Wonderful World (2009 film)

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Wonderful World
Wonderful world poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJoshua Goldin
Written byJoshua Goldin
Produced byMiranda Bailey
Matthew Leutwyler
Glenn Williamson
StarringMatthew Broderick
Sanaa Lathan
Michael K. Williams
Jodelle Ferland
Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Ally Walker
Philip Baker Hall
Edited byJeff Canavan
Music byCraig Richey
Production
companies
  • Ambush Entertainment
  • Back Lot Pictures
  • Cold Iron Pictures
Distributed byMagnolia Pictures
Release dates
  • April 27, 2009 (2009-04-27) (Tribeca)
  • January 8, 2010 (2010-01-08)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3 million[1]
Box office$9,309[2]

Wonderful World is a 2009 dark comedy-drama film written and directed by Joshua Goldin, and starring Matthew Broderick, Sanaa Lathan, Michael K. Williams, Jodelle Ferland, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ally Walker, and Philip Baker Hall. It is Goldin's directorial debut. The story revolves around a misanthropic, former children's folk singer having his life changed after his Senegalese roommate goes into a diabetic coma, and the sister who arrives to take care of him that he falls in love with.

The film was produced by Ambush Entertainment, Back Lot Pictures and Cold Iron Pictures, with K5 International handling the world sales. Filming took place over 21 days in Shreveport, Louisiana. It made its world premiere on April 27, 2009 at the Tribeca Film Festival, got picked up by Magnolia Pictures for distribution, and was given a limited release in January 2010. Wonderful World garnered a mixed reception from critics over the script's unoriginality and numerous indie film clichés, but were universally positive towards Broderick's performance. The film was a box-office bomb, grossing $9,309 against a production budget of $3 million.

Plot[]

Ben Singer (Matthew Broderick) is a former children's folk singer whose misanthropic worldview leads him to an isolated existence. When his Senegalese roommate Ibou (Michael K. Williams) falls into a diabetic coma and is taken to the hospital, his sister Khadi (Sanaa Lathan) arrives from Senegal to take care of him. After Khadi and Ben eventually fall in love, circumstances lead Ben to reconsider his way of thinking.

Cast[]

Production[]

After Broderick signed on to Goldin's project to play Ben Singer, he got some financiers to back the film through his Creative Arts agency. Four days before pre-production, half of the film's budget was cut after its Canadian investors backed out of the project. Producer Miranda Bailey was able to finance the whole film through her production company Ambush Entertainment.[1] The filmmakers moved the project to Shreveport, Louisiana to make use of its tax incentives, and shot the movie over 21 days.[1][3]

Reception[]

Wonderful World garnered mixed reviews from critics. On review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 42% approval rating based on 31 reviews, with an average score of 5/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Matthew Broderick gives an appealing performance and director Joshua Goldin's script contains unexpected bursts of honest emotion, but Wonderful World's good intentions can't make up for its lack of originality."[4] On Metacritic, the film scored a 48 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[5]

The A.V. Club's Scott Tobias and Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman both gave the film an overall C grade, the former calling it "a paint-by-numbers tale of redemption for a man whose wounds are mostly self-inflicted" and the latter saying that, "[I]t's all very sincere, but watching a dweebish depressive learn that Life Is Good is a lesson of diminishing returns."[6][7] Nick Schager of Slant Magazine called it "a checklist-indie that offers up clichés with gusto equal to that of its earnestness", criticizing Dan Zanes' "sorrowful score" and Ben's overall arc feeling "stock" and having "doggedly implausible" circumstances that lead to a "preordained conclusion", concluding that: "Goldin's mush about learning to stop and smell the roses is pretty close to being bottom-of-the-barrel."[8] Kyle Smith of the New York Post called the film a "would-be indie heartwarmer", commending Broderick for giving "a typically strong performance" but wrote that, "[A] problem of the curmudgeon flick is that it's doubly difficult to make the audience care."[9]

Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter praised the performances of Broderick, Ferland and Lathan, and wrote about Wonderful World overall: "While the film easily might have gone in an overly treacly direction, Goldin manages to avoid it, thanks to some unpredictable plot twists that subvert our expectations based on years of feel-good movies."[10] New York film critic David Edelstein, gave the film a positive review stating "the movie is unfailingly likable and finally impressive."[11] Stephen Holden of The New York Times praised Broderick for emitting "the right attitude" for his role and the soundtrack's mixture of "African guitar music" and "folk-pop songs" for giving off "little dashes of ebullience" and "a whimsical sweetness" respectively, but was critical of Philip Baker Hall's "infrequent" appearances throughout the movie, concluding that "he throws this delicate, intelligent film, which at its best suggests a muted hybrid of The Visitor and It's a Wonderful Life, off balance."[12] Dan Kois of The Washington Post wrote that: "If the components of Wonderful World seem a little tired, the film still has its own low-key pleasures, thanks to Broderick's restrained performance and a script that punctuates the inescapable saccharine of its storyline with tart little bursts of anger."[13]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Weiner, Jonah (December 30, 2009). "A Long Journey From Obscurity". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 21, 2019. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  2. ^ "Wonderful World (2010)". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved September 11, 2013.
  3. ^ Tinkham, Chris (January 9, 2010). "Matthew Broderick". Under the Radar. Archived from the original on March 22, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  4. ^ "Wonderful World (2010)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on January 2, 2021. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  5. ^ "Wonderful World Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on January 2, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  6. ^ Tobias, Scott (January 7, 2010). "Wonderful World". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Archived from the original on January 2, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  7. ^ Gleiberman, Owen (January 15, 2010). "Wonderful World". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Archived from the original on January 2, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  8. ^ Schager, Nick (January 5, 2010). "Review: Wonderful World". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on January 2, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  9. ^ Smith, Kyle (January 8, 2010). "Ferris Bueller's off day". New York Post. News Corp. Archived from the original on September 28, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  10. ^ Scheck, Frank (May 7, 2009). "Wonderful World – Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on September 20, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  11. ^ Edelstein, David. "No Happiness Please, We're British". New York. Archived from the original on January 14, 2010. Retrieved January 18, 2010.
  12. ^ Holden, Stephen (January 7, 2010). "Crankier Than Thou, but Open to New Love". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 2, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  13. ^ Kois, Dan (January 29, 2010). "Wonderful World". The Washington Post. Nash Holdings LLC. Archived from the original on January 16, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2021.

External links[]

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