Wonder Wheel

WONDER WHEEL iss a big surprise. After reading several sour reviews, I wasn't expecting much but Kate Winslet is terrific, the story is quite good, and the look of the film (luscious cinematography by Vittorio Storaro and production design by the always underrated Santo Loquasto) is fascinating.

Story has Winslet unhappily married (to Jim Belushi) and working in a clam house on Coney Island in the 1950s. She meets a lifeguard (Justin Timberlake) and embarks on a doomed love affair with him just as Belushi's daughter (Juno Temple) from a previous marriage returns after her marriage to a gangster has failed. It's sort of a Blanche du Bois meets Eugene O'Neill plot with a twist of the Sopranos.

Everyone is good but Winslet certainly steals the show. The 1950s Coney Island is something to see, and Winslet's house, practically under the giant Wonder Wheel, is awash is garish lights from the ride. Scenes move from orange to blue to red hues. Quite fascinating. Oh, and Winslet has a strange son from a previous marriage. For me this is Allen's best since BLUE JASMINE.

It's such a treat to see good actors actually getting to act in long, uncut scenes and without the camera whipping around and edited into 10-second info-bytes. The soundtrack includes a terrific number by the Mills Brothers I don't think I've ever heard before: "Coney Island Washboard."

Kate Winslet is outstanding, Jim Belushi and Juno Temple are very good, and Justin Timberlake is better than I expected. Great film from a great American filmmaker: Woody Allen.

This is a fresh and brilliant story. I liked all the characters. Kate Winslet gives a brilliant performance as the story's main character. Wonderful film.

Staying true to style Woody captures life and wonderment in its own amusement park holding strong acting, excellent script with great camera work.

Kate Winslet gifts us with another extraordinary creation. She gives the Wonder Wheel its heart and soul. Complex, contradictory, infuriating and deeply human. Kate Winslet goes to the epicenter of her character with fearlessness and honesty. Such a wonderful thing to see. I was reminded that acting , this kind of acting, is pure art. There are at least four moments of hers that I know that I'm going to see again and again. I'm not going to to tell you what they are so you can find them yourself without notice. I was puzzled and a bit put off by the casting of Jim Belushi and Justin Timberlake. Not that they are bad no but Kate Winslet is the personification of truth so when you cut from her to Belushi and/or Timberlake is a bit of a jolt. Am I missing something? I thought that in the 40's it could have been, Bette Davis, Eugene Pallette as the husband and Errol Flynn as the writer/lifeguard. Okay enough of that. I will highly recommend to all lovers of great acting not to miss Kate Winslet in Wonder Wheel..

In Coney Island, in the 50´s, the thirty-nine year-old waitress Ginny (Kate Winslet) is a former aspirant actress married with the carousel operator Humpty (Jim Belushi) in an unhappy marriage. She has a problematic son from her first marriage, the arsonist boy Richie. She is a frustrated woman that is having a love affair with the younger lifeguard Mickey (Justin Timberlake), who is an aspirant writer. When Humpty´s estranged daughter Carolina (Juno Temple) arrives in Coney Island seeking for shelter from her husband, who is a gangster, Humpty learns that Carolina has denounced him to the police and now he wants to kill her. Humpty lodges Carolina at home, affecting their lives.

"Wonder Wheel" is a dramatic unconventional romance by Woody Allen with a storyline of shattered dreams, unrequited love, jealousy and betrayal. The performance of Kate Winslet is top notch and Juno Temple, Jim Belushi and Justin Timberlake have also great performances. They all perform human characters very well developed. The film looks like a play, with few locations, but the cinematography is beautiful. The stylish soundtrack follows Woody Allen high-standard. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Roda Gigante" ("Ferris Wheel")