At first Wonder Wheel seemed like almost a cliche of a Woody Allen movie. Semi wooden acting from a bygone time, but slowly the picture starts to form and you get sucked into it ... and then ... it just ended. What the ???
shareAgreed. Wonder Wheel is cliche Woody Allen; specifically a lot of the movie is very similar to Blue Jasmine.
* Remember the end of Blue Jasmine?
When Cate Blanchett’s character remembered that she had betrayed her husband to the government?
* In Wonder Wheel Kate Winslett’s character accepted that she betrayed her husband’s daughter which led to her death.
- In Blue Jasmine, after that, Blanchett’s character falls apart.
- With Wonder Wheel, Winslett’s character fell apart, the end.
* Also agreed that the acting was wooden but this was because of the script. It was like an old fashioned stage play.
Allen lit Wonder Wheel like Birdman. But with Birdman the actors talked like regular people.
In Wonder Wheel the actors had some of the most unnatural dialogue in a Woody Allen film.
My rating; 6/10. It got positive points because of the actors & the lighting.
But because of its flaws, I’ll never see this thing again.
I’m just glad I didn’t pay to see it in a theater & saw it for free on streaming.
;-)
I see your point, but I thought Blue Jasmine was good in that it showed the breakdown of a woman kind of like Streetcar Named Desire. I find a lot of very good movies start out a bit wooden, almost on purpose as if to lower expectations, and then they grab you. I got grabbed by this movie, but by the time I cared about it was over leaving me wondering what just happened.
The movie was wonderful looking, like his last one with ... ?? Jessie Eisenberg ?? I liked that too, or the feel of it, but it was insubstantial too. I did not see it in a theater, but I would have. I am big Woody fan and never resent his efforts. Sometimes years later I will revisit a movie and find I really like it.
I just finished watching it and you nailed it. I had a thought balloon with “...” pop up when the credits started rolling.
POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT!!!
I expected the rest characters to like have a “doh!” moment that went back to the scene where Mickey and Ginny were in the restaurant talking about tragedy being your own fault or fate playing a role. They realize how they all played a role in what happened or something, yet the only one who did accept their part in it was Ginny and even that wasn’t shown all that well. At it shows it that seems like is that she is upsets over Mickey...
Ginny accepted that her actions caused her misery in her life, starting with cheating on her first husband and wrecking both him and herself and her career and ending up a waitress, blaming herself yet not blaming herself for his possible suicide (I’m assuming he did by this odd comment she made to Carolina during her birthday party, something about sleeping pills in a Philadelphia hotel room ), her son being a firebug, her unhappiness with Humpty, and being a waitress. Ginny felt remorse for her part for what happened. Ginny was half dead inside after losing her first husband and instead of ever rescuing herself, she always tried to get someone else to “rescue her.” Humpty and Mickey. That could have been because of that era. Ginny was tripping and the expensive watch and the phone call were the desperate acts of a dying woman at the end of a rapidly fraying rope. I think she recognized what she did and felt remorseful. It’s not like she could confess to it though.
Mickey pointed the finger at Ginny for being the only one responsible instead of stepping up and taking some responsibility by saying “yeah, I led Ginny on knowing she was broken inside and I messed with her head and heart more when she knew something was up and when she called me on it, I reassured her over and over that there wasn’t anything to worry about.” He was also just looking for next exciting journey..
part 2, first was too long
... First it was the secrecy of running around with a married woman, then it was the intrigue of marked ex-wife of a gangster. Mickey was a drama king and he didn’t really care about the fate or either woman. When the riskiness of getting away with Ginny were high then he said he was all in, but when she could spend more time with him then he wasn’t so in to it. Then in walks this woman who is all risk 24/7 with hiding from gangsters and within 3 meetings and 1 date, he’s in love with her. To Ginny early in the day, “I hardly know Carolina!” and later in the day to Carolina, “I’m in love with you.”
Humpty insisted Carolina stay there even after Ginny suggested she go elsewhere that would be leas obvious, but Carolina and Humpty insisted they wouldn’t look for her there. He wanted Ginny to use her waitressing money to better his daughters life and take on the dangers that came with her instead of taking her away from it, especially after they came to the carrousel looking for her.