Jay Rohr
Mr. Wonderful tackles the difficulty of finding a point in life. This universal struggle is wrestled into focus by slapping three storylines together like dead fish. It’s the kind of movie that wants to say something profound about existence, but like a loquacious drunk on dollar Coronita night, it has little interesting to say. If it weren’t for a stellar performance by Michael Madsen, this posthumous release would have little to offer.
The story follows history professor Brian Fenton (Michael Madsen). Oozing disillusionment over every aspect of existence, he finds himself being pressured by the university into early retirement. Then his ne’er-do-well son, Danny (Robert Laenen), returns home. The living embodiment of an ad for Monster Energy drinks, this trailer park dumpster fire drags a certain criminal element into the equation. Finally, Brian’s father begins to succumb to the dementia eating him alive, prompting the whole family to gather in Texas for the patriarch’s demise.
The film is based on a novel of the same name by Daniel Blake Smith. He wrote the script for this adaptation as well. So, one wonders if the book is just that bad, or if the film is missing something only a printed page can conjure.
Michael Madsen (Kill Bill) gives a weary grumpiness only he can smoothly deliver. He provides a portrayal of someone worn down by the weight of their principles grinding against the meaninglessness of existence. Most of this, though, comes primarily from Madsen’s demeanor rather than the script. He manages to make bad dialogue have some gruff grace as well as heighten quiet instances with an introspective gaze.
Unfortunately, there aren’t many others doing much heavy lifting. At one point, an entitled student played by Kyle Matthew (Amp House Massacre) tries to bully Professor Fenton into changing his grades. While the performer certainly looks the part, the acting in this scene — Madsen’s smooth nonchalant delivery in contrast to this high school drama class award winner is so painfully apparent it turns the moment into nails on a chalkboard. And that’s only one instance. This radical oscillation in the quality of acting while people are having conversations is cringe inducing at times. My favorite “acting” involves the zero lines given Instagram tattoo model Petal De Light who stands around looking bored while trying to present a dangerous criminal enforcer.
Meanwhile, Robert Laenen (Bet on Ben) and Brittany Underwood (One Life to Live) feel too old for the roles they play. The two are overgrown idiot teens on the wrong side of thirty. There’s a case for that being the intention, perhaps they’re stuck in some arrested development, but then the issue simply shifts to how Mr. Wonderful doesn’t offer much reason to care about these two unrepentant screwups.
There are several emotionally potent scenes peppered throughout the picture. Solid performances by Robert Miano (Donnie Brasco), Priscilla Barnes (The Devil’s Rejects), and Michael Madsen give these moments a tragic potency that can really squeeze the heart. Regrettably, there’s a jagged shift to those portions of the film. It’s almost as if the movie jump cuts to a different narrative for a few scenes before returning to its original mix of family dramedy and low-quality crime fiction. Then, as things near the conclusion, it starts arriving at a far more interesting narrative development it speeds through.
Essentially, Mr. Wonderful takes too long to set up its overarching scenario, lost men finding a meaning in life. Over an hour in, the flick arrives at an interesting point for drama to organically grow from, which it quickly races through in order to conclude awkwardly. The whole narrative is a lesson in starting at the wrong point in a story.
Mr. Wonderful is part of a whole list of films which will feature posthumous performances by the late Michael Madsen. This movie provides a great example of how it’s possible to praise a performer without celebrating the film they are in. Though Mr. Wonderful isn’t terrible, it doesn’t offer much to make it stand out. Too often the feature is a rehash of narrative threads that have woven better stories elsewhere.
Worse, attempts to spice up the melodrama feel like someone who realized the central story is such a snooze it needed crime fiction to intensify matters. Better dialogue or at least one interesting insight about life could have done the same legwork as threatening goons or mediocre fight scenes straight out of community theater. That said, a sharper crime angle could prod eyes to stay open instead of drifting shut as the story trudges along.
One could argue Mr. Wonderful aspires to take certain risks. It certainly isn’t afraid to present unlikable individuals struggling to find their way in the world. The problem is few are ever sufficiently interesting. The character of Danny Fenton is a prime example, a trash fire that couldn’t interest a moth.
Even more egregious, the film culminates in a conclusion that wraps up nothing. Ambiguity isn’t the problem, it’s that a deus ex machina colludes with a dramatic 180-degree turn to end matters in a way that lets the worst people off the hook without consequences while betraying the main character’s central ethos. And at risk of implicative spoilers, the film’s main point sharply shifts from spiritual fulfillment to everybody just needs the right amount of cash.
Cynical instead of inspiring, Mr. Wonderful wants to seem edgy. And that edge is as sharp as a dull butter knife. Featuring material that would make any screenwriting class cringe, there’s a point where professional ethics say the review is done. There’s no need to hammer on director Mark David’s bland shot choices, or total lack of visual stylization.
Like the arrogant entitled student it criticizes, Mr. Wonderful probably expects a better grade because it contains one of Michael Madsen’s last performances. Just because he’s excellent in this doesn’t make the movie a worthy waste of time. If anything, Mr. Wonderful is unworthy of such an admirable final display.
