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Wonder Boys (2000)

A Bit of a Marvel

A review by Michael S. Goldberger.
Copyright © Michael S. Goldberger 2000
Dr. Grady Tripp, published author and professor of English at a cosy seat of learning in Western Pennsylvania, smokes dope. A lot of dope. He is to marijuana what Dudley Moore's Arthur was to spirits. And when the evil weed isn't occupying all his time, he's either pursuing his illicit affair with college chancellor Sara Gaskell (Frances McDormand) or busy teaching writing to his adoring students. He is the human equivalent of a handsomely expensive but rather well worn hiking shoe; sturdy, full of romantic history, yet bedraggled around the edges. He's one of two title characters in Wonder Boys.

At first blush, Grady is hardly hero material. Especially in these politically correct times. The college educated version of Paul Newman's blue-collar existentialist in Nobody's Fool, his redemption will be difficult. But as expertly fashioned by Michael Douglas, this winningly faulted rogue is one of the most interesting characters to come down the cinema pike in quite some time. And clearly, the uplifting blow he strikes for individualism is fictional. He is a picaresque fantasy. The last of the hard living, self-destructive, romantically inspired writers. Self-absorbed and self-pitying, yet altruistic and inherently noble. He himself would cop to being a literary cliché. But the vicarious thrill he represents is seductive. We buy in -- lock, stock and exaggerated characterisation.

Unfortunately, Grady hasn't published anything since "The Arsonist's Daughter," the much heralded novel that brought him fame some seven years ago. Currently on page 2,611 of his next book, he can't seem to fashion an end for it. Yet, he contends there is no such thing as writer's block.

When first we make the professor's acquaintance, it is the eve of WordFest weekend, the university's annual celebration of the world of belles-lettres. A kick-off reception is being held that night at Chancellor Gaskell's prestigious manse, co-hosted by her husband, the self-aggrandising Dr. Walter Gaskell (Richard Thomas). And oh, in case you didn't know: Aside from being the unwitting member of the aforementioned love triangle, pompous Walter is Professor Tripp's department chairman. The friction between the two is already palpable.

So, in addition to being made a cuckold at the hands of this popular free thinker he detests, consider the added consequences if Dr. Gaskell were to find out that one of Grady's top students shot his blind dog and then absconded with his most treasured piece of baseball memorabilia (hint, it has something to do with Marilyn Monroe). Because that's exactly what happens when James Leer (Tobey Maguire), a distractingly morose but highly talented writer, unexpectedly shows up for the festivities. James is fond of listing, rapid fire, the names, dates and methods of suicide that his favourite celebrities employed to end it all. In case you haven't guessed, he is the other wonder boy.

Add to this mix Grady's foppish New York editor, Terry Crabtree (Robert Downey, Jr.), in town to try and stir his belletristic charge to his former glory, and the transvestite, Miss Antonia Sloviak (Michael Cavaias), who he picks up on the plane. Plus, there's blowhard Q (Rip Torn), Grady's obnoxious antithesis in the English Department who cranks out a best-selling novel book every eighteen months. Also in attendance is Katie Holmes as Hannah Green, a co-ed who rents a room in Professor Tripp's home. And while she does have romantic designs on her wordsmith hero, she is not the reason why his wife has left him. Incidentally, being given the gate by a disconsolate wife is how Grady started out his day. Lesser men are merely content to have a bowl of Wheaties.

At some vulnerable point during this first wild evening, Professor Grady Tripp circumstantially decides to take his very troubled protege under wing. The guess is that he sees his own salvation in the freelance tutorial. The whim is sardonic but heart-warming. Hence, this gathering launches a lot more than the ballyhooed WordFest. With the directorial reins in the capable hands of Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential), the character chemistry sets in motion a philosophically zany series of events. It's the kind of thing S.J. Perelman or Ben Hecht might have written. Nutty, but smart.

There's no actual story here. Not in the conventional sense. Rather, it's a jaunt. A road movie limited to just a few square miles as Grady and company tilt at literary windmills whilst running amok in and around Pittsburgh. They chide eloquently, bantering along the highways and byways, dropping literary allusions like Johnny Appleseeds of prose. The form is free flowing. And the audacious script by Steven Kloves (based on the novel by Michael Chabon) is classical screwball comedy with an engagingly modern lilt. Thus, despite a midsection that sags slightly and a skimpily written part for the Academy Award-winning Miss McDormand, it's no wonder that Wonder Boys is so warmly entertaining.

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