Be Kind, Please Rewind

He’s a Lead Balloon Animal. He’s the…

Vidiot

Week of February 16, 2018

Bad ideas make good ideas look even better. First up…

Wonder

Usually when a student wears a mask to school everyone heads for the nearest exit and calls 9-1-1.

However, if it’s the concealed kid in this drama, you welcome them.

Born with a defect that finds him hiding behind a mask in public, Auggie (Jacob Tremblay) has been homeschooled by his parents (Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson) his whole life - until now. Exposed, Auggie faces his peers for the first time. While some are kind, most are not.

Meanwhile, his older sister (Izabela Vidovic) competes against her former BFF for the lead in the school play.

From facial deformities to middle school bullies to a dead dog to an amateur production of Our Town, this family melodrama pulls every tear-jerking trick it can to endear itself to the viewer. Unfortunately, its manipulative schmaltz is boilerplate, sitcom-y even.

Besides, once you get to high school every teenager has a facial deformity.  Red Light

Roman J. Israel, Esq.

With its high rate of slip and falls accidents, lawyers are the only people who love winter.

However, the eccentric attorney in this drama isn’t interested personal injury suits right now.

When his law firm partner suffers a heart attack, Roman J. Israel (Denzel Washington) must unwilling step out from behind-the-scenes to represent the cases in court he has only researched. His lack of social skills sinks the firm and Roman soon finds work with a shark (Colin Farrell). But when his boss wants him to put profit before ethics, Roman’s mental state deteriorates.

While Washington plays the unconventional counsel with aplomb, the one note storyline unfortunately is constructed around his social awkwardness, and not much else. With very little driving this legal drama besides a feeble murder case, it just becomes a meditation on an exasperating character.

Moreover, it’s not a good sign when your lawyer can plead insanity.  Yellow Light

***Facial Conformity***

Mask

If inner beauty were important Miss America would have a colonoscopy portion of the show.

That is why the deformed student in this drama is having a hard time fitting in.

Born with cranial disfigurement Rocky Dennis (Eric Stoltz) wasn’t expected to survive. But with the love of his mother (Cher) and her biker gang, Rocky proved medical science wrong. And he’ll do it again as his enter junior high.

While students initially react poorly to his appearance, Rocky wins them and his teachers over with his humour and intellect. However, his health and his mom’s addictions undermine his scholastic achievements.   

With believable performances, a touching script and remarkable make-up, this true story doesn’t pander to the public to get its point of accepting others across. Hopeful, without being pretentious or exploitative, Mask is a bonafide tearjerker.

Incidentally, facial disfigurement and scientific brilliance are the leading cause of super-villainy among teenagers.

He has Colouring Book Smarts. He’s the…

Vidiot