He’s an exceptional student, even when his peers fail on a regular basis. He reads books about classes he doesn’t have. He is incredibly observant and can use deductive reasoning to arrive at accurate conclusions, just like a detective. He knows how to defend himself, and he’s a masterful boxer. He speaks more than one language and knows about all about chemistry, even about obscure poisons. By day, he spends his hours perfecting his physical condition and mental faculties; by night, he fights crime.
But Sean Donovan, the protagonist of BOY WONDER, is definitely not Batman.
When he was nine years old, his father was beaten and his mother was murdered before his very eyes, and he’s spent the eight years since then searching for the man, supposedly a carjacker, who did this. He keeps to himself, immersing himself in his studies, drowning out a world with which he’s dissatisfied by listening to classical music, Bach in particular, a love instilled in him by his mother. It’s easy to see how angry he can become with the way things are, and it’s easy to see how he decides to work out this anger.
The steroids probably don’t help his temperament, but the drug cannot be blamed for the bottomless pit of rage that simmers within Sean. You see, unlike Batman, he has no problem with killing the bad guys. He murders two men in the first thirty minutes of this movie. Granted, the first time was probably an accident, but the second was very deliberate. When he encounters an abusive drunk homeless guy on a train, he slips on his brass knuckles and pounds the ever-loving shit out of the man. Even when the bum begs for mercy—nay, weeps for it—Sean continuously beats him. There is no doubt that he would have finished the job if cops hadn’t arrived.
But the most condemning moment is when he’s at a party with his one friend in the world, and a douche-bag makes a scene with his ex-girlfriend. There is no violence, just harsh words. The worst that happens is the asshole pulls the girl’s hair. Sean then steps in and uses his superior fighting abilities to whip the hell out of a stupid teenager. Even when it’s clear that he’s won, he picks up a fireplace poker and starts bending the asshole’s skull with it.
The tagline for this movie is, “Beware the hero.” No kidding.
This is what separates Sean from the typical superhero vigilante (except for maybe the Punisher, who takes it to an over-the-top place), and this is what makes this story interesting. One of the women Sean saved praises him and refuses to help the cops, who are trying to identify this vigilante. However, in order to save her, Sean had to ruthlessly murder a man. This is more than one of those how-far-is-too-far quandaries. This is more of a holy-fuck-how-did-it-come-to-this situation.
Another thing BOY WONDER gets right is its respect for the viewer’s ability to piece things together. Too often, Hollywood feels the need to spoon-feed its audience, making sure that we miss nothing they dish out. Movies over-explain things these days. BOY WONDER, like with some of Faulkner’s best work, lets us play the detective. It lets us piece everything together. And even when giving the viewer so much power, no one can possibly see the ending come. And not to give anything away, but the ending is one of the most incredibly satisfying wrap-ups to be filmed in a long time.
The acting is excellent, the best coming from Caleb Steinmeyer (Sean) and Bill Sage (Sean’s father). Their scenes together are extraordinary, especially their last. That’s not to say the rest of the cast is sub-par. There isn’t a stinker among ‘em. Zulay Henao, who plays the detective on Sean’s trail, turns in an awesome performance, especially when she’s acting opposite from her partner, played to fat slob/foot-in-the-mouth perfection by Daniel Stewart Sherman, and the police chief (Bill Baldwin). Every scene rings true except for one: just before Sean kills a drug dealer, we are shown a scene where a single mother needs her fix and is begging for a score. Everyone plays it kind of stiffly, and the mother tries too hard to seem frantic. Moreso, the actress seems far too clean to play her role.
There really is only one other complaint. This movie is clearly meant to be told from the perspective of Sean with a few interludes from Detective Ames. However, in two instances, we are shown the world through Mr. Donovan’s eyes. The first time is wholly unnecessary; he goes to visit Sean’s mother’s grave and talks to the stone about how Sean is doing. The only point of this is to tell us things we already know. The second time this happens is when we see Mr. Donovan shopping. He sees alcohol, feels temptation, and buys soda instead. This is to notify us that he is a recovering alcoholic (which is something we could have figured out later from the movie). Lastly, considering how things work out near the end, it’s important for us to NOT see anything from Mr. Donovan’s point of view.
These are minor complaints. The pros far outweigh the cons when it comes to BOY WONDER. Writer/director Michael Morrissey clearly knows what he is doing. It’s just a shame that he picked such a lousy title. The connotations are all wrong (and possibly misleading). It’s airy and noble and definitely not what this movie is about. Don’t let it fool you, though; there’s a lot of meat to this meal of a film. Just be prepared to think of BOY WONDER from now on every time you hear Bach . . . .
BOY WONDER
Written and directed by Michael Morrissey
Boy Wonder Productions
95 minutes
