Video Review by Marilyn Robitaille

Last Updated 09/27/01

Email: robitai@our-town.com

Wonder Boys

I was looking for a movie to ease the back to school blues when I happened on Wonder Boys.  I'd missed it at the box office, but I vaguely remembered that it had received its share of awards, including an Oscar for Best Song (thank you, Bob Dylan), and that it starred Michael Douglas.  That, however, was about all I remembered.

Imagine my skepticism when the first scene opens to a creative writing class, complete with aspiring student writers being undone by their eccentric professor. Certain that this movie would have to go the distance given my desire to escape my school-induced doldrums, I checked the rating. It was "R" for drugs and language. I decided to give it a chance. It didn't take long before it had me. The "wonder boys" of the title refers to three men connected by the murky waters of writing and publishing: Grady Tripp (Michael Douglas), James Leer (Tobey Maguire), and Terry Crabtree (Robert Downey, Jr.)  At the foreground is Grady Tripp, tenured English professor and novelist. Tripp lives his life in a marijuana-filled cloud, hoping, no doubt, to eradicate his demons. He's had a seven-year lag between novels. He's newly divorced from Barbie doll wife number whatever, and he's just recently learned that Sara Gaskell, university chancellor (Francis McDormand), is pregnant with his child. She also happens to be married to Tripp's immediate supervisor, the chair of the English Department (Richard Thomas).  

The most talented student in Tripp's creative writing class, James Leer (Tobey Maguire) works his way into Tripp's life, in part because he appeals to that writerly ego.  He comes with his own weird array of problems and psychotic tendencies, so it's not long before kinship develops. Leer needs a mentor, a publisher, and somebody to save him. Not necessarily in that order. Enter Tripp's publisher Terry Crabtree (Robert Downey, Jr.) who has come to town to see the draft of Tripp's promised masterpiece. Crabtree has the look of a desperate man who needs to publish a successful novel to keep his job.  His influence on both Tripp and Leer can only be described as manic. He creates upheaval at every turn, including the death of Tripp's two-thousand page manuscript and the birth of Leer's homosexuality.

As the three make their way through a maze of diverse complications (try a murdered dog and Marilyn Monroe's purloined jacket), each one finds a way to weather the storms. Superb acting, a great soundtrack, a well-paced plot, and interesting characters make "Wonder Boys" well worth the rental fee. It might dispel any back-to-school blues you may have, especially since these characters have problems that are probably far worse than yours, and they survive to tell the tale. 

Available in DVD and Video

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