From the Guild Andrews plugin
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For Publication: 6/4/2021
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Richard Roper Film Review
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“Chasing Wonders” Two and a half stars Savino ………. Michael Crisavoli Sr ………. Antonio de la Torre Grandfather… .. Edward James Olmos Grandmother… .. Carmen Mora
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Gravitas Ventures presents a film directed by Paul Meins and written by Judy Morris. There is no MPAA rating. Duration of the show: 85 minutes. Available on Fridays upon request.
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The story behind the making of “Chasing Wonders” could be more interesting than the film itself, given that the filming was spaced for five years in the style of Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, so the same actor could play a teenager and a young adult. and the director is listed by Paul Meins, who has no prior credits of any kind, and whose name was only attached to the film after the original director, Jim Loach, left the project during post-production.
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What we have is the movie, a well-intentioned, well-played, and sometimes visually appealing image that sadly features such an unpleasant and irreparable central character that it’s almost impossible to believe the developments of a particular happy ending at the end of the movie. It feels artificial and forced.
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“Chasing Wonders,” written by the talented Jodi Morris (“Happy Feet,” “Babe: Pig in the City”) and filmed in Australia and Spain, began with a teenager named Savino (Michael Crisafulli) visiting his father’s family home. in Spain in an effort to learn more about his legacy. We go back almost half a dozen years to the main chapter of the story, where a young Savino (played by young Cresafulli) lives in an Australian vineyard with his stern caretaker on duty for his father (Antonio de la Torre); his calm and loving mother (Paz Vega); Her grandparents are wonderfully warm and eccentric (Edward James Olmos and Carmen Mora); His cute and party-loving uncle (Kim Gutiérrez) and his independent Australian girlfriend (Jessica Marais). Too much group.
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This should be a home filled with music, wine, food, love, family warmth, and just about everyone on board except Savino’s father, who suffered a tragedy decades ago and never recovered from it. While Savino’s grandfather tries to instill a sense of adventure in the boy (Olmos also serves as the storyteller, sharing a puppet of wisdom with his gloriously raspy voice), his father constantly steps on the boy’s dreams and tells him that work Lasted. it is the only way to do it in this world, and the vineyard is its only future.
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This man gets angry when his father-in-law tries to teach Savino life lessons, when his mother-in-law speaks her mind, when young Savino gets into the kind of trouble boys his age tend to get – you name the situation, and You’ll find a reason to explode and rush He even kicks his parents out of the house when he feels they are undermining his authority, sending them on a bus knowing they have nowhere to go. It is this kind of constant cruelty that undermines the subsequent sequences that include the revelation and reconciliation.
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“Chasing Wonders” isn’t so much about chasing those wonders as it is about the heartbreak of growing up on a home run from a cold, broken man who doesn’t realize how lucky he is that his entire extended family hasn’t left him alone in his life. misery years ago.
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Minireview: “Chasing Wonders” (Drama, Unrated, 85 min). A boy living in an Australian vineyard is encouraged by his eccentric grandfather (Edward James Olmos). But the boy’s father (Antonio de la Torre) is so dirty and irreparable that he threatens to spoil a well-acted and sometimes eye-catching film. Rating: two and a half stars.
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