... So I went out and grabbed the first artsy film I could find, and that happened to be this Wonder Boys a film that I have always wanted to see, but have never gotten around to it.
It will be quite hard for me to write the plot, really because it’s the kind of film, where one thing directly ... Read review
Wonder Boysis one of those films in which more twists and turns disrupt the life of the ... more
hero in one weekend than would bother most of us our whole lives. Professor Grady Tripp (Michael Douglas) is an aging one-novel wunderkind at a small Pittsburgh col...
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An unfinished novel a stolen car a murdered pet and a failing marriage are just a few of ... more
the crises piling up like a logjam in this often hilarious story of bright promise gone awry. During a single hectic weekend college professor Grady Tripp (Mic...
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An unfinished novel a stolen car a murdered pet and a failing marriage are just a few of ... more
the crises piling up like a logjam in this often hilarious story of bright promise gone awry. During a single hectic weekend college professor Grady Tripp (Mic...
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Director Curtis Hanson chooses a line-up of vintage rock and R&B for the musical side of ... more
his screen adaptation of Michael Chabon's brilliant Wonder Boys. Foremost is Bob Dylan, who contributes a new rocker, "Things Have Changed", as well as cuts from Blood on the Tracks, Oh Mercy and Time Out of Mind. These 13 cuts do a fine job of limning Michael Douglas's lead character's confusion, regret and weary-to-the-bone ambivalence. Smartly sequenced--soul giants Little Willie John and Clarence Carter fit perfectly alongside the likes of Dylan, Lennon, Van Morrison and Neil Young--Wonder Boys the album is a stellar example of hand-in-glove movie-music supervision. --Rickey Wright
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Wonder Boysis one of those films in which more twists and turns disrupt the life of the ... more
hero in one weekend than would bother most of us our whole lives. Professor Grady Tripp (Michael Douglas) is an aging one-novel wunderkind at a small Pittsburgh college who's labouring on his seven-years-in-the-making, 2000-plus-page second opus with no end in sight. The morning of the college's literary Glastonbury, WordFest, Grady's wife leaves him; that evening, his mistress (Frances McDormand) announces she's pregnant (she's also the Chancellor of the school, as well as the wife of Grady's boss). Grady's voracious editor (Robert Downey Jr) is also in town, transvestite date in tow, determined to read the highly anticipated new book; there's also the nubile student (Katie Holmes), who seems more than willing to ease Grady's pain. And then there's James Leer (Tobey Maguire), the mordant and brilliant writing student who's the catalyst for Grady's lost weekend, which involves a soon-to-be-dead blind dog, a stolen car and the jacketthat Marilyn Monroe wore when she wed Joe DiMaggio.The writing and acting in this film is superb. Douglas, by turns dryly sarcastic and sincerely heartfelt , single-handedly makes up for years of alpha-male posturing as the passive pothead Tripp, and whoever thought of pairing him with the resilient McDormand is brilliant--they convey the complexities and history of their relationship in a single glance or movement. The rest of the cast also are exceptional, with Maguire in a breakthrough performance and Downey at his manic best. The ending may feel a little too pat, but after everything these characters have been through, it seems a just reward. --Mark Englehart, Amazon.com
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Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Advantages: Intellegent, Thought Provoking, Well Acted, Gripping and Very Sweet Disadvantages: Can Drag Slightly
...that happened to be this Wonder Boys a film that I have always wanted to see, but have never gotten around to it.
It will be quite hard for me to write the plot, really because it’s the kind of film, where one thing directly affects another, so if I tell you one thing, you’ll be able to work out the whole plot, so I will just give a brief summary. Plus I would like to read you comments, as to whether a short plot description with a ... ...can see, the acting in Wonder Boys is I thought impeccable. Michael Douglas puts in a refreshing change of role. Robert Downey Jnr and Tobey McGuire both surprised me with their acting talents and I always like to see Katie Holmes, and now she has a great diversity, as she has done, action, romance, thriller and thoughtful comedy. I look forward to seeing her in the new Batman film.
Grady Tripp as a character is brilliant the script ... more
Looking through my reviews, especially the film ones, I realised that I haven’t been very good. All my movie opinions have either been about ditzy romantic comedies, mediocre thrillers or the occasional action flick. So I went out and grabbed the first artsy film I could find, and that happened to be this Wonder Boys a film that I have always wanted to see, but have never gotten around to it.
It will be quite hard for me to write the plot, really because it’s the kind of film, where one thing directly affects another, so if I tell you one thing, you’ll be able to work out the whole plot, so I will just give a brief summary. Plus I would like to read you comments, as to whether a short plot description with a lot of information on acting and design is better, or the other way around.
Seven years ago Grady Tripp wrote a book named The Arsonist’s Daughter, which became that years surprise hit, both financially and critically. But seven years later Grady is still working on his follow up novel, which started of as a three hundred and twenty page short but is have now spiralled into two thousand page tomb. Today is not Grady’s day, his much younger wife has just left him, one of his more troubled students James Leer (he is also an English professor) is sinking deeper and deeper into depression and his lover has just announced that she is pregnant. Along with the troubled James, another student of his is Hannah Green a sexy youth, who’s soul purpose in life seems to be to shamelessly flirt with Professor Tripp.
To add to Grady’s problems, his editor, Terry Crabtree, is coming to check up on the books progress, but that’s nothing, when Terry brings Miss Antoine an obvious transvestite the fun really begins!
So a dead dog, a whole lot of marijuana, a lifeless manuscript and a soulless existence later and Grady still hasn’t found his role in life!
This is defiantly the best performance I have seen Michael Douglas do. As Grady Tripp he shines with wry intelligence, his character is so well formed, that it was always going to be a great performance, but Michaels performance is sharply realised and Michael accurately portrays his character, which isn’t always likeable, but always interesting and witty. This is a big shift in tone for Michael and he truly proves that he can act, and not only act but do it very, very well. I can’t believe how well he embodied the character; I was really shocked as I don’t usually like him.
Robert Downey Jnr is someone that I have always had my reservations about. I enjoyed his character in the hilarious Ally McBeal, but have seen him in roles that I really don’t like. I am pleased to say though, that he is fantastic in this. He shows off some true talent, as he takes what is on the script and turns his character into so much more than first written. Downey Jnr adds his own, unique wit to the role, which makes it a deliciously humorous performance. Absolutely brilliant, like Douglas.
I have to admit, that I hate both of the Spider-Man movies, and I usually label Tobey Maguire as being void of talent, but again, I have had to eat my words. As James, the tortured soul, he puts in a perfectly understated performance, with a lot of intelligence shining through. I again am surprised how much talent Tobey demonstrates as this is undoubtedly a very hard role to pull off. His thoughtful performance is both powerful and wildly entertaining. Although Katie Holmes character is only there to be eye candy, she is that and defiantly more, as the extremely flirtatious Hannah. She is so cute and instantly likeable that she lights up the screen whenever she comes on it. Not a fabulous performance, as she isn’t given nearly enough to do, but still an enjoyable one.
Frances McDourmand is also extremely good as Sara Gaskell. Grady’s secret flame, she play’s Sara with good humour, intrigue and sex appeal. She is defiantly comfortable in front of the camera and is always funny.
As you can see, the acting in Wonder Boys is I thought impeccable. Michael Douglas puts in a refreshing change of role. Robert Downey Jnr and Tobey McGuire both surprised me with their acting talents and I always like to see Katie Holmes, and now she has a great diversity, as she has done, action, romance, thriller and thoughtful comedy. I look forward to seeing her in the new Batman film.
Grady Tripp as a character is brilliant the script allows him to be intelligent, but not so much that he never makes mistakes. He is an oddly relatable character, as he wants to finish his book, but all these distractions around him are really getting on his nerves. I know how he feels though, don’t you? You know you should be doing something, like writing a letter, but you just sit there, all the time your thinking, I should be writing that letter but you never do. His is n that sort of block strange. Also, what isn’t so obvious at first is that he is an extremely passionate man, fuelled by love.
James Leer is also a beautifully rich character, who is actually just Grady but younger, and I think when the two realise that then a turning point in the film is met. James has a tendency to take himself away from reality, as he has such a vivid imagination he makes up these strange yet believable tales, and as he is so intelligent he knows how to play people.
Before I said that Hannah greens only role is to be eye candy, but that is actually wrong, she is there to link James and Grady together, and also to be a calming force. If you watch the film, you will see that whenever it gets too crazy, she pops up and gives a bit of advice that twists the whole story around. Ashe is quite an interesting character, once you think about it, but whilst watching the film, she isn’t very noticeable.
Wonder Boys is a beautifully crafted piece of film making. each scene is almost breath taking and always wonderfully quirky. I love the way that all these completely different characters are connected by interesting and touchingly emotional bonds. It’s a movie about humans and what motivates them to do the strange things they do. It is so wonderfully crafted, that you really do become completely absorbed in the story, performances, characters, settings and the emotion.
The script is wonderfully witty and refreshingly different. It isn’t bound by the conventional Hollywood rules. The movie is not only thought provoking, but really beautifully written. The script is like the main character because it’s a very slow movie; the words are the biggest aspects it’s got. After all it’s a movie about an intelligent and witty writer, so it had to have both of those traits.
I also loved the way that Wonder Boys was shot. It has a wonderful sense of independant film making about it, but still had fantastic production values. This really is a claustrophobic movie that I will admit, needs your undivided attention, but if you give it that, it will be well worth it. It is strangely shot, as sometimes you have beautiful scenes, mixed with rather amateurish shot ones, which for me added a whole different spin on the story. I don’t know what it is that I loved so much about the production of the film, but I just felt, it had real heart, and that’s a hard thing to find in Hollywood.
On the cover, Wonder boys, boasts a shiny red badge saying Oscar winner, I turned over and read that the Oscar was for best original song, Bob Dylan ‘Things Have Changed’ it was a well deserved Oscar, as like the film, it is a thought provoking one and perfectly slots the film. It manages to brings all the emotion in the film to the for front. The rest of the soundtrack is fitting, with some filthy rock, some indie and ballads.
In 1997 Chris Hanson directed a little old movie called L.A. Confidential. One of my favourite movies, it was so stylish, yet all the characters were well formed and I each interesting. That was directed brilliantly, as is this. Hanson injects the most wonderful atmosphere into this, and the performances he gets out of his cast are fantastic. It’s has a lot of vision and I think that is down to him. It is wonderfully dry humoured and Hanson really plays on that fact. I truly think that he is one of the best directors around at the moment.
I can not stress how funny this film is. I was laughing for at least three quarters of it, and that’s no mean feat, as it’s not gross out humour (which I usually like) it is all down to brilliant comic timing and a dry script. One scene where Katie Holmes is talking about Grady’s new book, I was laughing at for the longest time.
At amazon.co.uk it says this film is not realised until the 7th of February 2005, but I got it from the local video shop on VHS.
I realise that some people won’t like this, because it’s not the most exciting of films, but it truly is a journey. Although it’s very dark in places, the end will make you happier about your life and the world we live in, and you will feel that everybody has some good inside them, no matter what else.
So in my pursuit to become a better film reviewer, I stumbled across, a thought provoking, intelligent, touching, impeccably acted and visually exciting comedy, with all the heart of American Beauty and style of L.A. Confidential. I really can’t say a bad word about it.
Thank you everyone for reading. Have a great 2005, all the best as always : ) Jay
Advantages: Quirky, entertaining at times Disadvantages: Forgettable
...a published author, once a wonder boy, but is now struggling to finish the book he has been writing for seven years. His editor, Terry Crabtree, arrives to chase him on the same day that his wife leaves him. And his affair with the married Dean of his college is coming to a head. Life is to get even more complicated when one of his students shoots the Dean's husband's dog at a party and a female student who is boarding with him comes on to him. Can ... ...his own career at the same time?
Michael Douglas plays Grady Tripp, in a role which is pleasantly different from anything else I have seen him do. Tripp is scruffy, flirtatious, lazy and has a liking for the odd spliff, yet somehow manages to be extremely likeable. I don't suppose for a minute that it pushed Douglas very hard, but I found his performance far more natural than many of his others and certainly a lot less pretentious. I also loved ...
sunmeilan 17.10.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Wonder Boys (DVD)
Advantages: The sharp script and lead performance from Micheal Douglas, well supported by a fine cast. Disadvantages: This won't appeal to some and can drag in a few places.
Wonder Boys is a truly enjoyable movie, combining a fine lead performance from Michael Douglas in a meandering, richly comic story that leaves you feeling generally better about life than when you started watching it. This is no modern film, nowhere are the clichéd gimmicks designed to briefly entertain before the plot and characters fade into post viewing oblivion. This is a wonderfully relaxed film that is simply a pleasure to watch as the humour ... ...his difficult weekend. Impressively Wonder Boys takes the myriad of different storylines in its stride and comfortably avoids confusion with its relaxed un-muddled style mimicking that of the lead character. The result is a pleasure to watch with smatterings of slapstick adding to the sharp and witty script.
As far as the performances go there can be no complaints, this film highlights the talent of Michael Douglas especially if compared to his ...
Mercury 18.06.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Wonder Boys (DVD)
Advantages: Good story, engaging dialogue Disadvantages: not many features on DVD
Michael Douglas, Toby Maguire and Robert Downey Jr are the leading lights in this very watchable intelligent ‘mellow drama’ about writers, education, love and a dead dog. Bought the DVD because there wasn’t much else on the shelves at Blockbuster that evening. For the technically minded (and obsessed) the format is 16:9 and has little else but the movie and a scene selector to keep the trigger happy ….happy.
To the movie, ... ...on the occasion of a workshop weekend for writers and the like. Michael Douglas takes the role of Grady Tripp, Grady is a frustrated university lecturer and a writer of some previous note who people fear has hit a block in his writing and his life in general.
The weekend sees him trying to straighten his life and writing problems this is not helped by the fact that his 3rd wife has just left him and he is responsible for making the Chancellor (or ...
runmedownmissy 07.11.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Wonder Boys (DVD)
Advantages: Good, solid drama Disadvantages: Not a very exciting DVD and the film is guilty of being a little slow in places
...Confidential had become a hit. Wonder Boys was completed at the start of 1999 but the finished product then became a victim of botched marketing and was a box office flop when it was released in the States in February 2000. This failure caused the Britsh release date to be pushed back to November 2000 whereupon the film again suffered from a lack of advertising. The film has since been re-released in the States but it appears your best chance of ... ...distortion but at times you’ll wonder if your rear speakers are switched on. I understand that a film with no car chases or gun play is unlikely to set your sound system alight but simple things here like bird songs and wind noise for the outside shots are utterly confined to the front three speakers. The absence of the sub-woofer channel is understandable as the soundtrack offer very few sub 25Hz moments.
The menus on the latest releases ...
shaun 25.09.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Wonder Boys (DVD)
Advantages: Great acting and brilliant humour Disadvantages: Not a great plot line
This film ws released in the US box office twice, and did disastrously twice, but is it that bad? No, is the answer to that because it's one of the better films I've seen this year. Funny, clever and in parts slightly disturbing this film is well-above average.
Michael Douglas stars as the lead character Grady Tripp, a middle-aged English Professor. He once wrote a book called The Arsonist's Daughter which was critically acclaimed but that was ... ...second, and to say it ain't going well is a slight understatement.
As we join Tripp, we dicover he has just left his wife. Things are looking extremely rosy for Tripp, and things get even better when he dicovers his mistress Sara (Frances McDormand) is pregnant. This is going to be one hell of a weekend!
The film then descends into mayhem, involving two of his students. Hannah (Katie Holmes) rents a room in Tripps house and obviously shines a ...
shanecahill 16.06.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Wonder Boys (DVD)
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College Professor and novelist, Grady Tripp, is suffering from writer's block which causes him to be be filled with self doubt. Based on the novel by Michael Chabon.
Production Interviews - 1. Cast & Crew, Music Video - 1. Bob Dylan, Featurette - 1. Wonder Boys Singer, Songwriters, Scene Access, Interactive Tour - Location Map
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Professional reviews
Review
"...WONDER BOYS is an intelligent movie about real people. It has serious points to make but makes them in a witty and engaging way. What more could you ask?..." -- 4 out of 5 stars (Box Office, p.247, 01/04/2000)
Ranked #8 in Entertainment Weekly's "Lisa Schwarzbaum's BEST MOVIES OF 2000" (Entertainment Weekly, pp.106-17, 22/12/2000)
"...The film's Pittsburgh settings gleam like an eccentric urban fantasy. Hanson has also orchestrated uniformly excellent performances from his cast..." (Los Angeles Times, p.F1, 23/02/2001)
"Michael Douglas digs deep and delivers one of the best performances in WONDER BOYS--a comic dazzler of roguish wit and touching gravity..." (Rolling Stone, p.81-2, 16/03/2000)
"...Witty and sophisticated....A gratifying entertainment of leisurely elegance and delicious nastiness..." (Variety, p.36-8, 21/02/2000)
DVD Description
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.
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