Wonder

Front Row at the Movies by Shirrel Rhoades

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Treacher Collins Syndrome (TCS) is a genetic disorder characterized by deformities of the ears, eyes, cheekbones, and chin. Not what you’d normally chose as the theme for a feel-good comedy-drama starring Julia Roberts.

But it is.

In a new film titled “Wonder,” the Oscar-winning actress plays the mother of a ten-year-old boy suffering from TCS. Owen Wilson plays the father.

Jacob Tremblay (he played the kid in “Room”) is cast as Auggie Pullman, the boy with the facial deformity.

The story follows the tribulations of young Auggie when his parents quit homeschooling him and enroll him in Beecher Prep. The idea is to acclimate him to real life and show everyone that he’s just an ordinary kid despite his gargoyle looks.

Needless to say, it’s not a smooth transition.

Noah Jupe plays Nick, the best friend who betrays Auggie. And Bryce Gheisar plays Julien, the school bully who makes Auggie’s life miserable.

We did say this was a comedy-drama, right?

Well, everything turns out okay for Auggie, but you’ll want to see the movie to follow the events that lead to this kinda happy ending.

“Wonder” is currently showing at Tropic Cinema.

The movie is based on the same-named book by R.J. Palacio. That’s the pseudonym of Raquel Jaramillo, who said she wrote “Wonder” after an incident where “she and her three-year-old son were waiting in line to buy ice cream. Her son noticed a girl with facial birth defects. Fearing he would react badly, Palacio attempted to remove her son from the situation so as not to upset the girl or her family but ended up worsening the situation.”

After hearing the Natalie Merchant song titled “Wonder,” Jaramillo realized that the incident could teach a valuable lesson, so she sat down and wrote the book.

When Julia Roberts read the book, it affected her so deeply she begged for a part in the film version. “It stopped me in my tracks. I read it with my kids, I loved it, they loved it. I hurled myself on the mercy of the producers and said, ‘Please, let me be in this movie. I wanna be the mom’.”

Roberts goes on to say, “I couldn’t put the book down. It is such a powerful way of telling people how they should behave to others. It reminded me to find moments in every day to choose the nice approach with other people.”

A book (and film) with a simple message: Be nice to other people.

Email Shirrel: srhoades@aol.com