Sedona, AZ: Two-time Tony Award-winner Matthew Broderick stars in “Wonderful World” — a bittersweet comedy about families, friends and a frivolous fight against corporate institutions — which premieres in Sedona on Tuesday, Dec. 8. There will be two screenings of the film at 4 and 7 p.m. at Harkins Sedona Six Theatres.
The film is being presented by the Sedona International Film Festival in this one-night-only special engagement as part of its popular Second Tuesday Cinema Series. The Sedona premiere comes five weeks before the U.S. theatrical release in New York and Los Angeles.
“Wonderful World” writer/director Josh Goldin and the film’s producer Glenn Williamson will be in Sedona to present the film and host Q&A discussions following the screenings.
“ ‘Wonderful World’ — in a modern way — echoes the theme of the classic ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’,” said Sagan Lewis, the film festival’s program director. “Broderick's character is a pessimist who is forced to look at himself and his negative effect on those he loves. Just as George Bailey found life's true magic in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, Broderick plays a character who has the opportunity to discover that on this wonderful planet miracles happen everywhere.”
Matthew Broderick (Finding Amanda, The Producers) plays Ben Singer, a failed children's folk singer, a newly unemployed proofreader and an every-other-weekend dad to his young daughter (Jodelle Ferland), who prefers pretty much anything to listening to her dad's pessimistic ramblings.
Struggling in all aspects of his life, Ben's only comforts come from smoking alone and regular chess games with his smart and opinionated Senegalese roommate Ibou (Michael Kenneth Williams, The Wire, The Road). When Ibou is suddenly struck ill and an insensitive municipal employee exacerbates the emergency situation, Ben pours his energy into a lawsuit against the city for depraved indifference.
Ben’s life begins to turn around with the arrival of Ibou’s beautiful and sexy sister Khadi (Sanaa Lathan, The Family That Preys) from Senegal, who moves into Ibou’s room in Ben’s apartment. As Ben suspects that it is his own cynicism corroding the beauty around him, he realizes that it’s all a matter of perspective. And things begin to change.
When asked about his inspiration for the film, writer/director Josh Goldin is quick to admit that the inspiration was himself.
“I wanted to create a movie about a man who saw only the negative side of things (an emblematic character for our times I think) and I used the workings of my own brain for research,” said Goldin. “A lot of what Ben says in the movie reflects a kind of dark commentary that runs through my own head. He is both more honest and more unhappy than I am. The negative part of me believes he is more unhappy because he is more honest.”
“I sympathize totally with Ben’s plight and I’m glad he had a catharsis,” added Goldin. “I believe these moments of catharsis are possible. They are what keep us going.”
The star of the film, Matthew Broderick, is a veteran of stage and screen, garnering two Tony Awards for Neil Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs” and the Broadway revival of “How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” He was nominated for another Tony for his performance in the smash Broadway hit “The Producers” which he reprised later for the film version. An instantly recognizable film presence, Broderick (who received immediate fame and attention for “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”) has appeared in more than 40 feature films.
In addition to his stage, screen and Broadway credits, he has also appeared in the Showtime film Master Harold…and the Boys and received an Emmy nomination for the TNT production of David Mamet’s A Life in the Theater in which he starred opposite Jack Lemmon.
“I wrote the script with my old pal Matthew Broderick in mind for the main role and, even more luckily, Matthew loved the script,” said Goldin. “The moment he signed on, ‘Wonderful World’ went from being a Josh Goldin movie to being a Matthew Broderick vehicle.”
“ ‘Wonderful World’ is the perfect film to feature during the holidays, and it is a major coup for our festival to get it five weeks before its major-city release,” said film festival director Patrick Schweiss. “Having the writer/director and producer here for the Q&A makes it even more special.”
The title sponsor for the event is the Sedona Kids Tax Credit program. The lodging host is Amara Resort & Spa. The series is also made possible by a grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts and the City of Sedona.
“Wonderful World” will be shown at Harkins Sedona Six Theatres on Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 4 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $10, or $8 for Film Sedona members, and will be available starting at 3 p.m. that day in the Harkins lobby. Cash or checks only. Film Sedona members can purchase tickets in advance at the Sedona International Film Festival office, 1785 W. Hwy. 89A, Suite 2B, or by calling 928-282-1177. For more information, visit: www.SedonaFilmFestival.com.
Article courtesy of Patrick Schweiss, Executive Director.
Posted December 2, 2009.
