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Wonderland
2004
Fast cars, fast women, sex, drugs, and rock and roll, with guns and ammo thrown in for good measure--that was the world of porn star John Holmes in Los Angeles in the 1970s. But everything came tumbling down in June 1981 when he was accused of taking part in a multiple murder that forms the basis of James Cox's dizzying .. Read more
| Starring | Val Kilmer, Kate Bosworth, Lisa Kudrow, Josh Lucas |
|---|---|
| Director | James Cox |
| Genres | Thriller |
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Wonderland
Fast cars, fast women, sex, drugs, and rock and roll, with guns and ammo thrown in for good measure--that was the world of porn star John Holmes in Los Angeles in the 1970s. But everything came tumbling down in June 1981 when he was accused of taking part in a multiple murder that forms the basis of James Cox's dizzying WONDERLAND. Val Kilmer, who previously embodied rock lead singer Jim Morrison in THE DOORS, transforms himself into the famous porn celebrity in this excitingly sordid tale of excess, which is told from the point of view of several different players, echoing Akira Kurosawa's RASHOMON. Under the stage name Johnny Wadd, Holmes was rumoured to have had sex with more than 14,000 women in some 1,000 X-rated films; his dangerous life caught up with him when he died of AIDS in 1988. Cox has assembled an unlikely cast for this lurid story, including such well-known television stars as Lisa Kudrow (FRIENDS), Dylan McDermott (THE PRACTICE), and Christina Applegate (MARRIED WITH CHILDREN), in addition to Carrie Fisher, Janeane Garofalo, and Eric Bogosian, among others. In order to ensure accuracy, Cox hired Holmes's girlfriend, Dawn Schiller (played by Kate Bosworth), and former wife, Sharon Holmes (Kudrow), as consultants on the project. The handheld camera shots echo the wildness of the world of the man known as Long John Holmes.
| Starring | Val Kilmer, Kate Bosworth, Lisa Kudrow, Josh Lucas |
|---|---|
| Director | James Cox |
| Studio | HIGH FLIERS |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 40 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Thriller |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 13 Sep 2004 Production year: 2004 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews
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The life story of porn legend John Holmes has already been brought to the screen in fictionalised form in Boogie Nights, but this true-crime saga takes up where Paul Thomas Anderson's film left off. It charts the prodigiously equipped performer's descent into a drug-addled hell, during which he is implicated in a bloody quadruple homicide, which wiped out the notorious Wonderland Avenue drugs gang. Val Kilmer's portrayal of Holmes as a doe-eyed dope whose idiocy is as much to blame for the mess he gets himself into as his drug-addiction, leavens what could have been an intolerably sleazy tale with some humanity and even humour, plus there's good support from Lisa Kudrow as his estranged wife and Josh Lucas as the gang's leader. But James Cox's direction is distractingly bombastic and the screenplay unwisely opts for a Rashomon style multiplicity of views that eventually become tedious, especially since the case remains unsolved so we never find out who actually committed the murders.
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Most helpful member's review
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24 out of 32 people found this review helpful
Wonderland
In the late 1970's John Holmes was the biggest(in more ways than one) porn star in the business - he appeared in thousands of features - the Mark Wahlberg character in Boogie Nights was based on him and in that film we see his career hitting the skids due to drug addiction and its this point that James Cox takes as his story - its July 1981 and Holmes(Val Kilmer) is staggering between drug deals with his teenage girlfriend Dawn(Kate Bosworth) trying to make some money to score more drugs.He is barely tolerated by the various drug gangs he hangs out with that includes Eddie Nash, a major LA gangster who has a nice habit of burying the heads of his victims in the desert.
Holmes mentions to another gang led by Ron Launius(Josh Lucas) that Nash has a safe under his bed containing cash,drugs and jewellry and the gang decide to hit Nash - not a good idea but as they are all permanently wreaked this doesn't occur to them.
Nash finds out who hit him and takes appaling revenge resulting in the infamous Wonderland murders.
None of this is apparant at first as Cox films it in a fragmented narrative - this is becoming a slighty overused techique of late but is effective as it does give a feel of how cracked reality must appear to these people - it also allows Cox to view the events from different angles - one gang member is Davis Lind(Dylan Mcdermott) who wasn't at the house the night of the murders and goes to the Police to get protection - we see the events from his perspective where Holmes is a minor figure on the peripheral then when Holmes is taken by the Police we see events in a differnt light - it the Rashamon technique but whereas in that film various versions are told because people percieve things differently in Wonderland everyone is lying to save their own skins - its even questionable if anyone has a real take on what really happened there were so many class A drugs around.
One view on events has Holmes taking a much larger role in the murders that he lets on - he and Nash were eventually to be charged but the case never came to trial.
Kilmer(an actor I'm not normally keen on)is exellent as Holmes- an oddly child-like figure who is just not equipped to operate in this world - Bosworth is also very good as is Lisa Kurdow as his long suffering estranged wife - the females in the film are the only ones who come out of this whole mess with any dignity - the males are all low-life scum who probably got what they deserved - the only hopeful point at the end is that the females survived the experince whereas Holmes was to die of AIDS in 1988 - its very effective at capturing the whole sordid underbelly of the Hollywood Dream.... -
Most recent members' review
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4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
Underground LA
I think this film is primarily a drug -induced hotpot of debauchery and recklessness.
The plot is fairly simple, however the shot sequences are very haphazard and the director takes you in and out of scenes and time frames as frequently as Val Kilmer shoots a line of coke. Mind you, this isnt bad and sometimes can reel you into the film further. The girl playing Val Kilmers girlfriend is seriously mis-cast, she's quite useless, but one could argue a good effort.
Kilmer is good, reminiscent of his Jim Morrison biopic in Oliver stone's 'The Doors'. He comes across as edgy, un-predictable, smooth and 'HiGh' quite well. Some good moments and scenes in this film, Lisa Kudrow does surprisingly well in her role.
It's a watchable film on the whole. If you're in the mood for a walk down the darker side of memory lane smack in the middle of the 70's living close to cocaine overdoses and aimless gunshots... then go on, grab a beer or two and enjoy the evening. -
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Wonderland
Fast cars, fast women, sex, drugs, and rock and roll, with guns and ammo thrown in for good measure--that was the world of porn star John Holmes in Los Angeles in the 1970s. But everything came tumbling down in June 1981 when he was accused of taking part in a multiple murder that forms the basis ...
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