WONDERLAND
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2003 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): *** 1/2
Sometimes a movie turns out to be not at all what you expected. That was
certainly the case for me when I saw WONDERLAND. Based on a true story about
legendary porn star John Holmes (Val Kilmer) -- whose chief claim to fame was
his fourteen-inch member -- the movie starts off like a tale of sex, drugs and
rock 'n roll. There is some sex, a ton of hard drugs and lots of great tunes
from 1981 when the story is set, but what makes the film special is none of the
above. What makes WONDERLAND so amazingly riveting is that it is a crime drama
and whodunit that is pure edge-of-your-seat material. It is a gripping and
engrossing tale about a murder scene that was described by the TV news reports
of the time as being "as brutal as the Sharon Tate killings."
Director James Cox, who proves a brilliant and mesmerizing storyteller, is
blessed with a wonderful cast, whom he uses to maximum effect. Kate Bosworth
(BLUE CRUSH) plays Dawn Schiller, John's druggie girlfriend, Lisa Kudrow has a
small part as his estranged wife, a nearly unrecognizable Dylan McDermott plays
David Lind, a grungy biker and cokehead, Josh Lucas (SWEET HOME ALABAMA) is
Ronnie Launius, John's deranged drug dealer and partner in crime, and Eric
Bogosian plays Eddie Nash, the "biggest gangster in L.A." The rest of the cast
includes Franky G, Tim Blake Nelson, Carrie Fisher, Ted Levine, M.C. Gainey,
Faizon Love, Christina Applegate, Natasha Gregson Wagner and Janeane Garofalo.
The story is told in RASHOMON-like fashion with varying descriptions coming
from the participants in the events. Set at a time when Holmes's career was
basically over -- after having made over 1,000 porn flicks, or so the legend
has it -- and he is living a life on the edge, stoked by constant hard drug
use. He convinces Ronnie and a rag-tag collection of Ronnie's friends to rob
Eddie. Attacking the biggest criminal in town proves hazardous to their
health. For their $1.2M take, Ronnie and his guests get slaughtered in their
apartment on Wonderland Ave. What exact part Holmes played in the robbery and
subsequent revenge murders is the center of the absorbing mystery, which is
told with the exhilarating energy of a runaway freight train.
Equal measures frightening and fascinating, the movie grips you until the very
end, without a single slack moment. It's storytelling at its best, no matter
whose version of the truth you choose to believe. Actually, almost all of the
characters were such scum bags that it doesn't really matter anyway. But,
whoa, what a movie! It is so hyper that it'll probably leave you jumpy.
WONDERLAND runs 1:49. It is rated R for "strong violence/grisly images,
pervasive drug use and language, some sexuality/nudity" and would be acceptable
for older teenagers.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, October 17, 2003. In
the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century
theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1206074
X-RT-TitleID: 1126070
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X-RT-AuthorID: 1271
X-RT-RatingText: 3.5/4
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