Next Stop Wonderland | | Cast : | Hope Davis, Alan Gelfant | | Director : | Brad Anderson (II) | | Studio : | Miramax Home Entertainment | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned | | Released Date : | August 21, 1998 | | DVD Released Date : | January 25, 2005 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | February 09, 2005 | | Summary | Warm and lovely Ms. Hope + bossa nova = sublime | Content
 | Love this from start to finish. Smart, warm, and sublime. Bossa nova is utilized perfectly as Hope Davis (who has never looked lovelier) gives a terrific performance. You just love watching and listening to her here. Can we a get a deluxe edition please? |
| Rating | | | Date | January 28, 2005 | | Summary | "(Foolish) Consistancy is the Hobgoblin of Little Minds" | Content
| Once in awhile I come apon a small film (no huge stars, big budgets or special effects), that grabs my attention and just takes me away to another place. The end result is just a good feeling as the final credits roll. The small, romantic comedy "Next Stop Wonderland" is one of those movies. The film takes place in Boston. We are witness to Erin (a very good Hope Davis) being dumped on her own inner city door step by her flakey enviormentalist, activist boyfriend (the always amazing, Phillip Seymour Hoffman). This mid thirties, registered nurse is pretty, smart, intellectual and quite cynical about her relationships with people and especially the opposite sex. This is born out, when her busy-body mother (Holland Taylor) puts a 'personals ad' in a local paper for her. We watch as Erin has a series of 'dates' at the same bar with the rather loathsome respondants, who have no chance, when they try to make small talk, use their best lines and try to match wits with this verbally adept, cynical women. Simultaneously we also meet Alan (Alan Galfant), a former plumber, who is making a mid life career change by going to school full time to become a marine biologist. He is trying to stay on a straight and narrow path by studying hard. Unfortunately he gets in trouble with some loansharks, who are also involved in some controversial dealings with the local aquarium. Alan, who also happens to do an internship at the aquarium, is called apon by the loansharks for a special 'favor' to repay his debt. In a way this movie is really about how much fate & chance play in our lives and relationships. Several characters have out and out discussions about the subject. We watch as Erin & Alan's lives in one way or another, unknowingly intersect in many rather interesting ways, without the two ever meeting each other. Yes, we all know what's going to eventually happen by the end of the film between these two lost souls. But that isn't really a big deal. The fun of the movie is watching them get to that moment! On paper these two plotlines (the woman on endless bad dates & the guy in hock to gangsters) might sound a bit old and hokey. But Director/Writer, Brad Anderson's script seems fresh, quite witty and even downright philosophical in it's dialogue and presentation. The cast of this film is uniformly excellent. Hope Davis presents Erin as such an interesting yet flawed woman. You just wish you could have the chance of being one of those lunkheads being verbally demolished on those sad dates! Alan Gelfman gives a very good staight head performance as the no nonsense middle aged student. These two characters are surrounded by a whole ensemble of nosey friends, family, acquaintances and even enemies, who come and go into their lives. Special note should be made of excellent performances from actors Callie Thorne, Robert Klein, Phillipe Seymour Hoffman & Holland Taylor. Finally, mention should be made of the film's excellent soundtrack, which is made up of the classic Bossa Nova sound of Brazil. Several references are made in the movie of that country and it's wonderful culture. This music greatly contributes to the romantic and 'dreamy' tone of the film and gives it an almost continental feel. If you want to see a wonderful, romantic comedy, then I highly recommend that your next stop be "Next Stop Wonderland"! |
| Rating | | | Date | January 23, 2005 | | Summary | Next Stop Vomitland | Content
| Ok, I actually like the movie. It's one of those well done romantic comedies that I'm particularly fond of where happiness reigns at the end. The actors are sympathetic and well developed as personalities... in fact many of the incidental actors also have interesting personalities. The writing is excellent. I did however find much of the middle of the movie hard to watch because of the faddish jerky "amateur video" style of shooting, where the camera zooms in and out and waves around ceaselessly, not holding still for long stretches. At some point it just got to be too continuous and, fighting motion sickness, I felt like screaming "hold the camera steady"! Even amateur video is not this jerky; modern hand held cameras all have built in steadicam correction. Sadly this otherwise excellent film suffers greatly from this misguided attempt at being artsy. The jerkiness is worst in the bar scenes; it does at least relent enough towards the end to enjoy the happy ending, but the distraction prevents pleasant immersion and connecting with the film. |
| Rating | | | Date | October 18, 2004 | | Summary | I rented it because I grew up 5 mins from Wonderland | Content
| What I got was a delightful, independent romantic comedy with an absolutely outstanding soundtrack! The movie was so good that I forgot my bias for renting it in the first place. Smart performances by a group of relative unknowns, good plot, real life like stories.
Rent your copy today. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 18, 2004 | | Summary | Smart, funny, poignant romance | Content
| Hope Davis is a terrific actress, and here she plays with depth of soul a delightfully and intelligently melancholy young nurse in Boston. What I love about this movie: Ms. Davis' obvious intelligence (intellectual and emotional); the local Boston accents; and the utterly fun bossa nova soundtrack. The end of this movie is so satisfying and memorable that, when a year ago I spend a week or so in Boston, I insisted that my wife ride with me on the train system up to the Wonderland exit, that we deboard, walk up to the shoreline and basically relive the closing moments. This is not the sort of thing I generally do, but it just seemed right. For a quiet evening at home with the one you love, you can't go wrong with "Next Stop Wonderland." |
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