Review: Wonder Boys (2000)
Review by Scott Hunt. Visit me at Movie Hunt http://netdirect.net/~hunt/index.html
Cast: Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand, Robert Downey Jr., Katie Holmes Director: Curtis Hanson Writer: Steve Kloves
Rating: Good Shot (3 out of 4 stars)
Wonder Boys shambles along with the somnambulistic intensity of someone who's taken far too much cold/flu medication. Suddenly nudged by the thought that a point needs to be made, it concludes with a far too pat, Hollywood ending. There are many satisfying moments of whimsical farce and it avoids many a cliché, but the film rushes its resolution, dulling its potential impact. Shining through the haze is an impressive performance by Michael Douglas.
Douglas plays Grady Tripp, a university English professor caught in the paralyzing grip of career inertia. Tripp is a "wonder boy", a prize winning published author, who must now produce a second, equally dazzling work. In a nice twist, rather than suffering from writer's block, Grady is afflicted by something even worse. He can't seem to finish his latest novel, which has bloated to 2000 plus pages and continues to grow with the ludicrousness of a 50's B-movie monster.
There are other nice spins on traditional movie formulas and characters. Grady is confronted by his girlfriend, Sarah (McDormand), that she is pregnant. She also happens to be the university's chancellor. She's also married to the head of the English department. Ouch. Sexy, bright student Hannah (Holmes) rents a room in Tripp's house. She would be just as happy sharing not only Tripp's room, but also his bed. The cliché thing would be to have a passionate, graphic sex scene between them. It doesn't happen. Morose, pensive student, James Leer (Maguire), is a cipher. Grady finds a kindred talent in the boy but rather than seeing a bit of himself in James, he sees a bizarre flip side. James is a compulsive liar, obsessed with celebrity deaths, and fiercely observant. Did I also mention he kills Sarah's husband's dog and commits theft while at a university function? These events are set against the backdrop of a literary weekend being held at Tripp's' Pittsburgh based college.
Tripp is a chrysalis, wrapped within the insular cocoon of academic life. He floats through a marijuana-shrouded fog, making half decisions about his life. The film is about his journey into light. Or deeper into darkness. Leer helps goose Grady into action.
Much time is spent on the relationship between Tripp and Leer. Grady has an uneasy attraction to the boy's talent, soured slightly by a touch of envy. Leer is indeed talented, quickly writing his first novel as Tripp still trudges through his. As the two go through adventures together, there is no ultimate feeling of satisfaction with Leer. By making Leer such a compulsive liar, we aren't allowed to empathize with his downfalls and triumphs. We never learn what makes him who he is. He ends up being a walking collection of idiosyncrasies made flesh.
Along with the pressure exerted by Sarah , Hannah and James, two other characters help push Grady along. A reflection of Grady's impotence comes in the form of Rip Torn as Q, a fellow writer. Q is able to crank out a new novel every year and a half. Q has long ago bought into his own hype. At one point, he addresses an assembly by starting with the sentence, "I am.....a writer". He bellows such a simple sentence with an aggrandizing self-satisfaction that border parody, but maintains reality, by no small means through the dry, comedic skill of Torn.
Terry Crabtree (Downey, Jr.), Tripp's agent, has also descended upon the campus. Crabtree wants a look at Tripp's long promised novel. Drag queen date in tow, Crabtree finds himself sucked into Leer and Tripp's misadventures. Despite the external trimmings of Downey's flamboyant character, Downey manages to tamp down the outrageousness of Crabtree and give him a real earthiness.
In contrast to the zaniness involved in a many of the movie's other situations, the film is a character study of Grady. His fuzzy wall of indecision is pummeled by one ludicrous, yet believable, event after another. Douglas comes across as sweet, confused, prideful...and scared. For all his standing and bluster, he is still an 18 year-old college kid trying to cope with events seemingly beyond is comprehension.
There is a slow pacing to the first half of the movie. For me, a bit too slow. Amusing insights are given into academic life and situations are promisingly set up to be resolved, but suddenly everything is tied up in a neat little bow. There is a key moment where Tripp is involved in a situation where his life hangs in the balance. I kept thinking the brave choice would be to take the hard route and not warp what had been a intelligently written movie and shoehorn the ending so as to please the masses. Alas, it didn't occur. Heaven forbid a character not be allowed to walk off into the metaphoric sunset. Wonder Boys is a tasty meal marred by sickeningly sweet dessert.
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