Auggie (Jason Tremblay), a fifth-grader born with severe facial deformities, attends public school for the first time. When handling similar material in Mask, Peter Bogdanovich surrounded his lead with a support system that would have made John Ford proud. Writer-director Stephen Chbosky’s inspiration apparently came from watching hours of ABC Afterschool Specials. It’s another politically incorrect wonder from Walden Media masquerading as family friendly fare. The investment company that brought us Parental Guidance once again proclaims that the best way for a child to deal with bullies is by beating the shit out of them. Were that not disgraceful enough: teachers rightfully discourage impressionable grade-school students from staring at their new classmate, but it’s okay to simultaneously sully cinema and set the kids on the road to macular degeneration by showing them a copy of The Wizard of Oz in the wrong aspect ratio. With Owen Wilson and Julia Roberts, the latter making a semi-annual bid to keep her name out there. (2017) — Scott Marks