Wonder Wheel [DVD] [2018]

Another fine production from Woody Allen. There is little doubt in my mind that whereas in his film 'Interiors' he was under the spell - or shall we say influence - of the great Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman, in this latest of his canon he is undoubtedly under the influence of the great American playwright Eugene O'Neil - O'Neil even gets a mention in the dialogue.Now I liked 'Interiors' just as much as I like this one but I also have little doubt that many will be disappointed because he has not made them laugh: there is no doubt that in his time Woody has been a very funny man and I still enjoy some of his one liners, but surely there is more to this man than that - the final scene in this film has all the desolation of O'Neil and is a fine homage to that profound writer.All of the performances were fine but the standout ones were Belushi and Winslet - if they both do not get awards then the system is meaningless.Although not everyone will enjoy this film I believe it is up there with his greatest - keep 'em coming Woody!

I love Woody Allen films' and this is right up there with his best. Kate Winslet performance is a gong winner and so is Jim Baluchi's. Even Justin Timberlake is excellent. There is quirkiness here of course, as the young step son is a budding arsonist. A daughter and runaway wife is being hunted down by the mob, but most of all this is about life's mistakes and chasing dreams, It's about somehow getting through life and still having dreams, admitting mistakes and having regrets.Wonderful script writing by Allen - beautiful locations, which Woody specializes in , there's so much lavishness in his films. Put his adverse press aside and just watch this film, it's so easy on the eye and full of raw emotion - the man is a genius.

If you read Woody Allen's autobiography, it seems he has a much higher opinion of Wonder Wheel than Oscar winner Blue Jasmine. Usually he's wrong about his own work but perhaps this time he's on to something?Blue Jasmine was very Tennessee Williamsesque. An updated Streetcare Named Desire. Who was Woody trying to emulate in Wonder Wheel (2017)? Well, there's a passing reference to Candida by George Bernard Shaw, a play about a love triangle involving Candida, her husband and her lover, a poet. This does form a template for Ginny's situation, loved by Humpty (whom she doesn't love) and having an affair with Mickey (a would-be playwright). Ginny's situation is further complicated by her son (not Humpty's) who is a budding arsonist, and Humpty's daughter (not hers) who arrives having fled her life with a mobster and in need of succour. The circus land of Coney Island, with its big wheel, dodgems, lights and noise, finds its way into their cramped living conditions, and eventually the turds hit the fan and tragedy ensues.Hmmm. As Justine Timberlake (Mickey) says in the dvd bonus, they got to make a theatre play on location, effectively. Timberlake also narrates from within the action, addressing the viewer directly, and accordingly there is a degree of self-aware artifice to this story's momentum which keeps the viewer from getting fully invested. Typically for latter day Woody Allen the film takes a while to find its rhythm and up to half an hour in I had serious doubts. Then, the doubts fall away, the cast feel more of an ensemble, and as Ginny and Humpty start to crack up the drama achieves greater reality and we are pulled in closer to the action. Timberlake is ok as Mickey, and Juno Temple (who I didn't know was British) does a good job as the daughter, Carolina. I'd say that, for me, Winslet and Belushi both grow into their parts. At first I didn't buy Winslet as a New Yorker, but she's too fine an actress not to make it true in the long run and the final scenes for her are terrific.What makes this one unique within Allen's filmography is its visual character, the stylised lighting, vivid blues, reds, oranges, that reflect the characters' moods, the glare of the fairground with its superficial joys, hollow promises, the bright lights of faded hopes. If it weren't for the lights this would be classic kitchen sink misery theatre, so thank goodness for legendary cinematographer Vittorio Storaro. Perhaps it could have done with stronger language and more rough house, more physical altercation, to make it period specific, but I guess they (Amazon?) wanted it to not be R-rated.Overall, the radical change of look, the colour symbolism, is what makes Wonder Wheel interesting within the Allen cinema. Sadly, on a second viewing, I found Timberlake's playwright-lifeguard unbelievable, and his prattle about Ginny's tragic flaw is too affected.Allen's other recent heroine Jasmine does have something of the quality of a classic tragic protagonist, toppled from on high down into mental distraction, whereas Ginny has to contend without the luxury of falling apart, her Hell is a life sentence. Cate Blanchett is superb as Jasmine, a glamorous mess compared to Kate Winslet's downtrodden wannabe. But hey, at least Ginny has romance in her life.This is a good film, visually fascinating, but its just not that compelling and although she gives a brave and wholehearted performance I can't really accept Kate Winslet in this frankly rather dull role. I saw her lately in Romance & Cigarettes and she burns up the screen in that one, but for Allen there is too strong a whiff of artifice in the acting, the story, the setting, even in the stylised lighting, to make the movie properly compelling. A different cast might have salvaged it.Easy, even fascinating, on the eye, but little more than that.

Found it boring. Going to the charity shop

Entertaining - but the ending needed to be more rounded. The cast of actors are superb.