There must be a pact between Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker that as long as she's pulling in the big bucks making films like Did You Hear About The Morgans? and Sex and the City 2, he's allowed to make small films that are meant to pull at the heartstrings and teach life lessons. Wonderful World is the smallest of small films -- so small, in fact, that it only made $8,600 during its brief stint in theaters in January (not much, but enough to buy Sarah Jessica a couple pair of Louboutins).
The basic premise of the film is "Matthew Broderick, the world's most negative man, learns a life lesson," but the great supporting cast (Michael Kenneth Williams, Sanaa Lathan and Jodelle Ferland) keeps the film from turning overly sappy. Broderick stars as Ben Singer, a cynical, mad-at-the-world musician for kids whose roommate, played by Williams, falls into a coma. When his roommate's sister arrives from Senegal, she teaches Ben that The Man isn't keeping him down, he's keeping himself down. By the way, Philip Baker Hall plays The Man. No joke.
The DVD has a few extras that are just a few minutes each: a wordless behind-the-scenes video diary, a brief interview segment where all the actors discuss how excited they are to work with Broderick, and two other features that are basically short promos, showing scenes from the film and explain its evolution. It's typical Hollywood schmaltz, but we'll take it over "Failure to Launch" any day.
Buyer, Renter. Coaster: Coaster
Special Features Include:
As Soon As Fish Fall Out Of The Sky: Character And Story of "Wonderful World"
Behind The Scenes: Working with Writer/Director Josh Goldin And Actor Matthew Broderick
Behind The Scenes Montage
HDNet: A Look At "Wonderful World"
Amazon DVD Price: $22.99
Amazon Blu-Ray Price: $20.99