Review by JD Piche, RCR producer, videographer, editor, and actor…
Wander’s plethora of producers shouldn’t scare you off, director April Mullen spins the barebones script that reads like an InfoWarrior’s fever dream into a showcase for Aaron Eckhart’s earnestness and allows Tommy Lee Jones to be fun.
Over the 92 minute runtime, Mullen skillfully guides the audience through the mysterious town of Wander, its dark secret, and the trauma that haunts Eckhart’s ‘Arthur Bretnik.’
After a case that brought him to Wander’s outskirts, doesn’t sit well with him, the investigation only led to a car crash that took Arthur’s daughter’s life and left his wife catatonic, sends him into a tailspin of conspiracy theories. Later, Bretnik hosts a Coast to Coast AM style late-night radio show with Tommy Lee Jone, while working as a Private Investigator by day, until they get a call that leads Arthur to the town that already took so much from him.
April Mullen teamed up with Director of Photography, Gavin Smith, (they met working on Wynonna Earp) and her regular editor Luke Higginson, with stunning Drone photography from Russ De Jong, to put a great style and movement to not only reflect Athur’s deteriorating mental stability, but also, put some pretty outstanding camera moves into scene transitions.
Come for Eckhart giving a terrific performance, stay for the clinic on how to use a camera and lighting to visualize psychological trauma. Not much praise for writer Tim Doiron, as the dialog is fairly pedestrian, though a frequent collaborator of Mullen, does get credit for setting up the story so she can flex her directorial muscles while keeping a line on, what ultimately is a tale about governmental gaslighting and champions truth above all.
Mullen has an impressive resume as a directorial gun for hire, mostly in TV, and with Wander’s abundance of producers who, likely only brought funding to the project, shows how hard it can be to get a film made. With Wander, Director, April Mullens proves that she’s ready and capable to direct more feature films.
While other reviews, such as Richard Roeper’s syndicated piece published in the Albuquerque Journal, does this film a disservice by misrepresenting it, (it seems that Richard wrote his review after only watching for 10 minutes and clearly missed the end and what Tommy Lee Jones character’s role was in the story) Wander is a fine film to pass the time with. It’s a talent showcase. It’s an hour and a half. And it has something to say.
Now in Select Theaters, On Demand and On Digital
You can get Wander on DVD on January 19, 2021, through Paramount Home Entertainment
Fun Movie Trivia…
Tommy Lee Jones and Aaron Eckhart have both played the role of Harvey Dent/Two-Face in a Batman movie. Tommy Lee Jones played the role in Batman Forever (1995) and Aaron Eckhart played the role in the The Dark Knight (2008).
