Making for their second “Matthew Broderick” vehicle in as many years, Magnolia have picked up the rights to helmer Josh Goldin’s debut film. A Tribeca entry earlier this year, Wonderful World is being pegged for a Vod and then theatrical 2010 release. Last year Magnolia bought/released Peter Tolan’s Finding Amanda – a feature that was toplined by Broderick.
In this sometimes moving dark comedy, Broderick plays Ben—a failed children’s folk singer and less-than-extraordinary weekend dad. Deeply cynical, Ben’s sole pleasure in life is derived from chess games with his Senegalese roommate Ibou. When Ibou is suddenly struck ill and an insensitive municipal employee exacerbates the emergency situation, Ben’s pessimistic worldview seems unequivocally confirmed. But when Ibou’s sister Khadi takes his place in their apartment, what starts as an awkward living arrangement becomes something more, and Ben finds that cynicism may be all a matter of perspective.
