Mr. Wonderful

Finding our purpose in life can be a struggle that poses huge challenges but pays few dividends. So it is for three generations of men in the Benton family – Brian (Michael Madsen), a curmudgeonly, problem-drinking, hypercritical 60-year-old history professor in danger of being forced into early retirement; Danny (Robert Laenen), Brian’s 30-something drug dealer son who’s having trouble getting his act together and experiencing fidelity issues with his gorgeous but flippant romantic interest, Dawn (Brittany Underwood); and Robert (Robert Miano), Brian’s 89-year-old enigmatic father who’s battling dementia with the aid of his loving and devoted but long-suffering wife, Claire (Priscilla Barnes). All three men are lost in their own ways, but they have one goal in common – a search for meaning in life, a quest that’s ever elusive and often beset by an array of issues and upheavals, many of which seem to come out of left field. However, while director Mark David’s domestic drama toils mightily to bring insight to this ponderous notion, this release often wallows in clichés (including the title) and over-the-top, out-of-place story elements. Even though the picture’s heart would appear to be in the right place and commendably attempts to be edgy and unconventional, these efforts seldom yield the hoped-for payoffs one would expect. What’s more, this offering takes its own sweet time to find its focus, an approach that some might say is reflective of the hard-fought soul-searching of its characters but often comes across as a disjointed meandering narrative. In essence, it almost feels like the male equivalent of “Terms of Endearment” (1983) but with less polish, less direction and mixed messages about its core sentiment. To its credit, “Mr. Wonderful” features some surprisingly effective hanky-grabbing moments made possible by the fine performances of Madsen (in one of his final roles), Miano, Barnes and Kate Hodge as Brian’s wife, Corinne, a surly, cynical, sharp-tongued lawyer who serves up hefty helpings of pointed comic relief. Unfortunately, though, Daniel Blake Smith’s screenplay, based on his novel of the same name (2018), doesn’t give the cast much to work with, despite their ambitious efforts to cover shaky material in the script. It’s a shame that the film turned out as it has, given the story’s solid premise and its courageous willingness to address the question of men being open to assessing their feelings, an undertaking that the male of the species is often criticized for *not* doing. But, since this could be looked upon as new ground in cinematic circles, perhaps it deserves a measure of kudos for intrepidly taking that plunge, even if it didn’t pan out better. Maybe the next stab at this subject will turn out better for the cast, crew, and, above all, audiences.