Features: DVD
Editor's Note
In Curtis Hanson's WONDER BOYS, based on the novel by Michael Chabon, Michael Douglas delivers one of his most compelling performances as Grady Tripp, a disheveled, perpetually adolescent English professor amiably coasting toward a midlife crisis. On the inaugural day of his university's literary festival, Grady's third wife leaves him, and his mistress, university chancellor Sara Gaskell (Frances McDormand), announces that she's pregnant with their child. To further complicate matters, Grady's reckless editor, Terry Crabtree (Robert Downey Jr.), desperate to revive his flaccid career, arrives to pick up Grady's far-from-finished seven-years-in-the-making follow-up to his critically acclaimed first book. As if that weren't enough to keep him reeling, Grady soon becomes an unwilling accomplice to a canine homicide and the heist of a rare jacket once worn by Marilyn Monroe, both committed by his brightest student--the languid, slightly pathological James Leer (Tobey Maguire). Dressed in a ratty pink bathrobe and driving a stolen car with a dead dog in the trunk, Grady must now find a way to return Marilyn's coat, write the great American novel, nurture James's literary talents, discourage the advances of an amorous coed (Katie Holmes), avoid the wrath of a tiny James Brown look-alike (Richard Knox), and reconcile with Sara...all before the weekend is over.
Plot Summary
Curtis Hanson directs this comedic coming-of-middle-age tale about Professor Grady Tripp, a man with a lot on his mind. His wife, Emily, has just left him. His mistress, Sara Gaskel, is pregnant. His beautiful young boarder, Hannah Green, has the hots for him. His quirky writing student, James Leer, wants to be him. And his editor, Terry Crabtree, has been desperately waiting for the follow-up to his extremely successful first novel for seven years. Throw a transvestite, a dead dog, stolen Marilyn Monroe memorabilia, and an irate James Brown look-alike into the mix and Grady's anxiety is understandable. As his worlds collide during Wordfest, a literary festival held at the university, Grady embarks on a seemingly endless weekend full of mistakes and mix-ups that ultimately lead him to self-discovery. A stellar cast--with standout performances from Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, and Robert Downey Jr.--brings this poignant story to life. Hanson tells the tale simply and effectively, with many scenes silent of background noise or music, trusting the audience to concentrate instead on the brilliant acting and writing.
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