Wonder Boys

Wonder Boys initially seems cut from the same cloth as films like Dead Poets Society, Good Will Hunting and Finding Forrester, but it isn't really like that at all. It's more of an indie flick and a vehicle for Michael Douglas to play a real academic screw-up getting into adventures amongst the university set. It's kind of fun and probably has more in common with films like High Fidelity or Rushmore.

The story concerns Grady Tripp (Douglas, in a different role to the types he usually plays), a university professor and successful writer who has been working on his latest novel for no less than 7 years. Over the course of a particularly hectic weekend he finds himself hounded by his editor (Robert Downey Jr) and saddled with one of his students; the enigmatic James Leer (Tobey Maguire).

Douglas is engaging and fascinating as the less-than-good professor, it's a real character part and he does his best to disappear into it. Robert Downey Jr reminds us how sad it was that he couldn't keep himself out of gaol long enough to do more movies at the time (though he would make a fully-fledged comeback some five years after this film) and Tobey Maguire does his usual weird kid schtick with a few twists thrown in. This isn't one of those mentor/disadvantaged genius films, this is more a story about a writer coming to terms with events around him, and taking control. In this respect, and many others, it's a far more interesting film than something like Finding Forrestor. It's funny, unpredictable and exceptionally acted by all involved.

And that's pretty much all I have to say about this film! It's entertaining, what else do you need to know?

DIRECTOR: Curtis Hanson
WRITER/SOURCE: Screenplay by Steven Cloves, based on the novel by Michael Chabon.
KEY ACTORS: Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Robert Downey Jr., Frances McDormand, Katie Holmes, Rip Torn, Alan Tudyk, Richard Thomas, Jane Adams.

RELATED TEXTS:
- The novel Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon, published in 1995.
- Other films about university academia... Good Will Hunting, Leaves of Grass and Orange County.
- Films about writers and writing... Adaptation, Finding Forrester, Barton Fink, Sideways and Sunset Blvd.

AWARDS
Academy Awards - won Best Song (Things Have Changed). Also nominated for Best Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay.
BAFTAs - nominated for Best Actor (Michael Douglas) and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Golden Globes - won Best Song (Things Have Changed). Also nominated for Best Actor - Drama (Michael Douglas) and Best Screenplay.