Wonderfalls

This is how things work for me. I went to see Hollywoodland and noticed a stunning young woman playing a supporting role of Adrien Brody's girlfriend/secretary. I looked her up on the IMDB and discovered her name was Caroline Dhavernas, a Canadian actress. Her most notable role was the lead in a short-lived Fox TV series called Wonderfalls. I remembered reading about it--it was a critical darling but got axed after four episodes.

Well, through the magic of Netflix I was able to rent the DVD of the entire run of the series, as well as a couple of other films Dhavernas has starred in. One of them was called These Girls, a little indie comedy from Canada that was pretty dreadful. The premise was the stuff of many a Penthouse letter--a hunky man is blackmailed into sexually servicing three teenage girls, but has a feminist spin which sets out to make him the bad guy in the situation, even though the girls are heartless harpies. I also rented a film called Edge of Madness, which sounds like a parody of a soap opera but instead was a Western. A young woman is chosen to be the bride by a cruel homesteader who abuses her, and she and his much nicer brother get revenge. An okay film, not much to write home about.

As for Wonderfalls, I've now seen five episodes (there are thirteen total). I'll stick it out, but I think if I had watched the show when it aired I would have lost interest by now. It tells the story of a young woman who is an Ivy League grad but chooses to live the life of a slacker, working in a gift shop in Niagara Falls. Presumably this is an act of rebellion against her family, who were all over-achievers. Anyway, one day she starts hearing voices emanate from the tchotchke animals that are in the store. They give her cryptic instructions that inevitably lead her to helping someone.

The show is at times excruciatingly quirky. It reminds me of shows like Northern Exposure, which are set in an interesting place, but Wonderfalls doesn't have the rich tapestry that that show had. Also, though Dhavernas is very good in her role, her character is a bit of a pill, and at times difficult to root for. There are times you just want to slap some sense into her.

While watching the Edge of Madness I realized who Dhavernas reminded me of--Elizabeth McGovern. They have the same haunting blue eyes and winsome smile. She is now an actress I will keep an eye out for.