Wonder Wheel is a movie that sets in the 1950’s on Cooney Island,
where four individuals' lives are changed forever. The movie begins with an introduction to Mickey;
he is the narrator of the story. His summer job as a lifeguard at Cooney Island is the reason,
he gets himself in an affair with a married woman, whom he later on leaves for her step-daughter.
A young girl named Carolina walks into the fair in search of her father Humpty. She finds his
wife Ginny and asks for her help. Ginny takes Carolina to their home and they anxiously wait for
her father. when Carolina was twenty years old she got married to a gangster. She was so in love that
she couldn’t see the red flags. She has come back to her father, because she had told the FBI all
about her husband’s business. He is after her to put her to eternal sleep. When her father arrives
he immediately asks her to leave, but his daughter begs him to let her stay because she has nowhere
to go. The father is angry as he starts smashing and hitting things. He tries to drink some alcohol
to calm his nerves, but his wife reminds him that he isn’t allowed to drink, as he gets violent when
he’s drunk. They finally calm Humpty down and they decide to get Carolina a job as a waitress,
she would be working with her stepmother Ginny. In comes Richie, he is the son of Ginny’s first
marriage. He is a trouble maker, as he likes to set things on fire for no reason at all. He gets
in trouble at his school all the time, so Ginny and Humpty try to do anything to help the child,
but nothing helps. It cuts to scene where Ginny is helping Richard study. It is revealed that Ginny
didn’t finish school because she was poor. But she did have success in life as she was an actress at
one point, before she made the biggest mistake of her life. Ginny was acting in theater and she had
met her first husband, Richie’s father. He was a drummer at a band and she fell in love with his
music. She wronged him by cheating and he wasn’t able to accept that, so he left. After that Ginny
was at the lowest point in her life, but she met Humpty and he helped her get back on her feet.
They promised each other that they would never leave their partner. But their marriage was
crumbling, and trouble was on its way. As Ginny is walking on the beach, soaking in the rain while
trying to clear her mind, the young lifeguard stops her and invites her to a drink. They go
into a café and get to know each other. The spark is instant and obvious. Ginny and Mickey have a
lot in common. He is a writer, she is an actress. They both share the same interest in books,
while Mickey reads them; Ginny has played them in theatre. Mickey invites Ginny to come down to the
beach anytime she wants. She goes there the next night and they end up having romantic moments.
Ginny admits that she’s married and that she has a child, but Mickey doesn’t mind that. She also
tells him that she is thirty nine, but he actually like that fact. They’re love affair blossoms into
a real love. Each time they spent together they get closer and closer; at least that’s what Ginny
thinks. Mickey takes Ginny to Greenwich Village. That is a special place for him and Ginny falls in
love with it too. This is where they can finally be free, where they can talk about books, writers
and Ginny’s grand comeback. Ginny’s biggest wish is to be a lead character in a play made from
Mickey’s book. She asks Mickey to promise her they would come back to Greenwich and so he does. On
the other side, Humpty does everything to help pay for his daughter’s night school. He wants Carolina
to study to become an English teacher. One day, as Humpty’s working on his merry go round, he gets a
visit from two gangster looking men. They ask for Carolina, but he tells him that she isn’t there.
He tells them that they haven’t spoken in years and, if she were to come back he would let them
know. While they’re talking, Ginny and Richie join them. Ginny’s frustrated because Richie
had gotten in trouble in school again. The two men start asking Ginny where Carolina could be,
but she tells the same lie Humpty did. The men leave but decide to go the clam diner,
this is where Carolina works. Luckily for her though, they end up not going because they had
no time. Ginny goes out with her friend for some ice cream. She vents to her about Mickey,
how she’s concerned about their relationship. She doesn’t know whether it’s just a summer fling or
something real. She admits that she doesn’t want it to end, and says that if it does end,
she wouldn’t know what to do because she’s not a strong woman emotionally. Her friend reassures
her but it seems that her words are meaningless. As Ginny and Carolina are walking down the pier,
they run into Mickey. It is evident that Mickey’s eyes go to Carolina. He’s very fond of her and
doesn’t even notice Ginny. Carolina is attracted to Mickey as well. Some days go by and Carolina
decides to visit Mickey. As she goes to him, he drops his book, which almost lands on her
head by accident, because of his excitement to see her. The book he’s reading is Hamlet,
he lets Carolina borrow it and tells her that they’ll discuss about it when she reads it. Mickey
is flirting with Carolina and that is evident. One day as Carolina and Ginny are walking to work,
Carolina opens up to Ginny. She tells her that she met Mickey a couple of days ago and that he
flirted with her. She tells Ginny about the book and her jealousy is clear. Ginny starts being mean
to Carolina as she cannot let her jealousy go. As they finish dinner she starts yelling at Carolina
to clean her own dishes. Carolina agrees to help but is cut off by Ginny’s insults. After yelling
and screaming Ginny ends up doing the dishes after all. Ginny and Mickey meet again. After some
romantic moments Ginny asks Mickey about Carolina. He tells her that she has nothing to worry about,
but that doesn’t make Ginny’s jealousy disappear. She warns Mickey that she is not for him;
she even tells him Carolina’s whole story. How she’s running away from her husband and that she
is marked. Despite her effort to keep Mickey away from her, all Mickey thinks about is Carolina.
He’s in love with Carolina but the last thing he wants to do is hurt Ginny. He doesn’t know
what to do and chooses to stay silent. Some days go by and Carolina is seen walking in the rain.
She’s trying to get to work and is soaking wet. Mickey happens to see her from his car and invites
her for a ride. He takes her to work but they have a conversation before she goes. Carolina
admits everything to him; she opens up about her husband and her hiding. He is flattered and more
in love with the girl. He complements her beauty, saying that she looks beautiful in the rain light.
Carolina thanks him and exits the car. She goes to work and of course Ginny is there to scold her.
Carolina apologizes for being late, but reveals that she had been shopping for a gift because it
was Ginny’s birthday. It cuts to Ginny’s birthday, where she’s talking to Mickey on the phone.
She asks him to go somewhere for her birthday and even ends the call by saying I love you to him.
Everyone seems to be enjoying the party but Ginny. Her head is throbbing and she can’t
wait for the people to go home. She goes to her room and Carolina walks in. She asks her
whether she’s alright and Ginny reveals that she has a headache. Ginny asks her what she
wanted to talk about earlier. When Carolina tells Ginny that Mickey had given her a ride to work,
Ginny looses it. She starts telling lies and giving a bad name for the lifeguard,
she even tells Carolina that he has a girlfriend that he plans to marry. She says anything she
can to make Carolina despite Mickey. Carolina is disappointed and chooses to trust Ginny,
as she doesn’t see any reason as not to. As if Ginny wasn’t having a bad day already, she gets a
call from her son’s school. They tell her that she has to come to the principal’s office; otherwise
they will have to call the police. The next day, Ginny goes to talk to the principle and finds out
that her child has to go to the psychiatrist. She goes to her husband Humpty for help. She
asks for some money as Richie’s therapy was ten dollars a week. He denies giving money to Ginny,
because he is saving it for Carolina’s night school. Plus he doesn’t believe in psychiatrists.
Ginny’s worries disappear when Mickey takes her back to Greenwich Village for her birthday.
His gift is a book and she loves it. However Ginny can’t help it but remember what Carolina had told
her. She asks Mickey about the car ride. He tries to dodge the questions and doesn’t answer them
completely. He saves himself from that topic by being affectionate to Ginny. Mickey doesn’t know
what to do anymore and decides to get a friend’s opinion. He tells Jake Jacoby his worries and Jake
gives him some solid advice. He tells him that a love like Ginny’s is rare to find, if he returns
that love to her he will have a forever grateful woman by his side. Mickey agrees and settles on
choosing Ginny, but you can’t just erase feelings. Mickey’s decision falls into water as he sees
Carolina one day. She invites him to a pizza date at Capri’s. They settle on a Friday night,
which is also the day of Mickey birthday. While Mickey is drooling over Carolina,
Ginny steals money from Humpty’s safe box and goes to buy Mickey an expensive watch. They meet by the
shore. Mickey wants to have a talk with Ginny, but is interrupted by her. She gifts him the watch,
to which he acts, surprised. He says that he can’t accept the gift because it was too expensive.
They get into a fight as Ginny’s suspicions seem to have been true. It is clear to her that Mickey
is in love with Carolina. She throws the watch into the water and leaves Mickey. She gets home
and sees Humpty yelling at her son. She stops him and admits that she had taken the money from him
for Richie’s therapy. Humpty and Ginny fight as she gets ready for work. In comes Carolina.
She had forgotten her wallet and she was rushing to get to a date. Ginny’s heart breaks as her
lover had decided to spent his birthday with her step daughter. Ginny goes to work and just
as she’s about to enter the diner, she sees the two gangster looking men that visited Humpty a
while ago. She rushes in to the diner, and asks if the other waitress had given them information
about Carolina. She says yes and Ginny realizes that Carolina’s in trouble. She rushes to the pay
phone and calls the restaurant. She gets there and right as she’s about to ask for Carolina,
her jealousy takes over and nothing is said. She knew Carolina was in danger, but decided not to do
anything about it thinking that Carolina’s disappearance could bring her Mickey back.
Over at the restaurant, Mickey tells the truth to Carolina. He admits to having an affair with
Ginny. Mickey also admits that he’s in love with Carolina. She is stunned and taken a back.
She doesn’t know what to say. At last she decides to go home. As they exit the restaurant,
Mickey offers a ride to Carolina, but she decides to take a walk. As Mickey leaves we can see a car
following Carolina. And this is the last we see of her. The next morning, a very distraught Humpty
walks into Mickey’s locker room. He asks for Carolina but he tells him that he doesn’t know
where she is. Humpty goes back home and attacks Ginny. He asks her over and over again if she knew
where Carolina is. She says no even though she was kind of responsible for her disappearance.
Humpty leaves to have a drink, he realizes that the gangsters had gotten his daughter and the
only way he can cope with that is by drinking. Later on, Mickey comes to Ginny’s house. Ginny
can be seen wearing a beautiful gown, the one she wore on one of her many performances. Mickey
comes in and reveals that he knew what Ginny had done. She tries denying it but Mickey has
evidence. He is furious at her, so furious that he can put her to eternal sleep. Ginny hands him
a knife and tells him to do it. He looks at her spitefully and leaves. After a couple of hours,
Humpy walks in. He is saddened by his daughter’s disappearance. He tries to get Ginny’s sympathy,
but she doesn’t care about Carolina or his loss. They move on from the tragic event, but the
saddest thing is that Humpty never found out that his wife is responsible for his daughter’s death.