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Wonder If This Will Work, Boys

Wonder Boys To Be Re-released

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Not ready to admit defeat, Paramount Pictures will re-release Michael Douglas' ``Wonder Boys'' this October with a new marketing campaign that will emphasize its entire cast and positive reviews.

It's a two-pronged effort to snare Oscar nominations and reignite public interest, said Robert Friedman, Paramount's vice chairman.

``Nobody here was overwhelmed by the grosses when compared with the critical response,'' said Friedman. ``So we thought, 'Why not try something else?'''

``Wonder Boys'' brought in a meager $18.7 million earlier this year -- leaving many in the media scratching their pates. With a raft of glowing reviews and a clutch of Oscar winners like Curtis Hanson (shooting his first picture since ``L.A. Confidential'') -- coupled with stars Douglas and Frances McDormand -- why didn't ``Wonder Boys'' do better at the box office?

Asked if he felt Paramount's marketing of the picture failed to connect with its intended audience, Friedman replied curtly, ``That's your opinion.''

The Wall Street Journal's Joe Morgenstern praised Douglas' work in the movie, but slighted Paramount's marketing: ''a raffishly eccentric role, and he's never been so appealing. (Don't be put off by the movie's cryptic poster, which makes him look like Michael J. Pollard.)''

And the Los Angeles Times' Kenneth Turan singled out its one-sheet for scorn: ``The film's ad poster brings Elmer Fudd to mind.''

While the new print campaign will give more prominence to co-star Tobey Maguire (after his star turn in Miramax's ``The Cider House Rules'' he seems to be up for virtually every role in Hollywood these days), ``Wonder Boys'' will now have one thing going for it this time that it lacked the last: those gushing reviews.

``It's going to be a 'Cider House' effort to get them in the door. Tobey didn't get them to come. Charlize (Theron) didn't, and the story didn't. 'Cider House' used its reviews,'' said one Paramount insider, ``and that's what we've got to use here. If that doesn't work, then we can stop kidding ourselves.''

Reuters/Variety

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'Wonder Boys' premiere to be reel benefit for Hill

The Hill District, which is the location of a key scene in both the novel and the new film adaptation of "Wonder Boys," also stands to gain from the movie's benefit premiere in Pittsburgh, slated for Feb. 24 at the Showcase West theater in Robinson.

Proceeds from the event will be turned over to the Hill Community Development Corporation for its planned rehabilitation of the Granada Theater, once the neighborhood's entertainment showcase.

"It's important to the Hill. Historically, it has been a centerpiece for the Hill," says Cathy Broucek, executive assistant for the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation and a board member of the Pittsburgh Film Office.

An artist's rendering of the proposed restored theater and a picture of the Granada in its heyday will be among the items on display at the premiere, Broucek says.

Michael Douglas, who stars in "Wonder Boys," chose the Granada as beneficiary of the film's premiere, Broucek says, but he and director Curtis Hanson will not be able to attend.

The movie, which was shot entirely in Pittsburgh last year, is based on a novel by University of Pittsburgh graduate Michael Chabon. Douglas plays Grady Tripp, a college professor and writer whose life is falling apart over one fateful weekend. Other cast members include Robert Downey Jr., Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand and Katie Holmes.

The movie is rated R for language and drug use.

The benefit begins with a champagne reception at 6:30 p.m. in the theater lobby. The movie will be shown at 7:30 p.m. Popcorn and other refreshments are also included in the $25 ticket price, which is tax deductible.

Reservations are required and can be made by calling the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation at 412-471-5808.

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Jailhouse Blues

The fallen star is in a maximum-security prison for failing a drug test.

Curtis Hanson, who directed Downey in Wonder Boys -- the movie he made just before he was sentenced -- visited the actor over the Christmas holidays.

"Robert is Robert. There he was in prison and all he could do was apologize for not being able to do some voice looping or help promote the movie," says Hanson, whose films include L.A. Confidential, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle and River Wild.

"He admitted it had been pretty scary when he first arrived because he was in with gang members and serious felons and everyone knew who he was.

"They gave him a rough time initially, but things are better now."

Hanson and Downey met in a prisoner conference room where there were 25 other visiting stations.

"A prisoner came over with his son to ask for an autograph. Of course, Robert obliged. Robert is a treasure, both as an actor and a person.

"I took him 10 photos from our movie, but the guards deemed them too large. They said they could be used as weapons, so Robert was denied them."

It was Downey who approached Hanson about starring in Wonder Boys.

"He pleaded with me to let him have a role in Wonder Boys. We had a frank and lengthy discussion about his (drug) problems. He promised me he'd be clean and he was for the entire four-month shoot.

"It was just when he returned to L.A. that he backslid.

"I know Robert has a problem, but I don't think it warrants this kind of punishment."

In Wonder Boys, which opens on Feb. 25, Downey plays a bisexual literary agent who is hounding Michael Douglas' wayward author for a follow-up to his award-winning novel.

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Wonder Boys Review - AICN

This is Segue Zagnut. I was on the Paramount lot sulking in the shadows of a Christmas party, when I realized that Curtis Hanson's new film was secretly screening only feet away. WONDERBOYS, staring Michael Douglas, Tobey Maquire, and Francis McDormand, is based on a novel of the same name that I have never read and I was not about to miss.

Douglas plays a literary writer and college professor, who has lost his spark. The movie starts 7 years after his first book reaches monumental critical success and Douglas hasn't finished a book since. Not for lack of trying though, he has amassed thousands of pages on a book with no end. Of course, nobody knows this, even his publisher, played by Robert Downey Jr.

Maquire plays a possibly suicidal student of Douglas's who's writing abilities far surpasses other students. Like many in the class, Maquire idolizes Douglas and came to this college specifically to be taught by him.

The film starts here, with Maguire latching onto the professor in a wild set up of events that leave them dealing with a dead dog, Marilyn Monroe's jacket, a stolen car, pregnancy, and a host of other problems distracting them from AND leading them to a closure of self-discovery.

This film works. Hanson shoots it with a visual detailing that allows the literary aspects to flourish without bogging down the film. Everything looks real and organic. People are frumpled and messy. The snow is wet and heavy. From the soggy pizza hanging off the porch in the rain to the just woke up look of Douglas through out the picture, Hanson adds texture that pulls you in. In one of the most beautiful looking scenes, the snow just hangs in the air. Flying this way and that, never really landing, it is the perfect background to Douglas and Maguire's first off-campus meeting.

The story is clear and lyrical as it places you in the surreal world of an artist searching for his muse. The film balances character and story arch with confidence that isn't afraid to take chances. For example, Douglas smokes pot through out the movie… in the car… at work… with his students and the film never apologizes for it. Downey's character is at least bi-sexual and it is not played with a heavy hand. In fact, the whole film has an understated quality to it, giving it a more personal connection. I somehow missed L.A. Confidential, Hanson's last film. I can see why his directing was so well lauded.

Douglas puts in his best performance in years, charismatic and fucked up. He plays the drugged and confused professor with such honesty and understanding, it is hard to believe he hasn't been there himself.

Maguire proves he is a solid performer again. With PLEASENTVILLE, CIDER HOUSE RULES, and RIDE WITH THE DEVIL, Tobey is on a winning streak. All high quality films with more depth then the average fare.

McDormand is perfectly real as both Douglas's lover and boss. You can see her inner torment. She watches Douglas throw everything, including their relationship, down the drain. At the same time, she longs for him to commit to her. The torment comes from how long can she wait. Fire him... leave him... marry him. I realize this sounds typical, but it is not played that way. McDormand and Douglas make it work.

I've never watched Dawson's Creek and never plan to, but Katie Holmes who plays a small part, is perfect. She plays a student of his who also happens to rent his extra room. She fell in love with Douglas the moment she read his acclaimed book, like Maquire choosing Douglas to be her teacher because of it. She plays it with an honest charm and harmless innocence that radiates the room. Hanson and Douglas make her scenes somehow sexy yet paternal so you don't really want to see them end up together but you are attracted none the less. I want to see what Holmes is up to next.

Overall a good solid film. I believe the release date is in Feb. 2000, look for it then. I'm afraid I've said too much

Consider This... Segue Zagnut

The Rising Star at The Bottom of the Page

LOS ANGELES—Tobey Maguire is no hunky movie star. If he were, he'd never be able to stroll into a crowded coffeehouse on Sunset Boulevard and stand in line to buy bottled water, undisturbed.

No, a movie star would be at least 20 minutes late for an interview, wear sunglasses the whole time and have no money in his pocket. He'd never casually reveal that everything he's wearing today--a black shirt made of parachute cloth, black shiny pants and Puma sneakers--was given to him by the manufacturers. All except for a white Calvin Klein T-shirt, whose label he obligingly reveals.

Uh-uh, not a star. Not yet, anyway.

For now, the 24-year-old actor is merely an undeniable, rising screen presence, propelled not by the Hollywood hype machine but--amazingly--by talent. Consider: Maguire has skipped from one significant role to another without making the cover of Vanity Fair, without becoming the Matthew McConaughey of the nano-moment, without a powerhouse publicist. He's made it to the Oscar gossip circuit without doing the Roberto Benigni I-love-you jig.

Instead, he has just worked. In the past three years, Maguire has played a troubled suburban teen in "The Ice Storm" and a wide-eyed youth time-traveling to the 1950s in the surrealist "Pleasantville," and is in two films now in theaters: He plays a Civil War-era rebel in "Ride With the Devil" and the orphan Homer Wells in the acclaimed screen version of the John Irving novel "The Cider House Rules." It is this last role, set in the 1940s, that is winning him the most attention.

Something about Maguire's earnestness and vulnerability makes him especially believable in period films. And "Cider House Rules" is a near-perfect vehicle for his sober-eyed naivete, for his ability to project a hundred emotions below a calm exterior, for his knack for suggesting the boy beneath the man. Newsday said he "gives a career-making, powerful performance," and Premiere magazine gushed that his work was "miraculous."

While Maguire often plays characters younger than he actually is, "he seems very much like an old soul," says "Cider House" director Lasse Hallstrom, who also has won praise for his lyrical adaptation of the novel. "He's so intuitive. He looks through you. He is very observant of human behavior, of the true motivations for how you behave.

"You see so much that is overstated and flashy," Hallstrom continues. "Tobey is really bold in sticking to the subtle, low-key notes. He trusts the understated choice."

Homer's Odyssey

"Homer had a lot of pride."

Tobey Maguire is explaining his decision to play Homer Wells without tears or hysterics, without much overt emotion at all. The actor hasn't touched his bottled water, and he's watching a sparrow pick at somebody's old muffin.

He is more handsome than on-screen--perhaps because he often plays strait-laced guys with dorky haircuts. Now he looks effortlessly hip, slouching in a cafe chair, his blue-gray eyes warm and animated, his cheeks peppered by a three-day-old beard, his light brown hair falling in wisps across his forehead.

"I told Lasse that I wanted to make this guy believable. Not all wide-eyed in the world, but someone who would keep his experiences for himself."

In the film--a much-abridged version of the best-selling novel--Homer has plenty to keep to himself. He grows up in a nurturing orphanage in the New England countryside, a protege of its complicated but good-hearted director, Dr. Larch (played movingly by Michael Caine). Dr. Larch teaches Homer all he knows, which includes not only delivering babies but also performing illegal abortions.

Though Homer is groomed to take over Dr. Larch's role, he burns with a desire to know the world outside. How cloistered is he? By the time Homer leaves the orphanage with a couple who have come for an abortion, he has seen only one movie in his life, over and over, the orphanage's print of "King Kong."

As Homer, Maguire is determined not to let people see the maelstrom of emotions that swirls within him as he leaves the safety of home--that's what the actor means by pride. Homer takes a job picking apples and lives with a group of black migrant workers. He learns about incest. He falls in love with the girl who came for an abortion (Charlize Theron), and thus betrays a friend who has gone to war. He learns about life.

"As a person--I don't think of Homer as a character--he would be trying to control himself. He would try to keep secret what he felt," Maguire says. "It's hard for people to open up and share, really." He pauses. "People choose whom they want to trust."

If that sounds like Maguire talking about himself, it may be because the actor seems smart enough to distrust much of what Hollywood has already offered him, the too-easy glamour held out to rising stars. Often it gets yanked away a few years later (McConaughey being only the most recent example). So he's guarded. Maguire won't answer questions about his private life. (We asked.) He insists that being an actor is not all there is to life.

"I'm pleased with who I am as a young man, with who I strive to be. My career is only one portion of me. My work is important, but only to a point," he says. "There's only so much of myself I want to show. I don't define who I am by my work. A lot of people put a lot of importance on that, but I don't want to. I appreciate my career; I work hard. That's important."

He waits a while, as if reluctant to trot out his personal philosophy. But then he does. "You get defined by what you do. . . . Society puts so much importance on what career you have, which is largely based on how much money you have, and what job you have. I don't want to get caught up in that. And it's hard. I'm a person." Another pause. "When you die, you die without any of that stuff."

Out of Inglewood

So where did he come from, this earnest young man who--despite the cool slouch--seems like a throwback? Tobey Maguire got knocked around a bit before Life set him on the path to success.

He spent his early years in Santa Monica, but his parents--his mom was 18 when she had him, his dad, a chef, only 20--divorced when he was 2. Maguire spent his entire childhood being moved around, like a piece of furniture: Venice. Hollywood. Silverlake. Studio City. Santa Clarita. Small towns in Washington. Oregon. Seal Beach. Westwood. This list leaves out a couple of moves. They were poor. He remembers his mom spending $2,000 on a car, and thinking what a lot of money that was.

Mom had dreams of being an actress, so she poured her ambitions into her thoughtful young son. She gave him a few piano lessons, a little ballet. She thought he had talent. When he was 12 (Maguire has long tired of this anecdote, but it's true), his mother offered him $100 to take drama instead of home economics at school. By then, they were living in Palm Springs. He took the money, took the class and found an outlet for his emotions.

But there were problems. "I was a good student. I really liked school, but I got so sick of moving around. I started to be a pain in the [butt] about school. I was rebellious." When he was 13, and they moved yet again, to North Hollywood, Maguire balked at starting over. His first day at school, some girls ripped his shirt, and he saw kids with knives and alcohol.

He started cutting class. His mother pleaded with him to do something with his life, so Maguire took acting classes and gradually phased out going to school. By 10th grade he was doing home study full time, and eventually earned a high school equivalency degree.

By 14, he was already working as an actor. He had a role in a Rodney Dangerfield comedy, did commercials and student films. In 1992 he landed a part in a short-lived TV show called "Great Scott."

"I started in the mailroom and worked my way up to being a junior executive, then an executive in the company," he says dryly. And now? He grins. "Now I'm a junior vice president."

Does he aspire to run the place? "I knew what I wanted to do at 15 or 16," he says. "To work with great people on great material in film. The way I look at my acting--it's just a process. I'm a young man. I have so much room to grow, so much yet to give."

Pre-Stardom

Here's another way you can tell Tobey Maguire isn't a movie star: When you get up to buy coffee, you come back to find him reading the studio press notes about himself--and laughing.

" 'Although only 23, Maguire is already a veteran actor, with an incredible variety of films and several weighty roles to his credit,' " he reads mockingly. " 'He earned critical kudos' "--a snort--" 'for his portrayal of a precocious adolescent yearning for a romantic liaison . . .' Who writes this stuff?"

But it happens to be true. Maguire did earn critical praise for his portrayal of a yearning teen in "The Ice Storm." And when it came to casting "Cider House," producer Richard Gladstein remembered him from a short film by Griffin Dunne, "Duke of Groove," that was nominated for an Oscar. At the time Maguire was too young to play Homer, but--in classic Hollywood fashion--the film took another four years to put together and "Tobey grew into Homer," says Gladstein in the press notes. "Tobey has a quality about him that is the right sort of innocence and maturity and thoughtfulness."

Maguire, who had just finished "Ride With the Devil" at the time (think many, many hours at full gallop), had badly wanted a break, but was persuaded to do the film after meeting with Hallstrom on location in Massachusetts. Both say they had an unusual connection. "He's the closest thing I can imagine to the extension of my mind. It was almost scary," says Hallstrom. Says Maguire: "That was the most fun of the whole thing; mapping it out, mapping out how to do something, and feeling successful."

Hallstrom sees Maguire as a person with many contradictions: confident in his abilities, but often shy and awkward in public. Says the director: "I think he'll be a star. I trust he'll be a star. He's a very smart actor, and very ambitious. I know he'll have a great career."

And Maguire, who has finished shooting yet another film, "Wonder Boys," which will be released in the spring, fully agrees. He doesn't yet know what his next project will be, but he has learned to trust what life has brought him.

"It's coming, I can feel it," he says, rising to leave the cafe. "I'll take whatever's good. A great director, a great script--I'm not worried about it." He pauses tableside. "The key to everything is faith. Faith that I'll do well. Faith that I'll have a diverse career. Faith that I'll do well for the planet in a small way, you know--for all the people around me and all that [expletive]. I know my future is bright. So I'm really happy."

And inside of three seconds, he's disappeared into the crowd on Sunset.

© Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company

'Cider House' star wants staying power

LOS ANGELES - Tobey Maguire has not starred in a teen slasher flick. He has not been involved in a tabloid drug scandal. He has not been romantically linked with an anorexic supermodel, any current or former Spice Girl, or any member of the ''Dawson's Creek'' cast.

That would be some other young actor's career.

Maguire is interested in a long, respected movie career, and he really doesn't have time for the flavor-of-the-month club. Instead, he has been quietly and methodically racking up movie credits, working with some of the industry's top directors, including Woody Allen, Ang Lee, and Lasse Hallstrom.

He has a movie in theaters now (''Ride With the Devil''), he has another movie opening today in Boston (''The Cider House Rules''), and he has a third movie coming out next year (''Wonder Boys'').

Still, Maguire had time for a lunch of gourmet pizza and a side of broccoli on the patio of one of his favorite restaurants, the trendy Orso in Los Angeles. In a white T-shirt and casual slacks, he looked even younger than his 24 years. Therein lies the key to his screen appeal.

More than one critic has commented on Maguire's ability to mix a boyish quality with an intensity and maturity that most actors his age can't match. In his short career, he seems to have mastered the ''less is more'' school of acting.

In ''The Cider House Rules,'' which is based on John Irving's best-selling novel taking place over several decades, Maguire plays an orphan named Homer Wells, who is rejected as a baby by two sets of adoptive parents and then must resign himself to life in a Maine orphanage.

In the orphanage, the boy is taken under the wing of a physician (Michael Caine), who tutors him in many subjects, not the least of which is the practice of medicine.

As he grows into a young adult and takes on more responsibilities, Homer must decide whether it is more important to stay at the orphanage, where he is desperately needed, or to leave and discover the outside world.

''Ride With the Devil'' had exhausted Maguire just as he was offered the Homer Wells part, and he said frankly that he was too tired. So naturally, he did the movie anyway.

''I really didn't want to do another movie at that point, but I had to do this movie,'' Maguire said with a smile. ''That's the only way to do a movie - when you don't want to do it but feel you have to do it.

''I knew that, no matter how tired I was and what was going on in my life, it all had to be put aside so I could do this movie. There are not a lot of scripts like this that come along for guys my age.''

The irony that ''The Cider House Rules'' is a movie about finding your real home is not lost on Maguire. Finding a real home has been important to the actor.

His parents married too young and split up when he was a child. He was shuttled among parents, grandparents, and other relatives for most of his early years, and he attended about 15 schools before he reached high school.

''I moved around so much,'' he said, ''that I hated school. I just got fed up with trying to make new friends all the time. I didn't want to always be the outsider.''

Maguire said his mother once had aspirations of becoming an actress, but raising a child crushed that dream. He remembers her talking a lot about acting and even encouraging him in that direction, but he never seriously considered it. Then she decided to take matters into her own hands.

His mother enrolled him in a private school with fewer than a dozen students. Classes were held only four hours a day, and students spent their afternoons pursuing other interests. Maguire spent his afternoons in acting class.

He never made it past the 10th grade (although he later earned his high school diploma at home), but he was successful in landing an agent, which is far more important for an actor than an ''A'' in chemistry.

At age 14, he got his first professional gig, performing in a skit with Rodney Dangerfield for one of the comic's HBO specials.

''It was great,'' Maguire said. ''They flew me and my mom to Las Vegas, and I got $350 a day for two days. I thought I was rich. I loved acting.''

Even bigger paydays were just ahead, in Allen's ''Deconstructing Harry,'' Terry Gilliam's ''Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,'' and Ang Lee's ''The Ice Storm.'' That last film was the first in which Maguire was singled out, and the rave notices continued in his next film, ''Pleasantville.''

Unlike many young actors, who confess to having no career strategy except to be cast in a $100 million blockbuster, Maguire said he has a clear course of action.

''I want my career to be about longevity,'' he explained. ''I want to do good work over the next 40 years. Every decision I make, whether big or small, is based on that. I ask myself each time out whether this role fits into that strategy.

''I'm not into making a bunch of money right now. I'm not into getting famous right now. I've been offered the roles that would get me there faster. If I do sustain a career for 40 years, I'm sure the money and fame will come. I'm in no hurry. It will come in good time. It's all about faith. I feel abundant in my life now, and that goes beyond what I have in the moment.''

This story ran on page E07 of the Boston Globe on 12/16/99. © Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.

Dark Horizons - Two Wonder Boys Reviews

"Wonder Boys" - A Review by 'Pete' (Slightly Positive - Frequent Minor Spoilers)

"Wonder Boys" review - Dark Horizons

Unique, funny, intellegent, interesting... Those are all good descriptions of "Wonder Boys," the new film starring Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand, Katie Holmes, and Robert Downey Jr and directed by "L.A. Confidential" director Curtis Hanson. I wasn't expecting much from the impossible title and arcane plot summary, but the bits of the story are delivered in a very different story that zigs when you expect it to zag.

The producers of this movie really deserve a lot of kudos for the lead casting. Without a doubt, the strength of this movie came from the performances -particularly from a trio of superb actors. Michael Douglas plays Grady Tripp, a writer/professor on the downside of life, Tobey Maguire his strange and gifted student, and Robert Downey Jr. plays his scandalous publicist who is trying to salvage his career. Their strong performances give their quirky characters life, pulling in the audience (not bad considering there was no score in the working copy I saw). Director Hanson, knowing the that the stories strength is its characters, paces the movie so that the actors drive the plot instead of plot devices driving them. In that light, the whole movie moves in a moderate believable pace that makes the movie enjoyable. I felt that the only weak spot was the very last shot of the film, but I gathered from those I went with that I wasn't the only one, so it will probably be axed -and rightfully so. Other than that and the unattractive title, "Wonder Boys" was a nice surprise. I think the movie can be best described as 'a pleasant experience.'