I saw a screening of this film last night. Early word on the film was that it was brilliant and Val Kilmer gives an award worthy performance as porn star John Holmes. I can't quite call this film a masterpiece, but it is very good. It will not be for everyone because the film has very little linear narrative, it moves from impression to impression very quickly. Val Kilmer does give an outstanding performance because he has most of the screen time. Many fine performers in the cast (Christina Applegate, Janeane Garofalo) have so little screen time, they do not get the chance to make much of an impression. I'd say next to Kilmer, the best work was by Kate Bosworth as Dawn, Holmes underage girlfriend. The technical work on the film, the sound editing, the photography were incredible; several times, I jumped in the my seat as if I was watching a horror film because of the sound and images. This story inspired the earlier film "Boogie Nights" and if I had to compare the two, I'd say this film is much more raw, whereas "Boogie Nights" had much more character development and you came away with much more sympathy for and empathy with the characters in the earlier film. This film is what it is and makes no attempts to be more accessible. Overall, it was very frank, very violent but very entertaining.
Review of Wonderland
