Wonderland is based on a true story, but as a film, it never quite comes together despite some outstanding acting. The film re-creates an awful crime that occurred in the early 80's. The crime in question resulted in several deaths and took place in a home at 8763 Wonderland Ave. Legendary porn star John Holmes was allegedly involved, but to what extent, is uncertain.

That uncertainty is one of my problems with Wonderland. Upon seeing trailers for the film, I was under the impression that the movie might give a little insight into who Holmes was, but ultimately, that's not the focus of the picture at all. I guess the horrible incident that took place was made more compelling because Holmes was linked to it, but Wonderland has nothing to do with who this man was. In that respect, I was reminded a little of Auto Focus. While Hogan's Heroes star Bob Crane was the central character in that picture, the film wasn't so much about him as it was a story about addiction.

The four victims, while hardly pillars of society, met with a brutal, unforgivable act of violence, and as sad as the story is, it really made
headlines because of Holme's name.

Wonderland is incredibly flashy and in Rashomon" fashion, the story is told from several different perspectives. This is to say the movie jumps around in time quite frequently, but whereas this heightens the experience in movies like Pulp Fiction, it is a mere distraction in Wonderland. It just feels too gimmicky.

Thankfully, Wonderland gets a major assist from a fantastic cast. Val Kilmer leads the way as the infamous Holmes. Since the film is told from different perspectives, we see different sides of Holmes, and this gives Kilmer a chance to stretch his acting chops. While we certainly witness the flaky, loser side, it is the sympathetic portion that really shines through. By the end of the picture, it was clear that Holmes was in a hell of his own making but I still felt sorry for the guy.

I also really enjoyed a completely nrecognizable Dylan McDermott. It goes beyond the thick bushy beard that hides his familiar face. He's a flat out badass in this movie and it was really cool seeing him try something new.

Josh Lucas plays a lose cannon drug dealer/addict, and it's a high speed performance. It took some getting used to because I kept looking at his face and thinking; "this was that intellectual guy in A Beautiful Mind", but before long, he had me convinced.

Lisa Kudrow appears in a thankless role as Holmes' emotionally drained wife, but it was so interesting seeing her play someone so low key, that the turn really worked for me.

Rounding out the competent cast are Eric Bogosian as an over the top bad guy, and the beautiful Kate Bosworth as Holmes' young girlfriend.

As good as the cast is, they are restricted by director James Cox' flashy, razzle dazzle execution. As a study on crime, Wonderland isn't terribly compelling, and as a character study, it isn't nearly deep enough. When Wonderland was over, I really didn't feel as if I knew who these people were. As is the case with many clumsily executed true stories, Wonderland the film isn't as interesting as the events on which it was based.