Review- Wonder

Wonder is adapted from the book of the same name by R. J. Palacio and is the story of a young boy named Augie who has a facial disfigurement. The film follows his life through his first year at school, making friends, trying to stand up to bullies and learning things about the world. The story doesn't exactly sound hugely original and honestly, if you've seen films like this, you will be able to spot plot beats coming up fairly easily. Where Wonder excels is the structure and how it bounces around between characters. Just as in the book, the film will take different "chapters" to examine the other characters in this world and while the novel was able to take much more separated views, the chapters and characters overlap much more in the film in a way that actually worked out quite well. So while covering no new ground, Wonder does manage to cover it in an interesting way that kept me compelled despite already knowing the plot beats.

With a film like this, acting is vital or all the emotional heft of the film disappears before it's even started. Thankfully, there's a talented cast to make the most of the material here and it shows. As the lead Augie, we have Jacob Tremblay, most famous from another tearjerker Room. Despite being covered in makeup and prosthetics, his acting ability shines through and especially with the narration, he's able to really properly tug at the heart strings. It's mainly adorable kid stuff but he does it well. As Augie's mum, there's Julia Roberts and as someone who isn't a fan of romcoms, I haven't seen her in much (sorry). That said, she blew me away and has opened me up a little to the fact that I might enjoy her films. Owen Wilson plays the dad and I have one word: Wow. Joking aside, he is much warmer than I expected and while he can be the comic relief character, he has such a welcoming performance. I watched him and went "I wish he was my dad" (sorry Dad). The rest of the supporting cast are also great and most impressively, for a film set in a school, there's few memorably annoying child performances. Not perfect all round but it'll keep everyone happy.

As I've teased throughout, what I loved most about this film was the heart it has. It's no secret that Wonder is pretty much out to make you cry and it's very good at that. Sweet hearted child narration helps but it's not a simple task as, as I mentioned earlier, children in these films can be very annoying at times. Fortunately, due to the quality of the actors, you can be swept along and find little bits of yourself in all the characters. Maybe you're alienated like Augie. Maybe you keep the hurt inside not to hurt others like the sister. Maybe you just choose kind, see the best in everyone, like the teacher. Regardless, the central focus on Augie that the book doesn't have actually allows for much closer identification with him and his journey so while other characters lost depth and the wider perspective is lost, the more central journey is more emotional. To make that point as clear as I can, the book didn't make me cry, the film did. It's that simple.

Wonder is an easy recommendation for me. It's not high art, it's not refined but neither does it want to be. It's a lovely film that is out there to pull at your heart and it does it very well. Too saccharine sweet for some certainly and despite packing the punch, I prefer the book but for fans of the book or movies like this, there's certainly a lot to like. That's why I'm giving Wonder an