Wonderland
Directed by James Cox
Starring Val Kilmer, Lisa Kudrow, Kate Bosworth, Dylan McDermott
Wonderland is the true story of John Holmes and the people who were inextricably linked to him by a terrible crime that occurred on Wonderland Avenue in LA on the 7th of January 1981.
To set the record straight, John Holmes was the biggest star that porn has ever seen (or so the legend goes). And I mean big in all senses of the word. John wasn’t much to look at, but his natural asset was the inspiration for the final scene in Boogie Nights (you know — the BIG reveal). In fact, Boogie Nights may perhaps be seen as a fictionalised prequel to Wonderland. Wonderland begins after Holmes’ star has faded and he is nothing more than a washed up has-been and junky, tolerated in drug circles because of his previous fame.
The facts presented to us in Wonderland are that known associates of Holmes’ were involved in a robbery of a Los Angeles underworld identity, and they were later killed, probably at the orders of the underworld identity. Holmes always maintained that he had very little to do with either the robbery or the subsequent murders. The story of these events is shown to us from the point of view of his girlfriend (Bosworth), Holmes’ statement to the police, the statement of his wife (Kudrow) and the only surviving members of the robbery gang. The film plays as a kind of Rashomon (1950), where different views of what happened are depicted, melding with the facts but offering different versions of the events. No two people’s stories are ever the same, but maybe the truth of what happened that night can be read between the lines, or in this case between the different points of view portrayed in the film.
The acting in Wonderland is exceptional. Kilmer is particularly convincing as the washed-up Holmes, portraying him as a hopeless drug addict and at the same time an endearing loser. It’s hard to hate him for being drawn into the awful spiral of drugs and violence, even if he is more sinning than sinned against.
The ReelBuzz: fascinating drama.
Esther
