While large studios used to develop them in bulk, nowadays, the movie musical is a rarity, not just due to the financial risk involved, but also because the style itself is exceptionally difficult to pull off. There has been some efforts to create low-budget indie musicals, like “Once” or Damien Chazelle’s romance “Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench”, but it is still questionable whether modern audiences are ready to embrace a film that has characters singing their feelings.
In the offbeat “Wanderland,” a vast departure from his broad comedy based resume (which includes a writing credit on “Date Night,” a “Shrek” sequel, and direction for second unit on multiple Farrelly Brothers projects), Josh Klausner certainly gives it a stab. Unlike Klausner’s 1999 self-titled debut “The 4th Floor” a few oddball touches of a horror thriller this remains an eccentric yet subdued attempt to place everything in an alternate universe. Where only the protagonist is off just a tad.
Unlike “Scorsese’s ‘floor’ that kept me entertained throughout, ‘wonderland’ is quite the opposite and leaves more to be desired.” Several distinct dark-comedies come to mind where Scorsese’s Anti-hero is put through many bizarre scenarios that resemble an absurdist depiction of a night. Real, inspired strangeness is completely absent, and so are the laughs. The point is nowhere to be found. The musical pieces feel so unimportant that one would assume them to be unnoteworthy. “Wanderland” deserves credit for trying something new. But this was simply lackluster.
Alex (Tate Ellington plays him, and his pleasing expressiveness is a plus, particularly given his character’s blank slate conception) is a tragic New Yorker stuck in a mundane and solitary life. So, with literally nothing more interesting to pursue, he publicly accepts a stranger’s outlandish offer on the internet to spend a weekend at her Long Island house nestled in an “enchanted forest.”
Upon arrival, Alex was excited to learn that the grand estate was entirely his, but everything came at a cost: no cell phone service. In search of a signal, he drove to the beach where he met a warm-hearted British woman (Tara Summers) who, although he was far too shy to accept, invited him to a party.
When his car ran out of gas, Alex had no other option but to walk in search of assistance. Subsequently, he finds himself at the doorstep of a lecherous older woman’s farmhouse (Victoria Clark). To put it simply, Alex escapes in a panic, but now pants-less and with the address to his temporary home gone as well.
In the dreams of this young man, who seems to have a munch for creativity, starts and ends with drifting around an intellectual Old Man: Harris Yulin, an iconic ‘surfer bro’ musician Jack Dishel, who becomes even more bizarre following his sip of space-punk Hyper Punch, Drew Powell the tempter man or ice-cream and his strict mom: Marceline, Ronald Guttman and Wendy Makkena, who without a doubt style themselves as feminist Wiccans, and a spree of others in the crowd.
Still, any time when evaluation deems a character ready to spring forth, Alex shifts onto a next underdeveloped excursion. Not every one of those people parses off meaningful lyrics from their vague songs, in all honesty, the majority of people lack the creativity to do so. The staging for interlude songs seems very relaxed for the majority of people which is clearly not the case for Klausner, Wendy Parr and Atarax Valentine as they made sure to include eight original songs in the project. The actively disengaged action instead of adding to the situation manages to aggravate it.
The highlight of the story goes down at a motive where Douglas Hodge goes all out while performing ‘Shooting Stars’. The host also happens to be a sophisticated podiatrist who hires a jazz band for his private party. On the contrary, someone who is rather reserved and not perfect for the part is allowed to attend. The eccentricity of the perfect fit cast reveals itself in the strangest baffling manners which leaves one wondering what the punchline even was. Hodge is not the only character that suffers from this ‘Wanderlust’ syndrome. In one particular scene, and, unfortunately, the final one too, Alex is searching for scary looking bikers that never arrive. Instead, passages full of illusions do. This leads to the finale and unfortunately, towards the dreadful final joke.
Undoubtedly, the work of Brett Jutkiewicz is nothing short of breathtaking. In fact, his performances on the lens have never faced criticism before. Although this punchline looks funny at the first glance, it’s far too juvenile to appeal to the audience’s sensibility while eluding to the droll charm that surrounds this piece of work. Seemingly ‘MILD’ Hodge managed to press the image of Alex’s phone obsession into our head. Instead, I couldn’t help but wonder whether the director is indeed in need of a phone tilt. Later on, one can only hope Hodge ends up solving Alex’s boredom, even if it’s summer.
At the end, a ‘biker’ (Valentine) performs Modern English’s 1982 classic, ‘I Melt With You.’ It is one of 6 non-original pieces included in the soundtrack. However, who is melting, and for what reason? “Wanderlust” appears to have a motive of stirring up our sentiments, yet it proves to be a lot more challenging than it seems. And the fact that the most engaging music here is kept till the end credits is perplexing. That energy any energy was crucial throughout the film.
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