dansview When you're introduced to our main character, seemingly a sad-sack cynic, you expect another Indie flick about depressed people in a nihilistic world. But that's not really who she is, and she's surrounded with anything but that.Her mother loves life and always looks on the bright side. Her gay coworker is cheerful and compassionate. Her ex boyfriend is misguided by sweet and well meaning. Her dates are mischievous but funny and confident. Also, our male protagonist is a great guy. He's trying to better himself and find the good in nature and simple pleasures. He does this while trying to maintain respect for his roots. So as you can see, this is not the typical Indie take on modern people. Of course it came out in 1998, so perhaps the pre-911 film world reflected a world of hope that would soon vanish. Phllip Seymour Hoffman is great here. What a funny, quirky character, without being pretentious or overly self-righteous. He plays it to perfection. Boston looks real and romantic, without the urban or tourist clichés of a Paris or New York. We see that it's just the right size with the right pace to get some meaningful life done. However, one visiting character nails its colder side with the perfect comment about all the schools, hospitals, and bars.What a great concept. To have people living in one interesting city, while fantasizing the whole time about another one. Rio perhaps. Walking the byways of Boston with Bossa Nova accompaniment. Of course let's not forget that Brazil is filled with intense poverty, shantytowns, and violent crime. So the music is more a state-of-mind than a reality. Perhaps that's what we are all seeking, and what the picture was ultimately trying to show. That we all strive for some paradigm or ideal that may not be attainable, but the notion of it gives us hope and keeps us in the game.

tieman64 Hope Davis elevates "Next Stop Wonderland", a slight romantic comedy written and directed by Brad Anderson. Davis plays a melancholic nurse who paradoxically yearns for love and hungers to be alone. When her mother takes out a personals ad, Davis' character finds herself inundated with men, most of whom attempt to force themselves upon her.Eventually Davis meets a marine biologist played by Alan Gelfant. The duo instantly fall in love, having spent the rest of the film repeatedly "just missing each other". The film ends with our lovers discussing a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson: "a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds". Elsewhere it contains quotes by Wordsworth: "from our better selves we have too long been parted by the hurrying world, and droop, sick of its business, into solitude." And so Davis' character believes herself to be trapped in dull, stifling routines, routines which are "out of sync" with who she believes she "really is". Gelfant, in contrast, creates rigid routines and proudly sticks to them (he even refuses to kill a fish for money etc). Through him, Davis thus learns the value of self-worth. She accepts her own "consistencies" as "not being foolish", but rather valid and intrinsic "parts" of what and who she "really is". Emerson's quote is itself from an essay titled "Self-Reliance", essentially a parable about trusting yourself and shrugging off outside pressures.The film contains a good supporting role by Philip Seymour Hoffman, some good dialogue, but Anderson's messy editing is less subversive than it thinks it is, and a subplot with local mafia men is atrocious.7.9/10 - Worth one viewing.

nadjwa77 This film may not win over everyone with its subtlety and relaxed pace, but it is one of the most genuine depictions of love and dating in this day and age. Hope Davis gives a wonderful performance as a jaded young woman, tired of meeting too many Mr. Wrong's, yet still maintaining some hope that the right one is out there. Her performance is nuanced and very believable. Alan Gelfant is wonderful as her other half, so to speak, someone also searching for his path in life, and someone who understands him. He is amazing in this role and makes you fall completely for him. Just watch for his smile, which will make you melt. Great film for someone who wants to remind themselves that there might just be "the one" out there waiting to find you. The soundtrack is excellent, providing the film with a sense of melancholy and nostalgia. Enjoy!

geclaure This film is exactly how romance was meant to be portrayed on film. Love leaves you vulnerable, completely exposed, mad, and yet it is all worth the road where it takes us. This movie shows you that road for two people, and paints it so beautifully. It has been a long time that I have laughed at moments so familiar. This movie takes us places we've all been, or where we are right now. I am so angry at my friends for never telling me about this movie. I found it on the IFC channel today 5/11/05. This movie ranks in my book up there for romance movies w/Say Anything, Frankie and Johnny, and A Little Bit of Romance. Watch this film, it'll enlighten you and make you smile. Now who doesn't want to smile?