It’s an in-your-face and exhausting portrayal of life gone bad, played out by a cast of actors all on the top of their game.
Wonderland (2003)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:98
Fresh:34
Rotten:64
Average Rating:5/10
Consensus: A sordid and pointless movie with some good preformances.
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: WONDERLAND – Based on a true story and starring Val Kilmer, Lisa Kudrow, Kate Bosworth, Dylan McDermott, Josh Lucas, Eric Bogosian, Tim Blake Nelson, Christina Applegate, Natasha Gregson Wagner,... WONDERLAND – Based on a true story and starring Val Kilmer, Lisa Kudrow, Kate Bosworth, Dylan McDermott, Josh Lucas, Eric Bogosian, Tim Blake Nelson, Christina Applegate, Natasha Gregson Wagner, Janeane Garafolo, Franky G. and Carrie Fisher. WONDERLAND explores, in Rashomon-like fashion, the brutal multiple murders that took place high atop Wonderland Avenue in L.A.’s Laurel Canyon during the Summer of 1981. At first the case seemed to involve only the usual strung-out drug dealers and party hounds, but it quickly became elevated to a classic L.A. noir when it was discovered to be connected to the infamous porn king John C. “Johnny Wadd” Holmes. By the time our story begins, Holmes had fallen from being the biggest and most famous star in the hardcore industry into a state of financial and pharmaceutical ruin. As played by Kilmer, Holmes is devoted to his teenage girlfriend Dawn (Bosworth) while still married to his wife Sharon (Kudrow) and the three form a most unconventional love triangle. In the midst of his spiraling demise, Holmes befriends local drug dealers Ron (Lucas) and Susan Launius (Applegate) along with their “business partner” David Lind (McDermott), who operate out of the Wonderland party house. But Holmes is out of his element in the life-and-death world of high stakes drug crime and he soon gets himself neck deep into trouble. Desperate for cash and drugs, the Wonderland gang decides to rob another dealer friend of John’s -- the notorious gangster Eddie Nash (Bogosian). Soon after the robbery, the slaughter at Wonderland occurs. Did Holmes set up his Wonderland cohorts for murder to save himself from the wrath of Nash? It all depends on whose story you believe. WONDERLAND is directed by James Cox from a screenplay by James Cox & Captain Mauzner and Todd Samovitz & D. Loriston Scott. [More]
Starring: Val Kilmer, Kate Bosworth, Dylan McDermott, Lisa Kudrow
Starring: Val Kilmer, Kate Bosworth, Dylan McDermott, Lisa Kudrow, Tim Blake Nelson, Joshua Lucas, Eric Bogosian, Carrie Fisher, Janeane Garofalo, Christina Applegate, Natasha Gregson Wagner, Ted Levine, M.C. Gainey, Franky G, Tess Parker
Director: James Cox
Director: James Cox
Screenwriter: James Scott, D. Loriston Scott, Todd Samovitz, Captain Mauzner
Producer: Michael Paseornek, Holly Wiersma
Composer: Cliff Martinez
Studio: Lions Gate Films
Reviews for Wonderland
While the Rashomon-like multiple versions of events are riveting, Cox's main misstep is to leave out real resonance.
Val Kilmer ("The Salton Sea") fails to manifest the eccentric character of notorious porn legend Johnny "Wadd" Holmes in this artful but unbalanced dramatization of the gruesome 1981 Laurel Canyon murders that Holmes was implicated in committing.
*Violent and blaring ... a vibrant bit of tabloid trash infotainment, a guilty pleasure for those with a taste for bittersweet candy.
This film, however, will fade away quicker than Jenna Jameson when she hits thirty-five.
Bolstered by its fiercely assured script and direction, Wonderland's cast soars, with Kilmer perhaps doing his career-best work.
looks good, sounds great, and essentially it's just one long party until the debauchery inevitably comes to collect its tax
Nem mesmo o excepcional elenco consegue levar o espectador a conhecer um pouco melhor aqueles personagens. Ainda assim, o filme tem seus momentos.
...real bottom-of-the-barrel stuff, a scummy story about scummy people.
Wonderland is completely hollow and devoid of purpose... uncompelling, unorganized and unexciting.
You might actually anticipate learning something about the real JohnnyHolmes and his vocational choices. Think again.
A few actors make momentary impressions, yet most are kept in the shadows, as hard to make out as this movie's ultimate intentions.
Rarely has so much of so little consequence been so closely examined.
To enjoy the narrative remixing, you have to cut through an awful lot of postproduction hooey.
Sometimes Wonderland does make you wonder why you're wasting your time with these losers. But there's also a lot here that stays with you.
She creates an affecting counterpoint to the hyper-charged insanity back at the Wonderland condo.
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