Presumably inspired by the success of 'Boogie Nights' and the nostalgia for vintage porn resulting from the recent mainstreaming of the industry, 'Wonderland' is one of the most pointless and grotesque films made in recent memory. Amplifying the disappointment is the presence of a superb slate of actors--Val Kilmer, Dylan McDermott, rising star Josh Lucas, Christina Applegate, Eric Bogosian, Kate Bosworth, and especially Lisa Kudrow--almost all of whom are horribly miscast, none more so than Kilmer, who bears little to no resemblance to the real John Holmes and whose performance is basically a retread of his overrated turn as another icon of '70s excess, Jim Morrison, in Oliver Stone's 'The Doors.' (There's a special irony in this fact: Morrison himself lived in a house on Wonderland Avenue, not far from where the murders took place, during the height of Laurel Canyon's popularity as a haven for rock stars.) Stylistically, 'Wonderland' is a bad knockoff of 'Boogie Nights,' the central character of which, Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg), was closely based on John Holmes, and which also contains a subplot inspired by the Wonderland Avenue murders. Director Cox commits highway robbery, ripping off P.T. Anderson and Quentin Tarantino with so little nuance or originality that 'Wonderland' would look like the work of a pimply film school undergrad if it weren't for the presence of so many recognizable actors.
Val Kilmer is a curious actor--totally overrated in terms of his skill, he is nevertheless a magnetic screen presence who is always interesting to watch, even when he's laying it on thicker than a side of bacon. The trouble here is that the real John Holmes, unlike Kilmer, was the total opposite of charismatic--a skinny, ugly goof-ball blessed (or cursed) with an enormous organ, Holmes was a sideshow act, not a stud. Furthermore, by the time the events depicted in 'Wonderland' took place, he was a pathetic train wreck of addiction. Unable to work in porn, he survived by pimping out his naive girlfriend (who, like the people who made this film, was under the impression that there was something 'cool' about a has-been porn-star) and by ingratiating himself with San Fernando Valley drug dealers who got a kick out of befriending the infamous Johnny Wadd.
The film opens with the girlfriend, Dawn Schiller (Kate Bosworth), having wild sex in a bathroom with Holmes while the aunt who is trying to get her away from Holmes and his ilk suffers a conniption fit on the other side of the door. Wild and reckless, hell yeah--except for one thing: the whole reason Holmes ended up involved in the Wonderland murders was because he could no longer perform sexually due to the physical consequences of his cocaine addiction, and thus was cast out even by the sleaze-balls of the porn industry. For a film pejoratively meant to be 'true,' this semi-glorifying distortion of Holmes' character is absurd and inappropriate. And that's just the beginning.
Other actors fare better than Kilmer--Eric Bogosian as the sleazy club impresario and dealer Eddie Nash; Lisa Kudrow as Holmes' estranged wife from his life before porn and coke--but Kilmer's performance is the albatross around the neck of a misconceived project. Also somewhat ridiculous is Dylan McDermott, who is far too healthy and articulate to pass for a junkie biker from the Valley. Josh Lucas is, like Kilmer, charismatic enough to get away with things we won't tolerate from less magnetic actors, but he looks too much like a Princeton undergrad to be believable as a hardcore drug user.
Finally, the gore in this film is as pointless and inscrutable as it is inevitable. James Cox knows no sense of restraint, flinging a sickening montage of bludgeoning and gunfire at the viewer so we can all get how gritty and 'real' the film is. Funny how the violence is about the only thing in this film that's remotely realistic.
'Boogie Nights' said all that needs to be said about the first heyday of the porn industry, with much greater originality, wit, and generosity. 'Wonderland' was just a bad idea.
Val Kilmer is a curious actor--totally overrated in terms of his skill, he is nevertheless a magnetic screen presence who is always interesting to watch, even when he's laying it on thicker than a side of bacon. The trouble here is that the real John Holmes, unlike Kilmer, was the total opposite of charismatic--a skinny, ugly goof-ball blessed (or cursed) with an enormous organ, Holmes was a sideshow act, not a stud. Furthermore, by the time the events depicted in 'Wonderland' took place, he was a pathetic train wreck of addiction. Unable to work in porn, he survived by pimping out his naive girlfriend (who, like the people who made this film, was under the impression that there was something 'cool' about a has-been porn-star) and by ingratiating himself with San Fernando Valley drug dealers who got a kick out of befriending the infamous Johnny Wadd.
The film opens with the girlfriend, Dawn Schiller (Kate Bosworth), having wild sex in a bathroom with Holmes while the aunt who is trying to get her away from Holmes and his ilk suffers a conniption fit on the other side of the door. Wild and reckless, hell yeah--except for one thing: the whole reason Holmes ended up involved in the Wonderland murders was because he could no longer perform sexually due to the physical consequences of his cocaine addiction, and thus was cast out even by the sleaze-balls of the porn industry. For a film pejoratively meant to be 'true,' this semi-glorifying distortion of Holmes' character is absurd and inappropriate. And that's just the beginning.
Other actors fare better than Kilmer--Eric Bogosian as the sleazy club impresario and dealer Eddie Nash; Lisa Kudrow as Holmes' estranged wife from his life before porn and coke--but Kilmer's performance is the albatross around the neck of a misconceived project. Also somewhat ridiculous is Dylan McDermott, who is far too healthy and articulate to pass for a junkie biker from the Valley. Josh Lucas is, like Kilmer, charismatic enough to get away with things we won't tolerate from less magnetic actors, but he looks too much like a Princeton undergrad to be believable as a hardcore drug user.
Finally, the gore in this film is as pointless and inscrutable as it is inevitable. James Cox knows no sense of restraint, flinging a sickening montage of bludgeoning and gunfire at the viewer so we can all get how gritty and 'real' the film is. Funny how the violence is about the only thing in this film that's remotely realistic.
'Boogie Nights' said all that needs to be said about the first heyday of the porn industry, with much greater originality, wit, and generosity. 'Wonderland' was just a bad idea.