Wonderful until the third act

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Wonder 2017

★★★½
This review may contain spoilers.
WONDER is the film adaptation of the best-selling novel written by R.J. Palcaio and stars 11-year-old Oscar nominee ( for Room) as Auggie Pullman. Auggie was born with a facial deformity and has been home-schooled by his Mother Isabel (Julia Roberts) over the years. Our story starts when Auggie begins his first day in middle-school. Going to a new school can be trying on any young person, but with Auggie, it's understandably more so.
WONDER is more than Auggie's story. It's also his sister's story. Via(Isabela Vidovic) has taken a backseat to Auggie all her life. When she returns to school from summer vacation, it seems that her best friend, Miranda (Daniella Rose Russell) has changed and has no interest in being her friend anymore. Forgive me for getting into spoiler territory. I'll stop and tell you that WONDER is about kids dealing with bullying. It's a powerful and moving story until we get to the third act.
WONDER breaks no new ground in the teenage film genre. We've seen it all before. Many times over. WONDER is filled with cliques that we've seen many times before. The one thing WONDER posses that most teenage films doesn't have is strong characters brought to life by good performances. The characters are so strong that it rises above the cliques. Until the third act, that is. WONDER lacks the emotional third act punch that could have propelled this film to greater heights. Instead, it rests on predictability to end the film. No surprises here.
Don't let me mislead you. WONDER is a good film. The problem is that it doesn't have a powerful resolution to rise above all the cliques the film throws at us. I give WONDER a solid B.

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