wonderland is a rather sugary romance film that is as subtle as a ton of bricks falling on you . <NEG> you can see its plot developing from a mile away </NEG> . you are lured into its <NEG> benign story </NEG> of a single 29-year-old girl looking for a soul mate in boston , as that city is depicted as a mini-wonderland for singles . this is a star oriented film , and the star who carries the film is erin ( hope davis ) . that this is a dating film , about singles who for reasons of fate or luck , or whatnot , have not had a successful match and are now putting most of their energy into fulfilling their careers , is nothing new , this type of film has been done often and better many times in contemporary films . the fictionalized documentary unmade beds did it more provocatively and with more of a sense of urgency than this film . the main quirk in the plot here , is that hope's pushy mother ( hollan ) visits her in boston , sees her daughter's live-in relationship with a radical protester ( hoffman ) breakup and decides to put a personal ad in the newspaper for her harvard medical school drop-out daughter , who works as a nurse . this is done without her knowledge . <NEG> it is cornball sitcom stuff </NEG> , but , at least , it is handled as best it could be by the actors and director . it is easy to like erin , she is bright , caring , and attractively blonde . it is equally easy to care for the soul mate she keeps missing contact with , the financially strapped , ruggedly handsome , intelligent 35-year-old alan ( alan ) , who no longer wants to work with his father as a plumber but is doing volunteer work at the aquarium and attending college to be a marine biologist . of course , he comes across as being so good ( though , he does kill some fish in the aquarium ) , that it is hard to believe he's for real , or just some cardboard shining knight put into the story to give it an ideal to shoot for . <NEG> the contrived story </NEG> revolves around their near misses in meeting each other in such spots as , the subway , at a restaurant , or on the phone . alan's brother answers erin's ad with a few of his pals , as they each try to respond to her ad in a phony way , making a bet that the first who gets to tongue kiss her , that the others witness , will win the bet . <NEG> this sub-plot was as obnoxious to see take place </NEG> as it is to hear told . that we have to see erin go through several dates to prove the point how ego sick these guys are , each one more annoying than the other , culminating in the most obnoxious one of all , that brazilian lover ( jose ) , who is about as charming as a snake-oil salesman , who is actually the one she nearly flies away with for a holiday in brazil , was <NEG> not only incredulous but downright contrary </NEG> to the rich presentation of her character that was the heart of the story . anyway , as expected , all's well that ends well , for <NEG> this watchable piece of fluff </NEG> , that comes over on screen better than it does when relating its story-line . the dialogue was actually not bad , those dating erin or trying to flirt with her seemed to be uttering authentic things they would actually say in their situation . and , oh , by the way , wonderland refers to the stop on the boston metro , it is where greyhound racing takes place .
