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The Great New Wonderful, 2005

The Great New Wonderful

English, Hindi

USA

Rating:5.8
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Profile of The Great New Wonderful

The Great New Wonderful can be described as clever, touching, and bittersweet. The plot revolves around misfits, ambition, and parents and children. The main genres are drama and comedy. In terms of style, The Great New Wonderful involves multiple stories and stars an ensemble cast. In approach, it is realistic. It is set, at least in part, in an elevator and in an office. The Great New Wonderful is located in New York. It takes place in contemporary times.

Summary of The Great New Wonderful

Viewers may be shocked to learn that a film set one year after September 11th was directed by Danny Leiner, the man responsible for such stoner comedies as HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE and DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR?. While those films were hardly subtle, A GREAT NEW WONDERFUL tries very hard to be, never directly referring to 9/11 but rather to the general unease that was left in its wake. In what has become a familiar formula, the film relies on interweaving separate narratives to tell five stories simultaneously. As the lives of several New Yorkers from a variety of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds unwind in September 2002, we are invited to look for clues of post-traumatic stress. What unfolds, however, could very well have occurred in September 2000, as the film never clearly states how direct a connection the characters have to the World Trade Center attacks.

As a ruthlessly ambitious young cake-maker (Maggie Gyllenhaal) aims to outdo her competition (Edie Falco), two immigrant security guards drive around the city and offer commentary on life. Meanwhile, a yuppie mother (Judy Greer) struggles to control her violent and disturbed 10-year-old, a lonely older woman (Olympia Dukakis) in Coney Island attempts to escape her tired routine, and an oddball psychiatrist (Tony Shalhoub) is hired to help an office worker (Jim Gaffigan) who lost several colleagues in the attacks. Sam Catlin's script creates a vagueness and mystery which is both refreshing and frustrating. While never dwelling in sentimentality, the film is thought-provoking in its pondering of the ways in which people deal and fail to deal with things stressful, painful, and shocking.

Details

Language: English, Hindi
Country: USA
Release date: 22 April 2005
Runtime: 87 min

Cast and Crew

Maggie Gyllenhaal as Emme Keeler in The Great New Wonderful
Maggie Gyllenhaal

as Emme Keeler

Edie Falco as Safarah Polsky in The Great New Wonderful
Edie Falco

as Safarah Polsky

Photos

The Great New Wonderful (2005)
The Great New Wonderful (2005)

Clips

The Great New Wonderful
The Great New Wonderful: Official Trailer

Critics Reviews

Chicago Tribune
The story lines don't intersect in that schematic, "Crash"-y way, which is refreshing. Less refreshing is the neat-and-tidiness of the individual exchanges in Sam Catlin's script.
Entertainment Weekly
Working from a stagy script by Sam Catlin, director Danny Leiner uses a dainty palette of tristesse (untouched when he made Dude, Where's My Car?) to suggest that the shadow of 9/11 makes every discontent more pathetic.

Users Reviews

Films that are completely unpredictable without being self-indulgent are rare these days. This was one of them. I had not read the summary before watching, so i wasn't expecting any 9/11 connection and was not disappointed. With excellent &...
Likely to see
Not for me

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