Next Stop Wonderland (1998)

Director:

Brad Anderson

Writers:

Brad Anderson (writer)
Lyn Vaus (writer)

Release Date:

21 August 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Being alone is fine. Being alone together is perfect.

Plot:

An unlucky in love nurse finds her life taking a detour when her mother places a personals ad in the paper, while on the other side of Boston, a plumber is trying to change careers.

Plot Keywords:

Personal Ad | Nurse | Marine Biologist | Love | Plumber

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Hope Davis	...	Erin Castleton
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Sean
Callie Thorne	...	Cricket
Ken Cheeseman	...	Rick
Pamela Hart	...	Berit
Diane Beckett	...	Seana
Jeremy Geidt	...	Bookseller
Alan Gelfant	...	Alan Monteiro
Dave Gilloran	...	Aquarium Volunteer
Luz Alexandra Ramos	...	Thalia (as Luz Alexandra)
Emma Shaw	...	Bailey
Kemp Harris	...	Ben
Neil Gustafson	...	Yuri Spinov
Holland Taylor	...	Piper Castleton
E. Katherine Kerr	...	Candice (as Katherine Kerr)

Also Known As:

Last Train to Wonderland (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Malaysia:U | USA:TV-MA (cable rating) | South Africa:A | Australia:M | France:U | Hong Kong:IIA | Spain:T | USA:R | Italy:VM14 | Singapore:PG | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Robbins Entertainment

Trivia:

The character of Erin is based on an actress Brad Anderson met while filming another project.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The MBTA (subway) map at the beginning of the film is wrong. It also doesn't correspond to the subway route used in the movie. The conductor says the next stop inbound is Aquarium from Airport. The map says the next stop should be Maverick (which it is, in real life).

Quotes:

Andre de Silva: You like my country's music, right? I can tell there is a little bit of Brazil in you.
Erin Castleton: Oh yeah?
Andre de Silva: See, you are sad and happy. You don't smile but you are content. You are sad and happy at the same time. In Brazil we have a term for that - it's 'Saudade'. It's like ... melancholic, nostalgic; it's very Bossanova.

Great Views of Boston, my Home Town!!!

Take a tour through some gorgeous Boston sights, even some kinda grubby under the (soon-to-be-erased by the Big Dig) elevated streets. I loved the Puffer-fish in our wonderful New England aquarium. And is this Gelfant guy sexy-----whoah!!! The sight of him and the flirty student he's mentoring eating each other up on the whale-watching boat was OUTSTANDING!! With all his obvious knowledge of the girl's crush and her wiley ways, he STILL gives into the animal chemistry in a surprising rush. I am SO tired of obviously phony kisses onscreen that this one caught me off-guard.

If you've ever done a dating ad thing, you'll empathize with the heroine's disgust at the pitiful and revolting lines of the many 'candidates' she meets. When one lowers his pseudo-intellectual facade long enough for you to see the human being behind, you want to scream, "Why didn't you show THIS part of yourself to her before you lost the chance?" Of course, the 3-way bet by the scum bums ends well as they get their just desserts. The well-meaning but meddling mother behind it all who placed the ad is well-written and well-played.

It's enough to watch the superb photography to buy this movie, but the many boy-girl angles portrayed also make it worthwhile. It could have been entitled, "What Not to Do on a First Date". I own it and am looking forward to giving it to my unmarried son as a tutorial. I also lend it out to people I want to lure to Boston.