Sundance 2020: Wendy, Four Good Days, Kajillionaire

Benh Zeitlin triumphed seven years ago at Sundance with “Beasts of the Southern Wild.” It went on to get nominated for Best Picture and set Zeitlin up as a possible heir to Terrence Malick. Zeitlin’s much-anticipated follow-up is “Wendy,” a very loose adaptation of “Peter Pan,” but infused with the same magical-surrealism as ‘Beasts.’ Suffice to say, much like Pan, Zeitlin hasn’t really grown up since the last time we saw him. I’m not about to complain that a much-heralded “auteur” is making a movie that looks and feels too similar to his last one — if that were the case, then Wes Anderson would be guilty as charged on all accounts. No, my beef with “Wendy” has more to do with the story that Zeitlin chose to tell in this sophomore effort. The idea of making an arthouse “Peter Pan” feels misguided at best. If the story of Wendy and her twin brothers (Gavin and Gage Naquin) being lured by a train to a land where every day is playtime and nobody grows old excites the inner kid in you then, by all means, go right ahead and — board this ride I felt suffocated by the endless whimsy purported on my eyeballs. [D]

Another drag was director Rodrigo Garcia’s addiction parable “Four Good Days.” Starring Mila Kunis as a heroine junkie looking to put her life back together with the help of mom (Glenn Close), it’s Oscar-bait 101 but done without an ounce of self-awareness. Kunis’ Molly has gone through a decade of hell as a junkie, all starting with an opioid prescription she was given by her doctor 10 years ago. Mom has doubts taking her in, as this is not the first time Molly has tried to go sober: she’s attempted it 14 other times, only to relapse with every attempt. I won’t go further into detail and waste your time with the rest of the plot, but suffice to say, Amazon buying this movie, despite the middling reviews, was a curiously misguided decision and could spell total disaster for them. [D]

Miranda July’s quirky and original “Kajillionaire,” has the uber-talented writer-director of “Me, You and Everyone We Know” tackling the Dyne clan, a husband-wife-daughter team of criminals forging petty crimes in Los Angeles. These eccentric neurotics embrace the dream of someday becoming “Kajillionaires.” The Dynes are Robert, Theresa (Richard Jenkins and Debra Winger) and their 26 year-old daughter Old Dolio (Evan Rachel Wood). They dress like shlubs, in oversized thrift shop-like clothes, whilst their daughter Old Dolio (I know, that name) lacks the emotional development and quite frankly, maturity, to make it in the real world. In fact, all three of these outcasts look like they belong on another planet. They seem to operate on a daily basis solely to pay the $500 rent of their cubicle office home, which is three months overdue. They eventually meet a millennial (Gina Rodriguez) who helps them plan a con to pay their debts. July sees the world in such beautifully unique ways that the con seems turns out to be secondary to the relationships forged. In “Kajillionaire,” she tries to show us how we all need warmth and human connection in life, no matter how much try to isolate ourselves. Although the film feels slight at times, there is an abundance of humanism in July’s screenplay. The strangeness of the whole thing may distance some, but July is a true original. [B]