Wonder Bar: A chaotic, star-studded mess

Should you bother?

If you like movies that feel like someone threw a handful of glitter and a deck of cards into a blender, maybe. If you want a tight story, look elsewhere. People who love 1930s excess will eat this up, but anyone with a low tolerance for frantic pacing will probably want to turn it off before the first big musical number hits.

Honestly, watching Wonder Bar is like being trapped at a party where everyone is shouting at the same time. You’ve got Harry and Inez doing their dance thing, but they're just background noise for the real drama happening in the booths. There's so much going on that I actually forgot about the plot for about twenty minutes straight.

Al Jolson is the glue here, I guess? He's everywhere, smiling way too much and pulling strings in a way that feels a bit stalker-ish by modern standards. He runs the club, he talks to the camera, he tries to fix people’s lives. It’s a lot.

The weird energy

There’s a specific scene where the musical numbers just feel… endless. Like they kept adding dancers until the screen couldn't hold anymore. You can almost see the actors looking around, wondering if they’re supposed to stop moving yet. It’s a bit much.

I caught myself staring at the background extras more than the main cast. Some of them are just standing there, looking like they haven't slept in three days. One guy in the back left corner barely moves his feet for a full minute during a routine. I respect the dedication to looking bored, honestly.

The movie gets noticeably better once it stops trying to pretend that the romance matters more than the sets.

It’s not as focused as something like A Cafe in Cairo, which at least knows what kind of mood it wants to set. Here, the mood changes every time someone walks through the front door. One second it’s a lighthearted dance, the next it’s a murder mystery, and then—boom—we’re back to singing.

• The lighting is bizarrely sharp.
• Some of the dialogue sounds like it was written on a napkin five minutes before shooting.
• The transitions are practically non-existent.

Is it a masterpiece? No. Is it a historical curiosity? Absolutely. There's a certain charm to how unpolished it feels, like it's barely holding together under its own weight. 💃 Keep your expectations on the floor and you might have a weirdly good time with it.