Wonderstruck - 3 smiles

Although "Wonderstruck" has a very satisfying ending, the journey to that conclusion is disappointing. Director Todd Haynes illustrates his mastery by bringing bygone eras to the screen, but the story he tells struggles to retain our interest and emotional investment. The movie's structure is ambitious. It begins with thematically similar stories separated by 50 years and as the plot progresses, the two seemingly disconnected characters start to converge. The 1927 sequences replicate silent films, with black-and-white images and no sound. 1977 is shot using muted colors of a 70s production, but the effect is like a 1920s short spliced together with a full-length movie made in the mid-70s.

The 1927 story concerns a young deaf girl, Rose (Millicent Simmonds), who runs away from home, escaping her cold, uncaring father, who has no interest in nurturing her. She heads for New York in search of her favorite star, Lillian Mayhew (Julianne Moore), who is appearing in a play there. As it turns out, there is another element that connects them and Rose soon ends up on the run, spending time wandering around the American Museum of Natural History. Meanwhile, in 1977 rural Minnesota, 12-year-old Ben (Oakes Fegley), is trying to come to terms with the death of his mother, Elaine (Michelle Williams), who passed away before revealing the name of his father. Newly deafened as a result of a freak accident, Ben fathers clues about his father and heads for New York City. With the help of Jamie (Jaden Michael), a lonely boy he befriends, he beings his search and the storylines start to converge. While an interesting way to tell the story, the jumping back and forth between time periods hampers any attempt to develop relationships and, hence, our emotional distance. The performances are all good. Oakes Fegley is believable as a newly-deaf orphan who is desperate to find a connection. Millicent Simmonds replicates the look and mannerisms of 20s starlets. Julianne Moore has the more complex acting job, but she accomplishes it with the effectiveness of an Oscar winner. Although not without its pleasures, "Wonderstruck" isn't fully satisfying.