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Wonderful World? No, Terrible

Broderick mopes about in sentimental, cliched dramedy

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 8, 2010 2:39 PM CST

(Newser) – Critics are not sold on Wonderful World, a creaky indie starring Matthew Broderick as a misanthropic children’s folksinger. Here’s what the critics are saying:

World is “a checklist-indie that offers up clichés with gusto,” even flirting with Magical Negro stereotypes, writes Nick Schager of Slant. “Broderick mopes and grouses admirably,” but this treacle is still “pretty close to the bottom of the barrel.”
Keith Uhlich of Time Out New York agrees, crediting the cast with giving a “committed, nearly convincing effort” in what’s ultimately “fey Indiewood bullcrap.”

The script, a “shopworn tale of redemption,” is atrocious, writes Melissa Anderson of the Village Voice, and it’s heartbreaking to see talented female lead Sanaa Lathan in “such a ridiculous, implausible role." Broderick, meanwhile, “looks as if he wants to hide behind his three-day growth.”
Indeed, Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times wonders what the heck happened to Broderick. “One looks at the guy and he seems miserable,” he writes. “Is adulthood that dreary? Is there something else we should know?”

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Wonderful World? No, Terrible

Broderick mopes about in sentimental, cliched dramedy