Synopsis
The story of four characters whose lives intertwine amid the hustle and bustle of the Coney Island amusement park in the 1950s: Ginny, an emotionally volatile former actress now working as a waitress in a clam house; Humpty, Ginny’s rough-hewn carousel operator husband; Mickey, a handsome young lifeguard who dreams of becoming a playwright; and Carolina, Humpty’s long-estranged daughter, who is now hiding out from gangsters at her father’s apartment.
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Cast
- Jim BelushiHumpty
- Juno TempleCarolina
- Justin TimberlakeMickey Rubin
- Kate WinsletGinny
- Max CasellaRyan
- Jack GoreRichie
- David KrumholtzJake
- Robert C. KirkBoardwalk Vendor
- Tommy NohillyHumpty's Friend
- Tony SiricoAngelo
Recommendations
- 83
IndieWire
Winslet delivers her most powerful, emotionally resonant performance in more than a decade. - 80
Screen Daily
It would be going too far to say Wonder Wheel is an instant Woody Allen classic, but it’s a reminder that he’s still a force to be reckoned with and a great director of actresses especially. - 70
Variety
It’s got movement and flow, it’s got a vibrant sunset look of honky-tonk nostalgia, and it’s got a bittersweet mood of lyrical despair that the film stays true to right up until the final note. It’s also strikingly acted. - 67
The Playlist
This is an imperfect, if entirely beautiful, film. - 50
TheWrap
Allen is too self-aware and cold a creative personality to create a genuine tragedy in Wonder Wheel. Instead, he makes a gesture towards a tragic situation. - 50
The Hollywood Reporter
The warming affection that the director has bestowed on so many of his best characters is largely missing. In fact, he seems barely engaged. - 50
Slant Magazine
The tone throughout vacillates wildly from silly comedy to classic Hollywood melodrama, and all of it feels as artificial and unsatisfying as the cotton candy twirling in a vending cart. - 50
New York Magazine (Vulture)
Watching the rest of the movie, I wondered if Allen had discovered the script in an old file cabinet (maybe meant as a play?) and appended that meta intro to account for how obvious and old-hat the rest of it is. Probably a good strategy.
