Wonder (2017)

[Hanahope]

Saw this movie last night with my daughters.  Our school district was sponsoring a fundraiser for the  CHOP Foundation to help support families with Treacher Collins syndrome, which was headed by a teacher who has a child with this syndrome.  We had two full theaters at a local Regal.

Both of my daughters also read the book on which the movie was based in their Language Arts classes.  Obviously, some scenes things were cut for the movie and some school friends in the book were combined into one person, as is typical for movies made from books.

It was pretty good movie.  Definitely a fairly typical 'feel good' type movie with a message of be kind to others, especially those less fortunate.  

[Browncoat]

I just finished the book, and will see the movie soon.  In the book, Auggie's mother was Brazilian -- couldn't they find anyone more ethnically suitable than Julia Roberts?  Although, she did play a Portuguese girl in Mystic Pizza, so I guess it sort of works?

[Empress1]

On 12/12/2017 at 8:02 PM, Browncoat said:

I just finished the book, and will see the movie soon.  In the book, Auggie's mother was Brazilian -- couldn't they find anyone more ethnically suitable than Julia Roberts?  Although, she did play a Portuguese girl in Mystic Pizza, so I guess it sort of works?

It’s particularly noticeable because Sonia Braga plays the grandmother in one flashback scene. Braga and Roberts look nothing alike. (I can’t stand Julia Roberts, saw the movie in spite of her.)

[Browncoat]

I saw this last night, and it was a little jarring.  But overall, I thought it was a pretty good adaptation. 

[Frost]

I loved this movie.  I haven't read the book, so I have no idea what changes were made, but as a stand alone movie, it was terrific.  Heart warming but not saccharine.  I loved the different points of view.  Although I'm confused as to why, if Via isn't interested in acting, she was going to a performing arts school.  Her boyfriend carried around a violin case and was eager to audition for the play.  Does the book explain the reason Via was at that school?  I was also jarred by a 14 or 15 year old girl being allowed to go to Times Square with her boyfriend on New Year's Eve.  Is that normal for NYC?

I know Julian was a repellent little slug, but I really felt for him during the principal's office scene.  His mother being the one to photoshop the class picture?  He never stood a chance to become a kind child.

[Empress1]

7 hours ago, Frost said:

I loved this movie.  I haven't read the book, so I have no idea what changes were made, but as a stand alone movie, it was terrific.  Heart warming but not saccharine.  I loved the different points of view.  Although I'm confused as to why, if Via isn't interested in acting, she was going to a performing arts school.  Her boyfriend carried around a violin case and was eager to audition for the play.  Does the book explain the reason Via was at that school?  I was also jarred by a 14 or 15 year old girl being allowed to go to Times Square with her boyfriend on New Year's Eve.  Is that normal for NYC?

I know Julian was a repellent little slug, but I really felt for him during the principal's office scene.  His mother being the one to photoshop the class picture?  He never stood a chance to become a kind child.

It's pretty close to the book. The book has Julian's point of view too; the movie left that out. He has a grandmother who helps him realize what an asshole he is and how his parents spoil him (his mom Photoshopping the picture is in the book; if I recall correctly, the mother starts a campaign to get Auggie kicked out).

Re: Times Square NYC, NYC kids do have a certain amount of autonomy that other kids may not because they're not dependent on their parents to take them anywhere. Anyone can jump in a cab or buy a MetroCard. Via took the subway to Coney Island because she could, you know? My mom is from Brooklyn and once you start taking the subway alone (which you do well before age 15), you could be anywhere. Times Square is really not that dangerous on NYE, or at all anymore - the days of pimps and hookers are long gone. It's become very sanitized and tourist-y (chain restaurants, etc.). I would rather do anything else than stand there in the cold crammed in with thousands of other people for hours on NYE. If I'd asked my mom for permission to do that she'd probably have been like " ... Better you than me. Wear a hat." 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

RJ Palacio (the author of the book) discusses the movie Wonder:

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 12/30/2017 at 8:54 AM, Frost said:

I was also jarred by a 14 or 15 year old girl being allowed to go to Times Square with her boyfriend on New Year's Eve.  Is that normal for NYC?

@Empress1 explained it well, but to add to that--I'll never forget being in NYC in 1994.  The Rangers won the Stanley Cup and I went to the ticker-tape parade just because I'd never been to a ticker-tape parade.  On the subway back, I saw a boy who couldn't have been more than 10 or 11 years old.  He was by himself, and had a little foil replica of the Stanley Cup that I assume he'd made for the event.  It was the cutest damn thing, and it reminded me how kids in NYC live differently from the rest of us.

[galax-arena]

It bothers me that they didn't get an actual kid with Treacher Collins syndrome to play the main role. Yes, I realize that Jacob Tremblay is a great little actor, so it's easy to brush off this criticism with "well, they just cast on talent and got the best actor for the role!" But, like, considering how often anyone with TCS gets the opportunity to act (i.e. next to nil), for all we know, there is some kid out there who is fucking talented but will never find out because they won't get a chance to show their stuff. Let's be real, it's not as though casting went through an exhaustive search among TCS kids only to come up fruitless; in all likelihood they decided to go with Jacob to capitalize on all his hype. 

This is what one kid with TCS had to say:

Quote

Mostly, says Hannah, who screened the film Monday with her mother and father, she wishes the filmmakers had cast someone who has the syndrome.

“They put a lot of effort into it to make him look like a kid with facial differences,” she says of the mask worn by Tremblay, which was crafted using the face of a patient receiving treatment at NYU Langone Health. “But I was also upset that they didn’t pick someone with Treacher Collins because … they’re just acting and getting paid.”

A movie like Wonder would have been such a great opportunity for someone who wouldn't otherwise get the chance to be in a big Hollywood movie. It's a shame that they dropped the ball here. Hannah deserved to see herself truly represented on screen.

[zoey1996]

I watched this on tv this afternoon. The cast was good, the story uplifting; I liked it more than I expected to. 
is there something in Owen Wilson’s contract that requires

Spoiler

the dog to die? Dear Daisy. When she vomited, I anticipated her fate.

More people need to see this. Choose kind is a message that needs to be spread widely.