Wendy ** ½ / *****
Directed by: Benh
Zeitlin.
Written by: Benh
Zeitlin and Eliza Zeitlin.
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Starring: Yashua
Mack (Peter Pan), Devin France (Wendy), Gage Naquin (Douglas), Gavin Naquin (James),
Ahmad Cage (Sweet Heavy), Krzysztof Meyn (Thomas), Romyri Ross (Cudjoe Head), Shay
Walker (Angela Darling), Tommie Lynn Milazzo (Wendy - Baby), Stephanie Lynn
Wilson (Adult Wendy – voice), Lowell Landes (Buzzo), Matt Owens (Tee Goose), Kevin
Pugh (James Hook).
It’s
hard to remember now just what an indie hit Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the
Southern Wild was back in 2012. It debuted at Sundance, before a summer
release, received a ton of acclaimed, solid box office for a film as
idiosyncratic as it was – and was so beloved by the Academy that it received 4
Oscars nominations – including a Best Actress nod for its 9-year old, and
nominations for Adapted Screenplay, Picture and Director – in the year that Ben
Affleck was overlooked for Argo, even though that film went onto win Best
Picture. Benh Zeitlin looked like the next indie darling – perhaps a filmmaker
like Terrence Malick. And then, he didn’t make a film for 8-years. When he
returned to Sundance this year with Wendy, there was some buzz that perhaps he
was finally back – and would restart that promising career.
I
have a feeling that if Wendy came first, and Zeitlin followed it up with Beasts
of the Southern Wild than Wendy would be seen as a key stepping stone. As it
stands though, it kind of feels like at best that Zeitlin has stood still for
the last 8 years, and at worst, that he’s actually taken a step back. The two
films are very similar stylistically – which is a good thing, as it is a style
of Zeitlin’s own and its distinctive and effective. Once again, he’s set his
film in the poor regions of the South – concentrating on children, of different
races, in a world that is part reality, part fantasy. The difference between
the two is basically that while Beasts of the Southern Wild revealed itself
slowly – revealed its allegorical nature, etc. – over the course of its
narrative, it’s apparent from the beginning that Wendy is a Peter Pan riff. And
while you cannot say Zeitlin’s version of the oft-told tale is the same as the
others we have seen – you also cannot really say its all that interesting
either.
The
best scenes in the film are the early ones. The real world scenes are set at
one of those diners in the middle of nowhere – this one quite literally opens
up onto the train tracks that run out front. It is here when Wendy was a baby –
living with her single mother, and twin brothers, that she witnesses another
boy – Thomas – snap and run outside, when he’s told (jokingly) that he’s end up
the mop boy for the diner. So instead, he flees – and through the eyes of that
baby Wendy, we see a mysterious boy on top of the train – and Thomas himself.
Flash forward years later – Wendy being about 8 or 9 now – and she and her
brothers find the courage to board that same mysterious train, with the same
mysterious boy. They end up in a world where children never grow old – as long
as they keep hope and faith alive. They are watched over by someone called
mother – who they must protect as well. If you lose hope, you age rapidly.
It’s
in those early scenes – at that diner along the tracks, where Wendy works best.
It’s a mixture of early David Gordon Green and Terrence Malick here, depicting
its place with magical realism. Once the film settles into the fantasy world –
which is most of the film – it grows repetitive, and to honest kind of dull.
The film is far more concerned with narrative than Beasts of the Southern Wild
was – and its not all that interesting a narrative as you basically sit there
and spot the various ways Zeitlin and company are evoking Peter Pan, and
changing it, etc.
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