Wonderful World (2010)

"The only crime left in the f*****g world is negative thinking," laments Ben Singer (Matthew Broderick) who holds the worldview that everything is fixed, yuppies are the root of all evil, and we're all doomed anyway so why bother. A failed children's singer (his sole album long relegated to the dusty cutout bins of history), the divorced Ben now works a dead-end job as a proofreader. When one of his co-workers chastises him for not sharing in the congratulatory excitement surrounding the news that another co-worker (an aspiring actor) has just landed his first television acting gig, he dismisses the scold with a shrug and says "I don't delude myself with hopes and dreams." He's a real piece of work.

Interestingly, however, he does have friends. He participates in a weekly after-hours jam session in the back room of a music store with a small group of pals, and proves to be a decent guitarist; it makes us wonder exactly why he's squandering his talents. As the music store owner surreptitiously observes, "That's a shame, to be good at something no one cares about." His roommate Ibu (Michael K. Williams) a Senegalese immigrant, doesn't let Ben's chronic glumness dampen his perpetually sunny disposition, and considers him to be a good friend regardless. Ben does approach a state approximating enjoyment when he spends time with his precocious 11-year old daughter (Jodelle Ferland); although his negative waves are markedly straining their relationship and becoming a source of concern to Ben's ex-wife (Ally Walker). Ben seems quite happy to continue wallowing in his half-empty glass bubble of apathetic detachment, until a series of unexpected and personally challenging events shakes his world up, not the least of which arrives in the person of Ibu's sister (Sanaa Lathan) a Senegalese national who shows up on his doorstep one fateful day.

While this is a somewhat familiar narrative (the self-pitying mope gets snapped out of his myopic torpor by the Free-Spirited Other), writer-director Goldin delivers it in a fresh and engaging manner. I was initially expecting the film to go in another direction (i.e. another black comedy about a bitter children's entertainer like "Shakes the Clown" or "Death to Smoochy"); but was pleasantly surprised by the genuine warmth and humanity at its heart. Broderick gives a nicely nuanced performance that I would put up there with his work in "Election". Lathan does a lovely job, as does Williams, whose gentle and endearing character here is quite a contrast to the character "Omar", who he played so memorably on the HBO series, "The Wire". Not a major film, but a rewarding one in the vein of "The Visitor".

"Wonderful World" was written and directed by Joshua Goldin, his first directing project. It follows Ben Singer played by Matthew Broderick who is a really big pessimist. Ben had a successful career as a children's folk music singer, but after no one bought his acoustic album, he became jaded and withdrew from the world and spends his days in a boring, safe desk job proofreading papers. His best friend and roommate, Ibu (Michael Kenneth Williams) goes into a diabetic coma and Ben's world changes when Ibu's sister, Khadi (Sanaa Lathan) comes to stay with him while her brother is ill.

The movie feels very obvious in the opening sequences, yes, he's so pessimistic, no one invites him to parties because he's a Debbie Downer. He even says at one point that the two worst inventions were the TV remote and positive thinking. The movie really improves after more challenges are put into Ben's life through the absence of his friend, the introduction of a beautiful woman from Dakar, the diminishing relationship with his daughter, Sandra (Jodelle Ferland), and the loss of his job, and his attempt to sue the city for depraved indifference. Oh and not to mention, hallucinations of "The Man" (Philip Baker Hall) as an obstacle for him to mouth off to when he smokes weed. The simple life of sitting around playing chess is put on hold.

I had a hard time seeing Matthew Broderick who is excellent at oozing a positive attitude do such an about face here. It definitely plays more funny-grouchy than dark and I think that was the director's intentional choice. Everything he does still has a certain charisma, even when he's shutting others out.

Young Jodelle Ferland as his daughter was a great choice. When I looked her up on IMDB, I had to gasp because I knew I recognized her from something and it was "Kingdom Hospital", the Stephen King mini-series where she played the creepy little girl ghost! In this film, her character has a lot of self-doubts and she is shy and has trouble really communicating with her father even though she desperately wants to. Their estranged relationship begins to repair after interacting with Khadi and watching her gradual coming out of her shell was very sweet.

Sanaa Lathan as Khadi was a breath of fresh air. She really delved deep into the culture and came out looking and sounding so authentic. I didn't realize until the DVD extras that she was using an accent, it sounded amazingly good. The way she communicated and the way she moved really grab your attention and hold it in a good way, she almost glows as Ben begins to fall in love with her.

Ally Walker plays Ben's ex-wife, Eliza. I just recently saw her in "Toe to Toe" so another appearance so quick after so long not seeing her work was unexpected. Her role in "Toe to Toe" was so depressingly indifferent toward her daughter to an almost unrealistic level, but here she plays the opposite as a mother who is more overprotective of her daughter and before even asking her about her day, she assumes Ben has said something destructive to her again and shuts him out. On the flip side though, she has a great scene where she shows some vulnerability and reveals that while she isn't 100% happy with her new life, she prefers it to being dragged down on a daily basis.

I wish there had been more music in this movie! Broderick plays a little guitar in a scene, we hear a quick sample of his CD, and we don't hear him sing till the finale. It's just such soothing melodic acoustic guitar and I am tempted to try and find a soundtrack somewhere. My favorite quote in the film was "It's such a shame to be so talented at something no one cares about." When Ben performs his children's folk music finally, the kids are uncharacteristically ecstatic.

Looking at that group of kids, I really don't believe they would have been impressed by something so nice and pleasant with today's short attention spans. If he had been playing to a crowd in the 60s maybe, but today's kids would rather play outside or video games unless it's an ice show or Disney rock concert in front of them. That deviation from reality aside, it was still nice to see the character Ben get back to his roots eventually. Everything in this movie is a matter of perspective and some people might find that boring but I felt it all added up to a very pleasant movie. As he warms up to people and the idea of the world being a better place than he's seen it as of late, you too will be warmed watching it. I loved the exploration of another culture and the comparisons to America and making Ben enjoy the freedoms he has instead of criticizing his ex-wife for living in a big house with a big shot. I felt like the parting message here was a quote from a different movie, "Death to Smoochy", "You can't change the world, but you can make a dent." By changing his own corner, Ben finds a way to bring happiness to people around him again instead of misery.

DVD Extras:

There are three featurettes, "As Soon as Fish Fall Out of the Sky: Character and Story of Wonderful World", Working with the Director and with Matthew Broderick, and a Behind the scenes montage. All three are very short, probably two to three minutes a piece and are pieced together from interviews done with individual cast members. While more is explored about the characters in the first one, the director and actor one is just people heaping praise on them, and the montage is just shots of directing and camerawork put to music. A fourth featurette: "HDNet: A Look at Wonderful World" feels like one of those behind the scenes previews they play at my local movie theater and doesn't cover any new ground.

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I'm a super late Sanaa Lathan fan, and I only know Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller so I wasn't quite sure how I was going to feel about this film, but I've started revisiting so many Sanaa films that I originally didn't enjoy. This is one I knew nothing about up until this month. This film had interesting timing for me because I cut a visit short yesterday, with someone who reminds me of Ben Singer--super negative but thinks he's doing the rest of the world a favor by telling his truth. I think if you know a Ben Singer, you might want to run this film by him in hopes of some soul searching. Truth is one thing, but the guy in this flick was looking for reasons to hate everything.

As far as Sanaa's role as the Sengalese sister, Khadi, of his roommate Ibou (who I know of because I glanced at Michael Kenneth Williams on "The Wire"), they pulled it off far better than I expected. I was especially impressed with Williams because from the look of him, it's hard to imagine not seeing him with a "harder" edgy image. He was Prince Positive all through this film, and it was a pleasant surprise. And while I wouldn't think pairing Sanaa with Matthew would work, when she made that comment about "get to know it better," my mouth dropped. All I could do was yell "Go 'head, Sanaa" at that point.

Although the film didn't end how I expected it, it was a good film. It was also nice to see "Eclipse" actress Jodelle Ferland as the daughter, Sandra. She's such a cute girl and I like watching her growth as an actress.

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We've all experienced periods in life that get so terrible you just have to laugh; Ben Singer (Matthew Broderick) is beyond that point. Divorced from a woman who has married a blatant jerk, earning a meager living working as a TV script proofreader, and disconnected from his daughter, Ben is cynical, neurotic and pessimistic. He feels that society is superficial, disconnected and run by a money hungry individual, known as `the man.'

In this clever Indie drama, Ben is challenged to keep a positive perspective despite the negative events that befall him. When his daughter rejects his company because of his negativity, and his Senegalese roommate falls into a Diabetic coma, Ben realizes there are more important things in life than feeling sorry for yourself and bitter with the world. He realizes that pessimism and cynicism is a form of selfishness and that he has an obligation to care and love those who care and love him. When his roommate's sister visits and stays at their apartment he begins to take a more optimistic look at life and to appreciate the positive value relationships bring to life.

A smart and uplifting film, that reminds us of Jean-Paul Sartre's quote that "freedom is what you do with what's been done to you." The film is well paced, and displays a deft balance of humor and drama. The acting is spot on with strong performances by Matthew Broderick, Michael K. Williams, and Sanaa Lathan. Overall, a great film that will leave you with memorable quotes and food for thought after you've finished watching.

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Matthew Broderick is great in this! I have been a huge fan for awhile and this only adds to it! Great film.

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