Some films take forever to get to the freaking point. This fifth entry in the year of Wonder (Wonder, Wonder Wheel, Wonder Woman, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women) made me Wonder if it was ever going to hit upon something besides a 12-year-old deaf child wandering (and wondering) about a museum. I’d like to say I’m exaggerating here, but I’m not – the museum of wander becomes the extended and pivotal plot in both of the movie’s parallel timelines. Sure, I found it cute if a little tedious to see history repeat itself; waiting until the last fifteen minutes of a two-hour film to find a connection between the stories is a little much to ask of an audience, especially one who knows the stories are connected somehow – essentially because none of the other mystery elements in the film have been answered in any reasonable fashion.
It is hard to say which tale is the greater tragedy: the deaf Hoboken girl whose parents are impediments to happiness or the Minnesota kid whose parents are no longer impediments to anything. I suppose I have to feel a tad more for the kid who doesn’t have parents; at least the deaf girl has a chance –albeit tiny- at homelife satisfaction. Rose (Millicent Simmonds) doesn’t like her dad much. Can’t say as I blame her; I don’t like him much, either. She’s deaf and the camera hears what she hears, yet we can still tell that he yells at her constantly. How much of a yeller do you have to be hat even a deaf person can tell? How long until you start referring to dad as “Old Yeller?” Dad is a single parent by default because mom (Julianne Moore) is an actress. Rose likes to escape to the cinema for quality parenting. Hey, I do that, too! Of course, I don’t do it just so I can get a look at mom this week. Now that’s sad. Frankly, I think Wonderstruck missed a golden opportunity to get the Hoboken-born Frank Sinatra to show up; he turned twelve in 1927, which is almost precisely the same time, age, and place where we’ve set Rose.
Meanwhile, in 1977 (?!), newly orphaned Ben (Oakes Fegley) is having issues of his own. The Gunflint, Minnesota preteen just lost his remaining parent in a car accident and relives the nightmare every evening in the metaphorical form of wolves. His lack-of-sleep is driving his cousin [read: new roommate] crazy: “Dude, could you keep your nightmares to yourself?” which raises the unfairness of Ben’s plight to almost comedic levels. In a move of sad desperation, Ben returns to the now empty house he grew up in and rifles through mom’s old stuff. There he finds a book about museum curation with a personalized message from a bookstore in New York City. A clue! Ummm, a clue to what, exactly? Doncha think your dad would have claimed you by now if he still existed?
Then, of course, Ben is (indirectly) struck by lightning, rendering him deaf. And celebrating his new disability, Ben emerges from a hospital bed and the kid decides this would be an excellent time to visit New York City. I’m guessing the film takes places in June or July. Hey, 1977, NYC, that’s the Summer of Sam. Film, you’re missing out on some tailor-made plot points. Long story short, Rose runs away from home and wanders around NYC until she ends up at the natural history museum … and 50 years later, Ben runs away from home a wanders around NYC until he ends up at the same natural history museum. I love the parallel, but this film hasn’t said anything yet; it’s been entirely about the perspective of two deaf kids generations apart experiencing life. So far, there’s been plenty of plot, but zero purpose. Feel free to take me somewhere, movie. The first 90 minutes of this film is like an airport lounge: here’s a bunch of people with a lot of movement among them, but right now — you’re all stuck.
Director Todd Haynes continues to make movies I feel like I should care about, but don’t. How could I not sympathize with the plight of a deaf kid wondering around NYC? I suppose maybe if I felt like the
kid had a plan – Rose is compelled by a newspaper article; Ben is moved by a decades-old bookmark. That’s all you got, kids? What happens if whatever you’re looking for isn’t there? I’m sorry; I just don’t buy it. Even a 12-year-old has enough sense to Wonder where his/her next meal is coming. Being deaf makes the non-parental leap all the more nonsensical.
We just saw a movie which did wonders for a non-talking cast. However, A Quiet Place is a horror and finished a half-hour sooner than Wonderstruck. Much as the Brian Selznik world aims to capture the imagination of youth, there are magnificent limitations with a pair of mute protagonists. I remember watching the first half of WALL·E thinking, “The writing is so good, you don’t need dialogue.” Wonderstruck is not WALL·E; dialogue was in high demand and short supply for this film. The idea that a mute runaway could survive alone in New York City alone as a foreigner seems a plot straight out of Studio Ghibli. Wonderstruck is not unlike a Ghibli in other ways, the largest being that the details of the milieu and mood weigh stronger than the overarching plot. I’ve given Wonderstruck a slight pass for my sympathy with these un-rung heroes, but like most Ghiblis, this film is a half-hour too long and not in a good way.
Amusements are not easily found
For those deaf kids just hanging around
There’s no need to fear
For if you can’t hear
“Museum Tag” won’t require a sound
Rated PG, 116 Minutes
Director: Todd Haynes
Writer: Brian Selznik
Genre: Museum follies
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Docents
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Bullies
