness to Palacio's novel; the film was a box office success, grossing $306 million worldwide on a $20 million budget. At the 90th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. A spin-off sequel film, White Bird: A Wonder Story, will release in 2023, with Gheisar reprising his role.
August "Auggie" Pullman is a fifth-grade boy living in North River Heights in upper Manhattan. He has an extremely rare medical facial difference, which he refers to as "mandibulofacial dysostosis", which is likely Treacher Collins syndrome and a cleft palate. Due to numerous surgeries, Auggie had been home-schooled by his mother, but his parents decide to enroll him in Beecher Prep, a private school, for the start of middle school.
During Halloween, Auggie wears an old "Bleeding Scream" costume because his dog, Daisy, threw up on his "Boba Fett" costume. Unrecognized, he walks around school knowing he would not get bullied as his face is covered by the mask. When he reaches homeroom, he overhears his best friend Jack telling Auggie's bully Julian and his friends that he would "kill himself" if he looked like Auggie. Feeling hurt and betrayed by Jack, Auggie decides to quit school, but his older sister Olivia (also known as "Via" by her family), convinces him not to.
Auggie confides the incident to Summer and makes her promise not to tell anyone about the issue. Jack notices that Auggie has become quiet and distant; he asks Summer why, and though she won't divulge the secret, she says "ghost face" as a hint. At first, he isn't aware that Auggie heard what he said and believes that Auggie's just avoiding him for no reason, so Jack decides to avoid Auggie in retaliation. In December, however, Jack realizes Auggie had overheard what he said and realizes that he also heard Jack say he was pretending to be friends with him, leaving Jack shocked.
In science class, Auggie and Jack are assigned as partners for a project. When Julian asks the teacher if he could be Jack's partner instead, Jack declines. But when Julian calls Auggie a "freak," Jack punches Julian in the face leading to a fist fight. Mr. Brown and Ms. Petosa break up the fight, and as a result, Jack is suspended for two days for his actions. Knowing that Julian would get them both in trouble for bad-mouthing Auggie, Jack refuses to tell Mr. Tushman what happened. Jack sincerely apologizes to Auggie, saying he didn't mean to say the stuff he said about Auggie, and they become friends again.
During the rest of the school year, Auggie is bullied by Julian and his group. They begin to leave bullying notes on his desk and tape a class picture to his locker where Auggie is purposefully photoshopped out. When confronted, Julian's parents claim that they photoshopped Auggie out to make the photo look more presentable to guests. Julian's mother says that Auggie does not belong in Beecher Prep and claims that Julian has had nightmares as a result. Mr. Tushman decides to suspend Julian for two days despite his parents threatening to pull their funding from the school. Julian is suspended but expresses remorse and apologizes to Mr Tushman for bullying Auggie when he realizes that he'll lose all of his friends at his current school if he leaves. One night, Auggie accuses Via and their mom of lying to him and storms up to his room. A half-hour later, Via comes inside and tells Auggie that their mom is about to take their dog, Daisy, to the vet because she was sick and whimpering a lot. Later, Auggie's mom and dad came back and said Daisy had a tumor in her stomach and had to be put to sleep.
During a school trip to a nature reserve, when Auggie and Jack are attacked by seventh graders from another school, they are defended by several of Julian's friends. After their return to school, Auggie is generally more accepted by their fellow fifth graders.
At the year's end, at the graduation ceremony, Auggie is awarded the "Henry Ward Beecher Medal" which "honors students who have been notable or exemplary in certain areas throughout the school year." He gets a standing ovation, which inspires his precept for Mr. Browne, and goes back to his house for a party to celebrate. The movie ends with everyone (even Julian) clapping for Auggie and his mother commenting on him being a "wonder".
The movie version of Wonder, starring Owen Wilson and Julia Roberts, will be released on November 17, 2017. I hope your kids are able to read it before then. Although I don't think the movie will possibly be able to do this book justice, I'm taking my kids on opening weekend no matter what. I am going to hold out hope that the movie will be... Amazing!
Astonishingly, the creative team of Stephen Chbosky, Steve Conrad and Jack Thorne pulled off a miracle. They managed to translate most of the joy and power contained in Wonder's 315 pages to the big screen. Even more spectacular is the fact that they were able to do it without disappointing me.
I LOVED this book. It may even be my favorite non-scifi or fantasy book ever. For me, this movie had a huge responsibility. It had to avoid disrespecting it's source material. It owed that to the novel. Somehow, the film managed to not only respect the story, but enhance it.
The vast majority of the time, I do not enjoy movies based on books that I have read. I typically find that these movies feel "hollow" and incomplete. It is nearly impossible for a movie to include all of the essential details contained in a book. For example, I can't stand the first Harry Potter movie. The filmmakers nearly completely ignore Harry and Neville's relationship. Harry's treatment of Neville is one of the most important factors in establishing Harry as a hero. The one exception to this rule is The Lord of the Rings trilogy... and that is only because Peter Jackson spent almost 12 hours over three movies telling the incredible story.
Luckily, there happens to be a novel to give you more! I see this film as a companion to the book Wonder. Although you can truly enjoy each separately, I think the ultimate experience is to consume them together.
The movie manages to include enough detail to stay true to the story of the book. Although not every character is fleshed out as well as they are in the book, do not fear. Auggie, his parents and his sister are all done justice. Even though the same can not be said about all of the friends of the family, there is enough detail to make the audience understand these characters' importance. More importantly, the audience has enough information to allow them to like love these people.
I was very pleasantly surprised that the movie actually managed to improve on the book in some areas. In addition to the mother having a little added to her story, Auggie's imagination plays a major role. The writers and director took advantage of the visual medium and added some very clever, funny, and touching fantasy scenes. Star Wars fans will be especially pleased with some of these additions.
Hands down, my favorite upgrade was to Auggie's sister Via (played sensationally by Isabel Vidovic). In the book, Via was a great character... but she was not my favorite. After the scene portraying what Via does for her little brother on Halloween, she became one of my favorite characters of all time. If the writers' goal was to show the epitome of compassion, love, selflessness, and friendship, they should pat themselves on the back for a job well done. I will never forget that 120 seconds of movie magic. It was... amazing!
Halloween wasn't the only day Via was her little brother's hero. She was there for him every day. I dare you to watch this scene without getting choked up. I double dog dare you to watch it and not contemplate how you could be a better sibling or friend. I know I did. I hope my children did as well. Sometimes all it takes is a whisper... amazing!
Aside from a few of Auggie's classmates, the acting is incredible. Owen Wilson plays the funny yet loving dad perfectly. Normally, I can't stand Julia Roberts. In fact, when I saw she was in this movie, my heart sank. I am so happy that I was wrong. I actually liked her in this role and can not think of someone I would have rather had playing it. Isabel Vidovic's portrayal of Via propelled this character into my movie Hall of Fame. Jacob Tremblay as Auggie is simply wonderful. The movie was going to be made or broken on the strength of Auggie. Thank you young Mr. Tremblay for playing him as funny, strong, smart, and caring as he deserved. It was ... amazing!
When it comes to kids movies, emotion can be a mine field. Too much and parents need to deal with a blubbering mess all the way home. Not enough and the kids are bored and learn nothing from the film. But it is not enough to have the right amount of emotion. It takes true talent to pull off the amount of emotion required in this film. The true art is to stir a child's emotions... and then relieve them with some humor as fast as possible. That second piece is essential (I'm talking to you The Good Dinosaur which left my daughter a blubbering mess for days). Wonder has the perfect balance of emotion and humor. Notice I am writing "emotion" not "sadness". This is NOT a sad movie. It is a beautiful movie. It made my daughter cry "happy tears" (and by "daughter" I mean me). She and I were either near tears or in tears for almost the entire 113 minutes of runtime. Yet, we were also smiling for almost nearly as long. How can a movie make you cry and smile at the same time? You guessed it. It was... amazing!
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