White Bird (2024)

“White Bird” stars Ariella Glaser, Orlando Schwerdt, Bryce Gheisar, Gillian Anderson, and Helen Mirren.  Released on October 4, 2024, the film has a boy learning about his grandmother's childhood.
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The film was directed by Marc Forster, who also directed films such as "Monster's Ball", "Finding Neverland", "World War Z", and "Christopher Robin".  It is based on the 2019 graphic novel by R. J. Palacio.  It also serves as both a prequel and sequel to the 2017 film adaptation of "Wonder".  It's fair to say that we all need a bit of kindness, especially in today's age when people turn against each other over the most simplistic things.  In times like this, there's always a film or television show that constantly reminds us that a tiny hint of kindness can make a huge difference, no matter how different we look at the world.  One movie that came to mind was the 2017 adaptation of R. J. Palacio's "Wonder".  The movie, which depicted a boy with Treacher Collins syndrome, was a faithful and profoundly uplifting adaptation that benefited from its stellar cast and thought-provoking messages suitable for all ages.  Two years after Palacio released his acclaimed novel, the author released a follow-up graphic novel that continues the story of "Wonder" from the perspective of one of Auggie's bullies.  However, it also centered on another act of kindness that changed people's lives forever.  Much like "Wonder", that graphic novel is also the latest to receive the cinematic treatment, although this one took way longer to release than expected.  I guess even movies need more time to spread their wings, not just birds.  Now that it's finally here, let's see if this follow-up is as kind and uplifting as its source material.

The story occurs after the events of "Wonder".  Julian Albans (Gheisar) has recently been expelled from Beecher Prep for bullying August Pullman.  He is assigned to a new school in a different state yet still finds the need to be socially passive to fit in.  This caught the attention of his grandmother, Sara Blum (Mirren), resulting in her visiting Julian to tell her about her childhood as a Jewish girl (Glaser) living in Nazi-occupied France during World War II.  As Sara evaded capture by the German troops, she received assistance from her classmate, Julien Beaumier (Schwerdt), whose leg was paralyzed by poliomyelitis.  As Sara spent more than one year hiding in Julien's barn, the two students formed a romantic bond that was stronger than hatred.

While my interest in "White Bird" was on and off, it only caught my attention with its connection to the 2017 film.  "Wonder" may seem sentimental regarding its themes, but it's the type of sentimentality that works for me.  The cast was superb in their roles, including the young Jacob Tremblay as Auggie, and its direction and screenplay were respectful in honoring Palacio's novel and its themes.  It's another film that's surprisingly great, but more importantly, it's a movie that we needed to remind people to be kind instead of being assholes to each other.  But apparently, people seem to have forgotten about that recently due to their lack of common sense.  So, it's only fair for Hollywood to keep reminding us until the end of time; this film is no exception.

Fortunately, fate made that decision for me, thanks to the mystery movie screening I attended.  From my research, I knew that "White Bird" would be this week's mystery movie because of its two-hour runtime and PG-13 rating.  When the Lionsgate logo appeared in its opening frame, I was pleased to see that my prediction was correct.  But the real question I should be answering was whether it was worth my time.  Well, it's obviously no "Wonder" regarding its emotional weight and storyline, but it certainly has enough baggage in its "feel-good Holocaust" package to showcase its timeless messages.  When it comes to feel-good movies, they can range from being sweet yet mawkishly corny to sweet and emotionally compelling.  Knowing me, I have a really soft spot for these types of films, but that doesn't excuse me from letting them off the hook just because they made me smile with their tenderness.  In the case of "White Bird", it fell dangerously close to the sweetly cliched side of things, especially when it overstayed its welcome by ten minutes.  However, it's harmless and touching enough to delight its intended audience.

Marc Forster is another filmmaker who can be hit-and-miss with his direction regarding heartfelt drama and emotion.  Some were hits like "Finding Neverland" and my personal favorite from him, "Christopher Robin", while others felt more hokey than tear-jerking.  For "White Bird", Forster is tasked with honoring Palacio's story of kindness and hope amid the violence and discrimination, not just in its storytelling but also in the emotional core.  Outside some of his action films, I thought Forster could do drama well if he played his cards right.  He's not a great director, but I can see his heart is in the right place regarding his vision.  His take on "White Bird" is no different, although I wouldn't say it's his best work.  While the timeless messages and charm are present in the film, Forster's approach to its sentimentality and melodramatic romance lacked a couple of gut punches to make them more genuine than emotionally manipulative.  Even Mark Bomback's screenplay was periodically hit-and-miss.  While it does its job in respecting certain aspects of its source material, including the Holocaust and the third act, the script faltered a bit with its on-the-nose and cliched dialogue.  Also, why did the CGI wolves manage to take me out of the film for a bit?

Besides the film's messages, the only elements that elevated the film's middling execution were the cast and the production designs.  While Bryce Gheisar's Julian seemed to be the movie's focus at first, the real stars of the story were Ariella Glaser and Orlando Schwerdt.  Both of these newcomers play classmates who hide in the barn from Nazis and eventually fall in love.  Their romantic chemistry wasn't at its strongest when it was trying to tug at my heartstrings.  However, Glaser and Schwerdt made a considerable effort to provide enough appeal in their performances to compensate for the movie's sluggish pacing.  However, my only issue with Schwerdt's performance is that I couldn't understand what he said sometimes.  It might be the sound system at my theater, or he wasn't articulating enough for me to hear his dialogue.  Helen Mirren was also satisfying to watch regarding her performance as the older version of Sara, who also serves as the film's narrator.  When Mirren is telling a story, it's best that you pay attention to her.  The film's production design also effectively portrayed the 1940s Nazi-occupied France, capturing the essence of the era with its meticulously crafted backgrounds and forest-like surroundings.

Overall, "White Bird" doesn't fly as high as it wants to, but its heartwarming wings are strong enough to keep it from crashing into the ground.  As a follow-up to 2017's "Wonder", it's undoubtedly inferior to one of my favorite movies of that year, mainly due to its middling approach to its sentimentality and pacing.  But that doesn't make it a tedious, melodramatic experience for me.  It certainly has enough tenderhearted moments to satisfy plenty of feel-good-movie enthusiasts, including me, looking for something positive in the world.  The cast, mainly Helen Mirren, delivered some respectable performances, and the timeless messages were suitably sound.  What kept it from being another wondrous cinematic gem was Marc Forster's hit-and-miss direction toward its emotional depth, its on-the-nose screenplay, and the pacing.  It's no "Wonder", but as its own film, it's harmless enough to evoke its smile-worthy presence.  If you're familiar with R. J. Palacio's novels, you'll likely be satisfied with this film adaptation.

C