Professor Marston and the Wonder Women

Starring: Luke Evans, Rebecca Hall, Bella Heathcote, Connie Britton, Oliver Platt, Monica Giordano, JJ Feild
Directed by: Angela Robinson
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Dr. Marston (Luke Evans) uses his life, including a polyamorous relationship with his wife (Rebecca Hall) and their mistress (Bella Heathcote) as inspiration in designing the character of Wonder Woman.

Review:

Tim: I went into this movie knowing nothing about William Marston or how he created Wonder Woman. So, I was eager to learn his story. I can see why director Angela Robinson wanted to tell that story on screen- it is certainly a unique story, especially in regards to creators of world recognized superheroes. I thought the film as a whole was decent, but didn't quite work as well as needed. It felt like Robinson got so caught up in the more unconventional aspects of Marston's life that she lost sight of the overall story. Still, there's a good bit to like here.

The most shocking aspect of the story is undoubtedly that Marston lived with his wife and their mistress in a polyamorous relationship. This is certainly not something you see depicted very often today, and was downright scandalous and upsetting in the 1930s and 1940s. The movie spends a lot of time developing these relationships. That's important, because Robinson seems to want us to understand how something like this could have happened. Marston, Elizabeth, and Olive aren't bad people (despite what the ultra conservatives would have you believe). They are unconventional in their relationship dynamics, but they are depicted here as loving, caring people. The film does a good job of setting the stage for how this happened and how it was able to survive for years and years (so many people struggle in a relationship with one person, let alone a triangle like this). Those scenes are important and hold our attention in the beginning. Eventually, though, those scenes get a bit repetitive. The movie title certainly suggests that we'll learn about how Marston created Wonder Woman. These scenes feel like an afterthought, a byproduct of the others. It felt like this aspect of the movie was mishandled. I wanted to gain more insight into the development of this character. Sure, we get a few scenes and some insight, but the movie needed to spend more time here. By the time we get to this aspect of Marston's story, his relationships seem to be fraying. It felt like we spent too much time replaying those moments and not enough on how his lifestyle helped him to create one of the most iconic superheroes of all time. I'm not suggesting this doesn't take place- we absolutely see how a budding interest in bondage directly influenced his character. Still, there was opportunity for a deeper exploration here.

Luke Evans and Rebecca Hall are strong as the Marstons. They both gave believable performances as these intellectuals. They had solid chemistry together. I have to say that I was stunned by how much I enjoyed Bella Heathcote in this film. I've seen her in a few movies before and she never made a big enough impact to even register on my radar. She'd been completely forgettable. This film is a different story. We was very strong and held her own against the more experienced Evans and Hall. The three of them really work well together. That's one of the big strengths of the film. The rest of the supporting cast is decent. I love Oliver Platt, but he didn't get a whole lot to do here.

The movie certainly has some strong moments. One of the highlights is the scene where Heathcote tries on the outfit that would inspire Wonder Woman's. It's really an exceptionally shot scene that leaves an impression- you can see how that moment would serve as inspiration for Professor Marston. Many of the best moments of the film are between Evans, Hall, and Heathcote.

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women is certainly a decent movie. However, there were things that didn't quite work. Luke Evans looks nothing like Marston, for one- he was a much bigger man. I do wonder if audiences would have accepted this unconventional relationship if Marston were played by a less dashing actor (I'm not saying it's right, but you can guess why someone like Evans was cast here). The movie focuses so much on the relationship between these three people that some of the amazing work they did feels like it's pushed to the margins (not just creating Wonder Woman, but DISC theory is pretty amazing too). By the end of the film, when the emotions should be at their height, I had burnt through my deepest amount of caring about these people. I didn't feel the expected emotions. Still, while there's a few aspects of the film that prevent it from reaching its full potential, this is still a decent film.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



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