Professor Marston & The Wonder Women

OK I'm not going to say a whole lot but I'm short: I really like this one.

Even if, by design, it looks like an unexceptional biopic by each fricken frame, the characters and dialogue more than make up for it. The story is centered around William Moulton Marston who - and I'm not kidding here - is 1. The inventor of the lie detector, 2. a radical progressive feminist that thinks women are the superior race with proof in the form of his psychological research 3. One of which include bondage (seriously) 4. Manages to have 2 wives who loved and lived together and 5. Used all his fixations and progressive ideals to invent Wonder Woman.

I mean hell! You could tell me if this guy could turn water into wine and I would believe you. The film knows how bonkers this guy is, but presents him matter-of-factly rather than with scorn or praise. Much like my closest film comparison THE PEOPLE VS LARRY FLINT, it's the type of eccentric, perverse mindset that doesn't allow you to like the man but understand and appreciate how he changed the world with his ideals.

However, the film is mostly concerned with the three-way (sorry) love story at the center. The wife gets all the most complexity as she struggles with her bisexuality, her suppressed opportunities based on her gender, and the everyday family lifestyle that rejects her. It gets deep as well as heartbreaking.

Olive turns out to be the partner of the two, and easily gets more of an arc. At first very shy and uncertain of her status in life, the film progresses her to the free-spirited bisexuality that the movie treats as a hopeful triumph. The best moment is when she dawns the Wonder Woman costume in order to perform S&M ( Just bare with me, guys) and it's presented as a sign of self-discovery rather than gratuitous sleaze. I'm not sure if people like her would connect to this, but I would say it's a lot more hopeful and cathartic than anything BATTLE OF THE SEXES could ever wish to offer.

Angela Robinson directs this with the type of directing chops you expect from a run-of-the-mill miniseries rather than a movie. But much like Patty Jenkins work with WONDER WOMAN, her limited chops is unmatched by the utter love and conviction to the subject matter. It's the type of film where the imperfections make the film more real and self-confident.

Professor Marston & The Wonder Women is a damn good time and the rare biopic you rarely see anymore. Classy, funny, sexy, delightful, brilliantly acted, and overall passionate, you have to see this!

To all the people saying that this movie is inaccurate - DUH!! It's a feature film, NOT a documentary!! Do you know what a feature film is? It means it has a script writer - someone who writes the story... who comes up with the lines... based on their own imagination. Of course 90% of the stuff in that movie didn't happen. None of us were there at that time!! They have to make that stuff up. Otherwise, how else are they supposed to make an interesting movie?? If they don't come up with an interesting story you'll complain about how boring it was. If they come up with something interesting that's even slightly fictional the history police goes nuts with their crazy "the movie is inaccurate!!!" comments. Give it a break for once, will ya??

The movie was incredible. It was so tastefully done. The acting is superb. The cinematography is breathtaking. The pacing is spot on and moves the story along so well. Not a single dull moment in this movie. I was captivated from the first second to the last. I could watch movies like this non stop. It's brilliant. Yes, I understand it's not what actually happened. I don't care. For an hour and a half I lived in a beautiful fantasy world and watched an amazing story unfold in the most magnificent way possible. And if that isn't the real reason why people make and watch movies then you need to wake up and get real. This one is a MUST SEE!

Yesterday I saw the movie Proff. Marston and Wonder Women. I am from India and I never read any comics of Wonder Women, but I saw recently released film Wonder Women directed by Patty Jenkins, character played by Gal Gadot then I became aware of Wonder Women.

After few months, I saw this Proff. Marston and Wonder Women, thinking that a new film of Gal Gadot. But to may dismay, this film came out something else, a biography of Proff. Marston who created the comics of Wonder Women.

But after watching this film, I am really thankful to the director Angela Robinson for bringing out the story of Proff. Marston with such a deep understanding of his personal life and roles played by his wife Elizabeth and partner Olive in the creation of Wonder Women.

The film made a profound impact on me, I tried to find out why is it so, then I realized that the director made the use of DISC Theory that Proff. Marston used in all his life and applied it to his comics character of Wonder Women. Really hats off to the director for this.

I am really amazed by the meticulously crafted screenplay that not only captured the deep psyche of all the characters but also of the audience who do not want to miss a single scene or dialogue. Such a profound work! The script is so alive and written with emotion that we can feel the real characters playing the role.

The actors of the film are really praise worthy, whether it is Luke Evans, Rebecca Hall or Bella and others. They actually lived the script on the screen.

Nonetheless, the film's editor Jefferey Werner is the real hero of this film who brought the whole narrative to its life. He is an impeccable craftsman who has deep understanding of the film structure and montage theory. It requires some special skills to understand these complex characters and bringing their story to life without boring the audience.

I liked the camera work of cinematographer Bryce Fortner, there are no camera gimmicks but just simple and effective framing, no unnecessary emotive angles. The director and cinematographer gave all the freedom to the actors to portray deepest emotion that brings out a great dynamics to the screen. I really admire the scene where Bella wears the Amazonian dress; no special lighting but simple chiaroscuro that brings out all the mood and emotion.

The music by Tom Howe and background score is so effective that it keeps us rooted to our emotional journey. And one of the plus point of this film is its Make up, Costume and Art Direction. These areas are very well managed by the respective departments.

I am really moved by the story and life of Proff. Martson the creator of Wonder Woman. Once again my thanks to Angela Robinson for creating such a beautiful film. I wonder why this film is not nominated for Oscers?

With some exception, Hollywood pretty much makes two distinct kinds of biopics. The first kind are the ones that almost seem obligatory – your Gandhi's (1982), your Lincoln's (2012) and the upcoming Darkest Hour (2017); movies about historical giants who did truly incredible things with their lives, incredible things that should be projected (and even embellished) on the silver screen for the world to see. Then there are the ones about the others – your oddballs, your misfits – the characters that history books often ignore but are nevertheless important in the way our world is shaped.

Professor Marston is certainly one of the latter folk. Outside of DC comic devotees and the odd discredited crime scene investigator swearing by the validity of the lie detector, William Moulton Marston is not a name people know. But believe me when I say that after watching this movie, you'll want to read up on him and his equally fascinating partners Elizabeth Marston and Olive Byrne. For not only is he the originator of Wonder Woman, the most famous female comic-book hero ever, he's quietly the most fascinating academics to steer the sexual proclivities of modern society since Albert Kinsey.

He, Elizabeth and Olive I should say. The film starts with the three of them bouncing around the psychology department of Tuft University working on research and fine-tuning William's (Evans) latest invention. Olive (Heathcote), the Marston's graduate assistant becomes enamored with the two of them, binding the three in a love triangle that turns into a healthy polyamorous relationship. It being the puritanical state of Massachusetts in the 1920's however, the three couldn't be insulated by the academic bubble for too long before The Marstons are quickly forced out and move to New York City. From there, they hide their double lives with Olive assuming the role of homemaker and "widow" while William and Elizabeth (Hall) find work where they can as "the couple".

As the narrative slowly ebbs towards the inevitable formation of the first Wonder Woman comic-book, the film occasionally diverts from its primary story and uses a red-baiting comic-book committee as connective tissue to William's complicated past. We've seen this kind of framing before. In fact, apart from the decade's long love story involving three people in a committed and loving relationship, we've seen all of this before…which may be the point. Instead of treating the subject matter as salacious or radically divergent, it treats it as another day in dramatic romance-land. Even when the trio develops an interest in the virtually criminalized BDSM subculture, there's a normalcy there that could potentially bore the one couple in the movie theater looking for their unicorn.

What makes Professor Marston ultimately work is director/writer Angela Robinson decision to make the tension largely external. It's never a question of whether all their goings-on will work but if the world will openly allow it. That concern is personified in Rebecca Hall's inner struggle that has the duel burden of her trying to be a smart, capable, 20th century working girl while also being madly in love with two people. One of whom is a woman.

As the brash, irascible Elizabeth, actress Rebecca Hall is an absolute revelation. She bursts onto the screen, all but announces she's smarter than everyone else in the room and easily proves it with her wit and pragmatism. While Heathcote displays the mirage of idyllic feminine beauty, it is Elizabeth's radical feminism that makes the punchy title worth the watch. Seriously though, if Hall doesn't get an Oscar nom by years' end I may have to boycott (#hall&Oscars).

Less successful is Luke Evans who, while certainly displaying the outward charm of a 1920's lad-about-town just has a knack for putting too fine a point on things. Every time we return to Connie Britton and her committee of comic-book hating cronies, Evans lectures like he's explaining particle physics to a freshman undergrad. Perhaps, given Marston's private life, Robinson may have figured the only way out of being questioned by a HUAC analog would be to be so soporific that they'd just move on to Superman or something.

All in all, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women may not be reverential enough to induce comic-book fans to check it out. The film spans decades ultimately treating the creation of Wonder Woman as an afterthought. Yet for those looking for a decently paced, boiler-plate great biopic it may just be the right ticket for you. Additionally because it smuggles in a few liberalizing tidbits about love and modern feminism (Luke Evans's goofy grin notwithstanding), Professor Marston may even be worth a detour to a theater ballsy enough to play it.

First, I must confess that I am little acquainted with the Wonder Woman comic books. I loved the Wonder Woman series with Lynda Carter and I absolutely loved and am obsessed with the movie starring Gal Gadot. I watched this movie at once because I was curious about the background of the comic book author and because it stars two actors I really admire, Luke Evans and Rebecca Hall. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this movie. The pacing was right, I felt, for the story. I loved how the story was about him but the main focus was always, rightly so, on the two amazing and powerful women who shaped Wonder Woman as much as they influence and shaped the man who created the character from what he saw as the best of both women. The nudity/love scenes in this movie were not graphic and were done, again, my opinion, tastefully and with reverence to the story. I highly recommend this movie to everyone. I loved Wonder Woman before, I now understand why.