Los Angeles police responded to a distress call during thesummer of 1981 at 8763 Wonderland Ave. in Laurel Canyon where theydiscovered a bloody quadruple homicide. Their investigation leadsthem into the seedy world of drugs and violence and porn-starlegend John Holmes related to the crime. This is the premise ofWonderland.
It’s kind of ironic to make a film about John Holmesand have no nudity or trace of porn in it. ComparingWonderland to Boogie Nights makes about as much sense as trying tofind validity in the Oscars.
While Paul Thomas Anderson’s film traces the lives ofa porn industry “family” and the rise andfall of star Dirk Diggler, Wonderland focuses on John Holmes (ValKilmer) after his “career” has ended and picks up atthe high-point of his downfall into drug addition and ultimatelyviolence and murder.
First time writer/director James Cox has obviously beeninfluenced stylistically by Anderson and the late Ted Demme (Blow).Surprisingly though the film reminded me more of AkiraKurosawa’s classic Rashomon where the story is centeredaround a brutal crime that is retold from three differentperspectives. Each witness’ story is vastly different fromone another, yet all feel concretely strong in fact.
Val Kilmer performs with solid energy as a coked-up,drug-frenzied hustler. As Holmes’ wife, Lisa Kudrow seemedlike she was going to be a distraction, but she eventually wonme over with her down-and-out vulnerable character. It seemedlike even the makeup artists were hesitant in making herlook glamorous or attractive to any extent.
Josh Lucas (Sweet Home Alabama) steals the show in each of hisscenes. Keep an eye on this guy’s career. In this film hedelivers a hardcore, over-the-edge performance thatseems slightly exaggerated to an extent, but in a way seemsvery real.
Wonderland has nothing new to offer viewers that they probablyhaven’t seen before in another movie, but the film isentertaining enough and succeeds admirably at creating a world ofevil, despicable characters who eventually get what they hadcoming to them.
The film opens Friday at the Angelika Film Center located atMockingbird Station.
