Wonder Boys (2000)

To me, this movie is perfection.

best movie i've ever seen.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Equipped with a lot of talented actors and maybe the best performance of Michael Douglas , this is one of a kind movie , great story and chemistry among cast , fully hilarious . watchable multiple times

Professor Grady Tripp's life is an utter mess: his wife has left him, his lover (who also happens to be the chancellor of the university he works at) is pregnant, his editor is visiting him to verify whether his new novel is complete, he must deal with his two most brilliant students: Hannah Green, who has a huge crush on him and James Leer, a rather somber guy with a great talent for writing. Add to the mix a dead dog, a priceless jacket, a stolen car and a nasty case of writer's block and the result is a recipe for disaster.The above mentioned plot is perfect for a delirious comedy of errors, but director Curtis Hanson and screenwriter Steve Kloves take Michael Chabon's renowned book Wonder Boys and they achieve an elegant, witty and exhilarating portrait of a man whose life demands to get fixed before things get worse. This made with an admirable balance between comedy and drama that few movies can accomplish.Some people may claim this is a movie about mid-life crisis, and in some level it is, but it goes beyond that notion and addresses the search of identity in more than one way. Grady, for instance is looking for himself and tries to find out what went wrong and what's gonna happen next. James Leer, a gifted mind rejected by almost everyone will find in Grady the encouragement he might need to come out of his shell. Or Terry Crabtree, Grady's homosexual editor, who's in urgent need of a literary hit in order to stay relevant and keep his job (and he'll be a key element in James' coming of age). In addition to that search, they have to deal with the pressure of not living up the expectations created around them and see how others enjoy the success that possibly has been waiting for them, but they're unable to attain.Wonder Boys avoids favorably most of clichés seen in movies about writers thanks to Kloves' brilliant approach to Chabon's provocative work, remaining faithful to it, but giving in life on its own way. And Hanson's expert hand makes the movie flow with great pace and timing. But it's safe to say Hanson's best quality (as seen in his previous movie L.A. Confidential) is to push the right buttons with his actors. In this case we have people like Katie Holmes, Frances McDormand and Robert Downey delivering superb work, Tobey Maguire who captures James' vulnerability and sadness in a very unique way. And Michael Douglas in a career-best performance as Grady (superior to his Oscar-winning work in Wall Street and close to his Emmy- winning one in Behind the Candelabra). Is hard to imagine someone else playing a very conflicted and distressed man with such sense of humanity and plenty of irony and humor.One thing must be clear: Wonder Boys is a comedy, but not in the traditional sense of the word: it's a sophisticated and smart piece about what we really want and need to do in life and how to do it before it's too late.

Mostly ignored upon release and subsequently forgotten, this gem from 2000 is my favorite work from Curtis Hanson, who was deciding between directing this film and what was to be the Brett Ratner/Nic Cage film The Family Man. Good choice Mr. Hanson. The film was poorly marketed in the US and given a terrible release date in February and tanked, but psychotic producer Scott Rudin used his muscle to get the film re-released at the end of the year for Oscar consideration. It picked up a few nominations, but tanked again in the box office. This a is such a nice, warm and beautiful film that I find it puzzling that it also received a C cinemascore from audiences. That's a toxic exit poll and a death blow for word of mouth. There really isn't a moment in the film that feels false or out of place. It's constructed with such care and so beautifully shot by Dante Spinotti. Michael Douglas does his best work here and the man is in almost every frame of the film and he carries it like a pro. There isn't a false note in his performance and Grady Tripp is an unforgettable character. It's a simple film that takes place over a few days about characters going through complicated times in their lives and it never falls into sentiment or is condescending to the audience. It's almost perfect and it's very funny.

Alternating between an oddball comedy, a surreal thriller and a meditation on the nature of writing, Wonder Boys is an original and thought-provoking film that doesn't quite reach its goal. It's unclassifiable and virtually indescribable, yet all the stylistic tools it uses seem to come directly from any one of the genres it's comprised of; it doesn't do enough to create its own unique style, and therefore fails to focus and become a unique non-genre piece. In other words, it feels too often like a mainstream Hollywood affair, when it's anything but.Wonder Boys is adapted from a very early work by Michael Chabon, to my taste one of the finest American novelists of the last twenty years, and his lack of experience is felt in the script as it is in the novel. It's filled with lots of great ideas, but it lacks in that ever-important focus - and so remains unsatisfying. It's an interesting movie that's worth checking out, especially for those interested in writing and authors, but it's not likely to become an all-time favorite.