by Dov Kornits
Peter Bogdanovich’s 1985 cult film was about a sweet teenage boy with a facial skull deformity (an unrecognisable Stoltz) and his relationship with his biker mum, played by a never-better Cher.
Well, fast forward to 2017 and you get Wonder, with Room‘s Jacob Tremlay, as a young boy born with ‘facial differences’ who moves into a mainstream school and will inevitably change all of those around him. His parents are played by Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson, and the film is directed by Perks of Being a Wallflower‘s Stephen Chbosky, which augers well for this adaptation of the bestseller by R.J. Palacio.
We can see Melbourne The Astor already planning a double feature.
Leave a classic movie alone
Just saw Wonder today and couldn’t help but compare it to Mask. Although it’s been a number of years since I saw Mask, I still remember it affected me more than Wonder. I felt the three characters (mom, dad, son) were played better in Mask. Having said that, I still hope a lot of parents attend with their school-age children and discuss it with them. There are many children out there who are “special” in their own way and every one of us is entitled to respect. Be kind people….smile at the next person you meet.