Wonder Boys

Directed by Curtis Hanson
Starring Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand, Robert Downey, Jr., Katie Holmes
USA, 2000
Rated R (adult content, language, drug content)

B-

THE LIVES OF WRITERS
Wonder Boys is a wonderful trifle that is nearly forgotten within the thirty minutes after it ends. Its unmemorable and insignificant, but it, Curtis Hanson’s first film since his intensely stylish film noir L. A. Confidential, is enjoyable enough to sit through. It is actually quite interesting, in structure, style, and characterization, and it features an excellent performance by Michael Douglas as Grady Tripp, an English professor who, unlike Douglas’ usual debonair-type roles, looks like an old, worn, comfortable shoe.

Grady, author of the acclaimed novel Arsonist’s Daughter, is toying with his overlong follow-up to the book which has been awaited for seven years. He lives in his house with the female student he rented a room to, Hannah (Katie Holmes), who is infatuated with him. His editor, Terry Crabtree (Robert Downey, Jr.), is fidgety when it comes to Grady’s long-anticipated book, but is uninhibited in almost every other situation. Grady’s best student, a strange, talented young man named James Leer (Tobey Maguire), is perpetually attached to his side throughout the film, which chronicles the goings-on in the lives of its characters during a writing festival.

For Grady, everything has come to a messy halt. His follow-up opus seems headed for nowhere at page two-thousand-something. His marriage meets the ‘D’ word. His affair with the college chancellor, Sarah Gaskell (Frances McDormand), becomes hazy when she announces boldly that she is with child, his child. He seems to be at a dead end, artistically and emotionally. All the while, James Leer, a very- shall we say- unique individual, is being hunted down by the police for shooting the Gaskell’s dog at a party and for stealing some mighty expensive Marilyn Monroe memorabilia belonging to Walter Gaskell, Sarah’s husband. Not to draw attention to an insignificant element in the film, but Wonder Boys is one of the first films I’ve seen to feature types of relationships often shunned by society in a non-patronizing, nonchalant manner. James and Terry Crabtree have a gay relationship; Terry is unabashed, unashamed, and a whole lot of fun. There is also an interracial relationship. Neither of these are exploited or treated with special significance or in a condescending manner, and I think- I hope- it is a sign that Hollywood is growing up and facing the facts- people don’t fall in love with set agendas. People fall in love with who they gravitate to and its all very natural- "odd" relationships are natural, too, and should be treated as such in film.

That said, the film’s ending is rather condescending. It’s a very nice, sweet, cutesy closure that fits, but it seems all so calculated. There is one nice touch, though- for most of the film, the washed-up Grady is seen as unkept in appearance. When he finds his "way," his inspiration and his will to live and all that, we see him as clean and well-groomed, like the usual Michael Douglas character. In this film about finding direction in life and in work, there is very little direction; there seems to be no specific path the film is following. Wonder Boys is one of those films that kind of works, and that is easy to like, but is also easily forgotten.

The cast is uniformly good. Michael Douglas gives his best performance in a long time. He can play down-and-out very well, and he seems very comfortable in the skin of his role, which makes him entirely believable. He’s an actor that always seems like he’s playing himself, and each role seems like the same person just thrust into a different conflict. Bogart, Cary Grant, and even many present-day stars are like this, and those characteristics are not really faults. Wonder Boys does not have Douglas shedding that sameness- there’s the same voice and relatively similar face we’ve come to be familiar with over his career. His acting here is exceptional, though.

Tobey Maguire, a very interesting young actor who hasn’t quite found his place yet, hits some wrong notes, but does a lot very well here. He’s always been a very reserved, often boring actor. Here, his character is somber, almost infantile, and Maguire’s acting style has not changed, but I think he’s on his way to finding his footing. Robert Downey, Jr. is the highlight of the supporting cast- he steals many scenes and is funny in a loud role. Frances McDormand, who is usually fascinating, is wonderful to watch here. Her character knows what to say at the exactly right time, and McDormand has that knowledge of timing too.

But, with all its strengths, Wonder Boys is unexceptional. Much of it is as crisp as the pages of a book and it treats writing and reading as the most troublesome and addictive of drugs, but I wasn’t really hooked on the movie. I enjoyed how it was shaped and liked the outcome, but, in the end, the film just passed me by.

By Andrew Chan

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