WONDER WHEEL (PG)
Director : Woody Allen (Cafe Society) Starring : Kate Winslet, Juno Temple, Justin Timberlake, Jim Belushi, Max Casella Rating: Woody Allen is now in his sixth decade as a filmmaker, and he’s still pumping out a movie per year.
However, when you are that prolific, maintaining quality control can sometimes be a problem. So it goes for Wonder Wheel, an uneven drama-comedy which often looks stunning and emotes with great clarity. But not always at the same time. This could be a sticking point for those not prepared to go with Allen’s flow no matter what.
The setting is the vibrant New York neighbourhood of Coney Island in the 1950s, gorgeously framed in its flickering fairgrounds heyday by the incomparable veteran Italian cinematographer Vittorio Storaro ( Apocalypse Now).
Seriously, there are standalone images captured by Storaro that you would gladly hang on any wall of your home. If you ever see someone online has posted some Wonder Wheel stills as a slideshow, grab ‘em, put ‘em up on your large-screen TV and watch your lounge room become an art gallery.
Back on Coney Island, we find washed-up waitress Ginny (Kate Winslet, not quite at her best) having an affair with local lifeguard Mickey (Justin Timberlake), whose desires may soon be on the wane once he casts eyes on her fetching stepdaughter Carolina (Juno Temple).
The younger woman has many gangsters on her tail. The older woman has many worries on her mind. Mickey has many choices to make - a luxury not afforded to the ladies, a vexing consistency in many an Allen movie – and a lot to say as he works through them all.
The trials and tribulations that fall within this lovers’ triangle are a bit too A Streetcar Named Desire for anyone’s good.
This might not have been such a flaw if the writing and acting went beyond the call of duty.
However, in the acting ranks, it is only the under-rated Temple (still awaiting the breakout role to match her unusual, but obvious talent) and a surprisingly nuanced Jim Belushi (as Ginny’s schlubby husband, the aptly-named Humpty) that give it a red-hot go.
While Wonder Wheel is no way a sub-par Woody Allen movie, it is by no means an essential one.