Chasing Wonders

Beautiful and quality product. Simple and not over dramatic. Less is more. If you like this, I recommend a Chinese movie called "So long my son".

Chasing Wonders (2020) shows that simple concepts when well developed can lead to great movies. When I say simple I mean the essence of the plot: a coming of age story which explores relashionship conflicts in a migrant family, original from Spain, that lives in Australia. The simplicity ends when we start analysing the screenplay. Judy Morris writing is very smart. First of all, it was a clever idea to alternate past and present through the narrative. It adds a nostalgia to the scenes about the past, making them more alike memories and also increases the will of knowing what happend and led to that future, making the movie more interesting. Another important thing to mention is the narrator. The feeling of somebody "watching from above" connects a lot with the story and is totally justified in a point in the narrative. To finish my analysis on the writing, there were many moments in which something said before was used later on in the film giving a strong meaning to many lines and conversations. In a film that focus in such a personal environment it's indispensable that the characters look real, with cohesive personalities and natural interactions. In this path, no line was wasted. Though some characters don't have many scenes, they do look relatable, realistic and their interactions feel real. This impression has a strong connection with the acting. It elevated even more the screenplay. I didn't know the cast and it didn't stop me from connecting with them. I highlight here Edward James Olmos, who is very charismatic and natural as Luis. Besides, his narration is fantastic, his voice is beautiful, very powerfull and touching. Michael Crisafulli acting amazed me as he was quite young in the scenes about Salvino past. He didn't look intimidated at all by the experienced and talented cast beside him. Antonio De La Torre, who plays Felipe, the main character's father, had a brilliant performance with many memorable scenes. Not only regarding lines but his body language too was perfect, every look, making Felipe almost touchable. The pace was fantastic. It didn't drag nor looked short though it has less than an hour and a half, so I praise Nicholas Gaster for his editing. Paul Meins shots together with Denson Baker cinematography and the special effects made Chasing Wonders a feast for the eyes. The desert scenes are breathtaking and there are many clever shots throughout the film. Furthermore, the music elevated the atmosphere and helped turning this movie a beautiful and touching memory.

Beautiful film about a boy and his relationship with his family spanning both time and geographies. Stunningly shot, with a strong message of understanding, forgiveness and making the most of your life. A must see.

(No Spoilers) I'm deciding to make a quick review for this movie since I noticed almost nobody reviewed it, and I'm the first non positive review. To be clear this is a fine movie, it's just what you'd expect from this type of movie. In fact I'd say it is slightly above average, but only slightly.

The technical elements are decent. It's pretty well shot, but there are some distracting shots as well. There's some scenes in a desert area where they show the night sky, and some shots look very nice, but for others it was distracting because of the way it was edited. I'm not sure if it was the color grading, or if they used some other VFX's but it just looked off, and it took me out of many scenes. I saw it with my family and my father who almost never notices VFX noticed this in particular and pointed it out.

The acting is pretty solid. The main child actor is definitely better than most child actors and handles the movie well. He's able to play off with the other adult actors as if they were a real family. None of the actors are that great, but they're all quite good with their characters, and feel authentic. There's some good stuff handled with maturity here, but there's also some silly or melodramatic character moments you'd come to expect from these movies. For the most part though this movie does it a lot less than most I've seen, it wasn't annoying or anything.

Edward James Olmos is also in this movie. He's easily the best actor, but they don't do too much with him. In fact he's laying down for most of the movie. He's most used for these cheesy moments, like him narrating some quotes you'd see on a Facebook mother's page every few minutes in the movie. It's completely unnecessary, but at least his voice is nice. The movie has a fine message, it's just been said to death in these coming of age stories. Perhaps I just don't like the genre unless it's doing something inventive or subversive.

I appreciate the short length. Many of these types of movies try to be way longer than they should and it just looses me. Especially with these simple plots that are predictable and have to be carried by their execution. I can't say I was particularly engaged with this, but it mostly kept my attention, and I'd say I enjoyed it enough for me not to dislike it. That being said for this particular movie I did think it could've maybe used a bit more time for certain things. Some side characters are very thin. There's a few moments where something big happens, or something interesting could happen, and then it just cuts away or to the future and it's resolved. There's also a few scenes where I felt some character relationships and motives could've been better fleshed out because there's some drama I was questioning why it was exactly happening.

I would not usually criticize a movie for its rating, but this movie truly had no reason to be going for an R-Rating. The swearing was unnecessary, and quite vulgar for the children too. Not that kids don't swear, it's actually somewhat realistic to some kids nowadays, but making a coming of age story about a boy and his father and alienating the audience who will identify with the boy is kinda dumb. It especially feels forced when there's a pointless sex scene with nudity in the middle of it. If perhaps the swearing and nudity was necessary for some actual plot or character purpose, then fine, but to me it just felt forced on and pointless.

One of this movies selling points is how it took 5 years to film because they waited for the main actor to age up to film scenes in the future. Honestly this was just a gimmick and pointless. The scenes are so minimal they could've used any other actor and it wouldn't have really been a big deal. I doubt many people would've even cared or noticed. It's completely unecessaey especially when none of the other cast comes back. In fact those scenes aren't even that important to the overall movie and it could've been written out. This isn't a criticism, I just wanted to point that out.

These may seem like nitpicks, but there just isn't that much to talk about with this movie, and I want to justify being the only non positive review so far. Overall there is nothing that I found to be bad about this movie, but there's nothing that's that good either. If you're a fan of these coming of age stories you'll probably enjoy this, but don't watch it with your kids. Is it better than the average one? Yes, but only by a little. At the very least it's very short so it doesn't overstay it's welcome. Most people will probably like it but it's not a movie that will stick you with you unless it particularly relates to you. I'd wait for it to be on a streaming site if it interests you instead of buying it.

(5.5/10)

I saw this movie in Adelaide when it premiered and didn't know what to expect. It's not the genre of movie I personally would immediately choose. How lucky was I to give it a try.

This movie has a storyline that draws you in, with strong characters interacting around a young boy much like tornado winds blow around the eye of a storm.

It's billed as a coming-of-age movie, but I found it had deep undercurrents of family dynamics and tensions, with past memories affecting present relationships.

The cinematography was breath-taking; from the sweeping views across the Flinders Ranges and the night-time desert skies to the Spanish countryside, with all its colour.

I loved the script. One minute, we're experiencing dialogue with that cheeky Aussie charm and sarcastic humour; next, we're in the middle of a heavy confrontational scene.

For me, the grandfather (played by Edward James Olmos, who also narrated), was the star. His charisma and presence on the screen was huge.

Ultimately, the movie will entertain and uplift you, as well as resonate with anyone who has experienced complex family relationships ... and that's probably everyone.