WONDER BOYS (2000) / *** 1/2
Directed by Curtis Hanson. Screenplay by Steve Kloves, based on the novel by Michael Chabon. Starring Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Robert Downey Jr. Running time: 114 minutes. Rated AA. Reviewed on March 19th, 2000.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
A quiet, understated character piece, "Wonder Boys" is the sort of movie which, when recalled afterward, seems more like a dream than something actually experienced. Slow-moving but never plodding, funny and original without being absurd, it is a pleasurable journey through one man's personal struggles.
Grady Tripp (Michael Douglas) is a University of Pittsburgh English professor who wrote a critically-acclaimed novel seven years ago and hasn't published anything since. Most people think Tripp is washed up, but the truth is that his new novel just isn't finished yet; it is now two thousand single-spaced pages long and counting. Tripp, whose wife has just left him, is having an affair with the university chancellor, Sara Gaskell (Frances McDormand). Sara's husband Walter (Richard Thomas) is the head of the English department and hence Grady's boss. Tripp's most promising student is James Leer (Tobey Maguire), a dour and eccentric youth held in disdain by most of his classmates. The lone exception is Hannah Green (Katie Holmes), who is also boarding with Grady and is clearly interested in taking their relationship beyond the academic.
The movie takes place during WordFest, a weekend-long writers' convention. The Gaskells host a party to kick off WordFest, during which Sara reveals to Grady that she is pregnant. Going outside for a draw, Tripp (aptly named, given that he spends most of the movie under the influence of drugs, both prescription and otherwise) encounters James, standing in the backyard with a gun he insists is just a fake. The two sneak upstairs to have a look at Walter's collection of memorabilia. When Grady is attacked by the Gaskells' dog, James shoots it dead. At a loss, Tripp ends up lugging the canine corpse around in his trunk until he can figure out what to do about it.
All this is just set-up for a sometimes harrowing, always amusing odyssey through the streets of Pittsburgh and the problems which plague Grady's life. He finds himself having to deal not just with the end of his marriage and the complication of his affair, not just with the dead dog and a stolen piece of Walter's collection, not just with editor Terry Crabtree (Robert Downey Jr) whose own job is riding on the publication of Tripp's new novel, but with the enigma that is James Leer. James isn't just a writer; the entirety of his behavior is one big creative process (at one point, intoxicated, he begins narrating out loud) and it is impossible to take anything he says or does at face value: the fake-gun-that-isn't is just the tip of the iceberg of James' fantasies and deceptions.
"Wonder Boys" is a smart movie that understands its characters and takes the time to develop and explore them fully. Written by Steve Kloves from the novel by Michael Chabon, it is populated by believable individuals who make believable choices, not ones dictated by stereotypical Hollywood expectations. For example, both Terry and James are clearly not strictly heterosexual, but when they finally do end up in bed together, it is dealt with almost offhandedly. The event is just a natural development of both characters, and the script does not grind to a halt to exploit it. Nothing in "Wonder Boys" feels staged or melodramatic; realism seethes from its characters, their relationships with each other, and the decisions they make.
But perhaps this is all to be expected. "Wonder Boys" is a movie all about making choices and the consequences of avoiding them, and a film with such a theme lives and dies on the conviction of its characters. Grady has spent the past half-decade evading decisions, and it has cost him his marriage. Here, then, is the story of how he comes to rise above his personal apathy and seize control of his life. Nowhere is this theme of making choices more clearly illustrated than with Grady's epic novel. Even Hannah, Grady's potential new love interest, finds it impossible to finish, but not because it is poorly written. On the other hand, Hannah thinks it is beautiful, but she tells Grady, "you didn't make any choices": Grady has not found the will to leave anything out of the text, and as a result it has ballooned to mammoth proportions. The manuscript's final fate depicts another important fact about decisions: that sometimes they're made for you, not by you.
The movie's dialogue is sparkling throughout, and there are plenty of laughs, many of them derived from the film's frank view of reality. Surprisingly for a movie which muses on so deep a theme, "Wonder Boys" has many of the elements of a screwball comedy, complete with mistaken identities and misplaced valuables. But the screwball elements are always in service to the overall plot, complementing it rather than fragmenting the film. As a result, "Wonder Boys" is appealing and enjoyable on a number of different levels.
The acting is uniformly excellent. Douglas finds just the right note as the harried Grady, portraying him as confused and aimless without making him seem weak. Maguire, always a quiet, reserved actor, is a perfect fit as James -- he is quirky, inspired and fragile, all at the same time. Amongst the supporting cast, Richard Knox gives a hilarious performance as a man who claims to be the real owner of Grady's battered car.
For a movie about choices, "Wonder Boys" makes all the right ones. It is smart and well-acted, and the top-notch script finds a good balance between drama and comedy. Although its sheer placidness may work against it in such a crowded box office, it should not be overlooked. This may be one of the first Oscar contenders of the year 2000.
Copyright © 2000 Shannon Patrick Sullivan. Archived at http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies/WonderBoys.html
-- _______________________________________________________________________ / Shannon Patrick Sullivan | "We are all in the gutter, but some of us \ | | are looking at the stars." | \ shannon@morgan.ucs.mun.ca | -- Oscar Wilde /
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