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Vail Film Fest: Boy Wonder (2010)

Justin here with a report form the Vail Film Festival and the movie, Boy Wonder.

I'm one of the few people I know that actually likes Robin: The Boy Wonder from Batman comics. I more or less like every incarnation of the character and I think he brings out Batman's humanity. Obviously I wasn't expecting a Batman movie when I queued up to see writer/director, Michael Morrisey's first feature length film, Boy Wonder. What I did expect was some sort of riff on superhero tropes like a more grounded Kick-Ass. The marketing material I saw ahead of the movie sold it as something akin to that. The tagline in my press materials simply said, “Beware the Hero,” and showed main actor, Caleb Steinmeyer with a maniacal grin and streaked war-paint-like mascara on his face. What I got, was not that.
Steinmeyer portrays Sean Donovan, who as a child witnessed the brutal murder of his mother. He dedicates the rest of his life to tracking down and killing the guy who did it. One of the reoccurring themes in the movie is the limits of due process. Sean exacts revenge on people who got away with their crimes because of slick lawyers or procedural loop holes. Also, Sean is a straight A student, championship level fighter, chemist, and linguist.

Boy Wonder is a movie that is conceptually confused. A few scenes of the movie make it seem like this would be the superhero riff I was expecting – the fact that it wasn't didn't really bother me and wouldn't have lessened my interest in seeing Boy Wonder much. I think that a more appropriate title may have been “Death Wish jr.” This is more of a straight up vigilante movie than anything resembling a superhero story.

Any regular Movie Advocate reader will know that I have a particular fondness for the Death Wish movies. And what are Batman and Robin if not vigilantes? The problem is that Morrisey has a hard time juggling the competing themes and tones. I never bought wholly into the idea that Steinmeyer's character could juggle training like an MMA champion, pulling straight A's, teaching himself chemestry and knowing several languages including Mandarin Chinese. I might have accepted that if the movie skewed more on the superhero side. Conversely, I never really bought the cold Bronson-like vigilante parts because of the few parts of the movie where Sean goes superhero. On top of this hot mess, Morrissey infers that Steinmeyer might have mental health issues and we're also treated to a very pedestrian police procedural B-plot.

I want to stress that overall I liked Boy Wonder. Even though the pieces didn't end up forming a cogent whole, those individual pieces were pretty damn good. Morrissey has a hell of a lot of potential and I'll definitely be watching out for his next movie. The movie takes place in and around Brooklyn, a city Morrissey clearly loves. At his best, this captured the sense of place that other great New York movies like Manhattan, Blast of Silence, and The French Connection have. The composition is quite good and Morrissey gets really great performances from most of the actors here. Some parts needed some work – the action scenes in particular followed the post-action tropes of shaky cams and quick cuts that make it virtually impossible to tell what's going on. A lot of the visual excitement from a story like this should have been from a 19 year old kid kicking the shit out of huge pimps and gang bangers. The scenes at night and in darkness were problematic as well, it's a bad sign when I notice how shitty a lighting job is.

Steinmeyer does a good job with what he's given. His character doesn't have much range though going from sullen and inconsolable to very angry without much outside that continuum. Zulay Henao is the weak link as detective Theresa Ames. Her acting level and presence make her scenes feel like Law and Order outtakes. The rest of the cast does well.

The thing that was most frustrating about the movie was that it seemed right at the cusp of asking some interesting questions on the nature of heroism, reality vs. fantasy, the limitations of justice, and mental health issues. For instance, in the one scene where Sean actually obscures his face to fight for what he thinks is right among other people, he beats up a bum with mental issues on a train who was harassing people – hardly what I'd call a heroic act. Sean himself may have mental health issues. This conflict was never given it's due. Interesting in that Alan Moore took that stance with Watchmen that anyone who would dress up and fight crime must have a mental condition. Sean's mental issues come up somewhat unexpectedly. They were alluded to earlier in the film, but at the time I thought that Director Morressy was just using fancy Tony Scott style editing techniques. The scenes with Detective Ames are used to kick the plot along to a conclusion, but I never really bought her personal investment in the case. She does something at the end that I think was very out of character and I didn't think followed her arc.

Some people might also be put off by the level of Brooklyn hipster-ness in this movie. Steinmeyer's wardrobe looks like it came exclusively from American Apparel, the soundtrack is comprised of indie-rock classics, mostly Deerhunter (a personal favorite of mine), and the moodiness comes dangerously close to being emo or some sort of faux-goth silliness. There is a lot here to like in spite of the shortcomings of the movie. I don't think it will be too hard for Boy Wonder to find the right kind of audience. I probably would have loved it when I was in high school.