Wonder Wheel
Amazon Studios | Release Date: December 1, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
46
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
17
Negative:
12
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
EmpireHelen O'HaraMar 12, 2018
The film’s glowing, golden cinematography suggests a far warmer story than it in fact delivers, but Winslet’s stunning turn is worth a look if you can stand the consciously stagey feel. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfNov 20, 2017
Like that giant metaphorical carousel looming over them, it’s a movie that’s spinning its wheels. Read full review
50
The New YorkerRichard BrodyDec 5, 2017
The tangled plot is decorated in gaudy colors (thanks to the cinematographer Vittorio Storaro) that contrast sadly with the sordid doings. Read full review
50
Paste MagazineKyle TurnerOct 19, 2017
Winslet is doing an impression of Cate Blanchett doing an impression of Mia Farrow in September. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinOct 14, 2017
Watching the rest of the movie, I wondered if Allen had discovered the script in an old file cabinet (maybe meant as a play?) and appended that meta intro to account for how obvious and old-hat the rest of it is. Probably a good strategy. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineGreg CwikOct 14, 2017
The tone throughout vacillates wildly from silly comedy to classic Hollywood melodrama, and all of it feels as artificial and unsatisfying as the cotton candy twirling in a vending cart. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyOct 13, 2017
The warming affection that the director has bestowed on so many of his best characters is largely missing. In fact, he seems barely engaged. Read full review
50
TheWrapDan CallahanOct 13, 2017
Allen is too self-aware and cold a creative personality to create a genuine tragedy in Wonder Wheel. Instead, he makes a gesture towards a tragic situation. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Nov 30, 2017
Wonder Wheel is uncomfortably revealing, its real-life parallels too blatant to be anything but intentional. But to what end? Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyNov 30, 2017
It’s undercooked even by the filmmaker’s own late-career standards. Yes, Coney Island has never looked more gorgeously golden-hued (thanks to cinematographer Vittorio Storaro), but Allen has seldom been less sharp. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeyMay 12, 2018
It isn’t Allen escaping into the past so much as defensively dredging it up, script-wise. And though he’s hired another world-class cinematographer, Vittorio Storaro, to give this the gaudy hypercoloured glow of a pastichey Douglas Sirk melodrama, the film’s look is pushy and unattractive, as if it’s wearing too much lipstick. Read full review
40
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottDec 14, 2017
Even when he isn't at the top of his game -- and in Wonder Wheel, he certainly isn't -- Allen's films still tend to have something intriguing to offer. Read full review
40
Vanity FairRichard LawsonDec 9, 2017
There is simultaneously a beautiful movie and a good play hidden somewhere in Woody Allen’s new melodrama, Wonder Wheel, a slight and clunky period piece that offers teasing glimpses of something more rich and interesting. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisDec 6, 2017
Unlike "Manhattan," this perfunctorily conceived film about an unhappy woman starved for romantic and personal fulfillment never lives up to its brilliant production values. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranNov 30, 2017
Because of its look, some fine period music including the Mills Brothers version of "Coney Island Washboard," and actors giving it their best effort, Wonder Wheel is not as completely forgettable as it would otherwise be. Read full review
40
The New York TimesManohla DargisNov 30, 2017
Wonder Wheel, Woody Allen’s latest movie, is one of his more unfortunate contributions to cinema. Read full review
40
The GuardianBenjamin LeeOct 13, 2017
It’s by no means the worst of Allen’s later films (Cassandra’s Dream remains unrivaled in that department) and the flashes of brilliance from Winslet and stunning visuals do lift it but there’s an overwhelming, existential pointlessness to it all. Read full review
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