Themes: Mothers and Daughters, Single Life, Looking For Love
Main Cast: Hope Davis, Alan Gelfant, Victor Argo, Jon Benjamin, Cara Buono
Release Year: 1998
Country: US
Run Time: 105 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
An independent romantic comedy, Next Stop, Wonderland (1998) made headlines at the Sundance Film Festival when it became the object of a bidding war, ultimately won by Miramax Pictures to the tune of $6 million. Hope Davis stars as Erin Castleton, a night-shift nurse who's cruelly dumped by her boyfriend Sean (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a political activist. When her mother Piper (Holland Taylor) places a wildly inaccurate personals ad in the local paper, Erin is at first enraged, but then becomes curious. After she dates a variety of men who are all wrong for her, she meets Andre (Jose Zuniga), a handsome Brazilian music expert who invites her to Sao Paulo. Although Erin likes Andre, her Mr. Right is actually Alan Monteiro (Alan Gelfant), a plumber she's never met, though the two keep crossing paths. Trying to break out of his working class existence, Alan is studying marine biology but is indebted to a local mob boss, who wants him to kidnap a star blowfish from the local aquarium. Actress Taylor, the real-life aunt of co-writer, editor and director Brad Anderson, also appeared in his next film, Happy Accidents (1999). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Review
In a time-worn formula, Next Stop Wonderland thrusts its two sympathetic characters into the same hellish dating world, forever one step away from meeting each other, until destiny finally gives them a break. While this structure grows cloying in some films, such as 1997's 'Til There Was You, here it's redeemed by an indie talkiness that makes the whole outing more cerebral than a typical romantic comedy might. But it's still light on its feet, due both to the naturalistic writing and the influence of the two charming leads, Hope Davis and Alan Gelfant. Their earnest goodness is actually fun to watch, and it underscores the shallowness of the other specimens in the dating pool, only slightly caricatured for effect. There's some good screwball humor here, too -- a lot of the minimal drama surrounds whether Gelfant's goodhearted marine biologist should whack a fish. Director Brad Anderson brings Boston, where the film was shot, to vivid life, setting several scenes in haunts that are popular with real Boston twentysomethings. The film's title comes from a station on the blue line of Boston's subway system, otherwise known as "the T." ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Lawrence Gilliard, Jr. - Brett; Philip Seymour Hoffman - Sean; Jason Lewis - Rory; Roger Rees - Ray Thornback; Sam Seder - Kevin Monteiro; Robert Stanton - Robert; Holland Taylor - Piper Castleton; Calliope Thorne - Cricket; Jimmy Tingle - Lowrey The Bartender; Lyn Vaus - Daryl; José Zuñiga - Andre De Silva; Robert Klein - Arty Lesser
Credit
Ari Newman - Associate Producer, Laura Bernieri - Co-producer, Rachel Horovitz - Co-producer, Michael Ross - First Assistant Director, Brad Anderson - Director, Brad Anderson - Editor, Mark Donadio - Line Producer, Claudio Ragazzi - Composer (Music Score), Chad Detweiller - Production Designer, Uta Briesewitz - Cinematographer, Mitchell B. Robbins - Producer, Lyn Vaus - Screenwriter, Brad Anderson - Screenwriter
Two people, living in Boston and unlucky in love - a nurse (Davis) whose activist boyfriend (Hoffman) has just walked out on their relationship to help an Indian tribe fight off a land development deal, and a plumber (Gelfant) struggling to pay off family obligations while pursuing a career as a marine biologist - deal with personal and professional problems and stumble through relationships, continually crossing one another's paths without ever truly meeting and realizing how perfect they are for one another. Time and time again one almost catches the other's eye, only for circumstances to intervene. Finally, after a series of ups and downs, both of their budding relationships with others crash and burn, just in time for a chance meeting on the MBTA train heading to Wonderland station on the outskirts of Boston.
This film was an audience favorite at the Sundance Film Festival in 1998 and set off a bidding war among studio distributors, with Miramax Films paying $6 million for the $1 million film's North American distribution rights [1]. However, the film only garnered a disappointing $3.3 million during its theatrical release [2].
