Movie Review - "Wonder"

On the surface, "Wonder" would not be a movie that I would be inclined to see, but am I glad that I did.

The story concerns a ten year old boy, Augie, who was born with a genetic condition that necessitated over twenty surgeries in his young life, and those surgeries have left him with some facial deformities.  He has been home schooled by his mother, but it is now time for him to be mainstreamed into a regular middle school with other kids.  Both he and his parents are terrified at the prospect.

How Augie takes to going to a regular school, how he is treated by the other kids, in both good and bad ways, and how the rest  of his family respond, including his older sister,  who has had to take a back seat to Augie all of her life, is what the movie is all about.  

Sounds like a formulaic, Hallmark-type movie of the week to you?  That's what I thought, but it is so much more than that. It turns out to be a wonderful story about love, family, friendship, respect, growing up.  I can't recommend it highly enough, but be sure to bring a hankie or two or lots of Kleenex.  You'll definitely cry at this one, but in a good way.

The movie stars young Jacob Tremblay as Augie, Owen Wilson and Julia Roberts as his parents, and Izabela Vidovic as his older sister.  Also featured are Mandy Patinkin as the school principal and for all you "Hamilton" fans out there, Daveed Diggs as one of Augie's teachers.

All the actors are good in "Wonder", but a word about Julia Roberts.  She is good, really good, in this movie.  She may be one of the best actresses around these days, but she doesn't seem to me to be the "big star" that she should be.  The last time I saw her was last year in the George Clooney movie "Money Monster" and her performance in that one was perhaps the best part of that movie.  She turned 50 years old in 2017, and I wonder if she is the victim of the Hollywood system that makes it harder and harder for actresses to get great roles in great movies as they get older (unless, of course, you're Meryl Streep).  That is really shame if that's the case because she really is a terrific actress.

Three and one-half stars from The Grandstander  for "Wonder".