WONKA😊

PREMISE

With dreams of opening a shop in a city renowned for its chocolate, a young and poor Willy Wonka discovers that a cartel of greedy chocolatiers runs the industry.

THE GOOD STUFF

TIMOTHEE (The actor)- when discussing Timothee Chalamet as an actor in a group setting, the question will eventually pop up whether he is a proper “leading man.” A lot has already been proven to me, but from what I can tell, he does not represent what a “leading man” is supposed to be. A very good actor? Of course. A Johnny Depp-esque type heartthrob? Sure. But the type of “leading man” that can do, say, a superhero movie of some kind? Not really.

Timothee Chalamet is different. He is the leading man motif as Drake is to a stereotypical rapper motif. He is built precisely for things like this. In this film, he is effortlessly charming, adds gravitas to dramatic stuff whenever the moment calls, and keeps things fun. WONKA is another feather in the cap of his very diverse resume.

SUPPORTING CAST- The supporting characters dip in and out of the story at various times. Luckily for this movie, they got many wonderful character actors to keep things funny and charming. Olivia Colman and Keegan Michael-Key always find a way to be comedic standouts in whatever they’re in. This is no exception. Mathew Baynton, Paterson Joseph, and Matt Lucas are a trio of fantastic antagonists, and Hugh Grant stands out as Lofty, an oompa loompa who is all but a PG-rated extension of the characters that he has played in the Guy Ritchie movies he was most recently in. Really.

THE BAD STUFF

THE PAUCITY OF JAMS- None of the songs in this musical slap. No jams. All of them fall flat. That this movie somehow remains enjoyable despite this is actually impressive the more I think about it. These songs wouldn’t have worked if you had a Freddie Mercury type trying to belt these tunes as hard as he could. In this case, however, you don’t have a Mercury-like singer…. instead you have…

THE UGLY STUFF

TIMOTHEE (THE SINGER) Is Timothee Chalamet the worst movie star singer in Hollywood? Absolutely not. That does need to be stated here.

Timothée Chalamet’s voice is fair to be comparable to the Dwayne Johnson’s, Edward Norton’s, and Gerard Butler’s of the world…respectfully. Not terrible, okay? But it does kind of sound like… How we “carry a tune” would sound like singing the same songs with all the feelings in the world in our cars or showers. His voice is pedestrian enough to jar the suspension of disbelief, unfortunately.

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WONKA is strange. It is clearly aimed at kids in a more direct way than even recent Disney animated projects have been. But somehow, it will all fall on Chalamet and if he’s the real deal or another actor is getting an undeserved forced push in Hollywood. This is a conversation that I find to be rather silly because of the range that he has shown so far, but unfortunately, you may have so many detractors at this point that it will be a conversation that we will be having for quite some time.  

WONKA is in theaters now