Great New Wonderful (2005)

The child from hell puzzles his softly emotional parents. An animated security guard chats with his taciturn partner about life. A driven pastry chef annihilates her competition. The boring life of a housewife receives some much-needed agitation. An unorthodox psychologist reveals his patient’s angry side.

While perusing the selection at my local movie store, I noticed beautiful Maggie Gyllenhaal gracing the jacket of The Great New Wonderful. That alone made me pick up the DVD and read the synopsis on the back. Since it sounded relatively clever (and Maggie and I are secret lovahs) I decided that it would be my pick of the night.

Dubbed “a brilliant comedy”, The Great New Wonderful didn’t deliver the hilarity I was expecting. Instead, the movie was almost suffocatingly emotional and, although I did laugh out loud during some scenes, it would have been better labeled a drama.

Overall, on a scale from “Eh.” to “FANFUCKINGTASTIC!” I give The Great New Wonderful an “Alllllright.” Watch it if you like quirky little movies that don’t have much flow, but let you glimpse the inner workings of its characters lives.