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Jason Maloney reviews
Universal
- Cert:
- Cat.no: 0784682
- Running time: 108 minutes
- Year: 2000
- Pressing: 2001
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: English
- Widescreen: 2.35:1
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £19.99
Director:
- Curtis Hanson
Cast:
- Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand, Katie Holmes, Robert Downey Jr, Rip Torn, Richard Knox and Jane Adams
There have been two highly-acclaimed “alternative mainstream” films starring Michael Douglas in the last 12 months, but where Steven Soderbergh‘s Traffic was overwhelming in its self-conscious desire for authenticity and worthiness, this similarily Oscar-friendly ensemble drama from Curtis Hanson (LA Confidential) hits all the right notes of warmth, candour and articulate intelligence without appearing to break sweat.
Wonder Boys (not perhaps the best title for a movie of this nature, but never mind) is an engaging if slightly rambling weekend snapshot of characters experiencing life-changes in a variety of ways. Comparisons could be drawn with a number of other films in the recent past which evoked either a similar ambience, utilised the same unfolding intersection of events within a circle of related people, or a mixture of both: Scent Of A Woman, Magnolia American Beauty and for starters, with perhaps a sprinkling of Good Will Hunting for good measure.
Part teacher/pupil two-hander, part road-movie, its magic lies in an ability to weave a convoluted and somewhat surreal tale of domestic dysfunction, emotional turmoil, long overdue self-discovery, wayward prodigies and – without revealing too much – canine mishaps, while still retaining a pleasingly muted momentum and wry humour throughout.
A magnificently weatherbeaten and cynically benevolent Douglas, ever more bedraggled both physically and psychologically as matters spiral out of control, is the film’s central figure around which everything revolves but not, much to his chagrin, always for the better. Sleepwalking through an unsatisfying life of marital discord and professional underachievement with the aid of illegal substances and an illicit romance, his very being is brought into sharp focus by a bizarre chain of events sparked off by his most troubled literary student.
Wonder Boys, however, is not a one-man show. Far from it. The ever-impressive Tobey Maguire follows up outstanding performances in The Ice Storm, Ride With The Devil, Pleasantville and The Cider House Rules with yet another intensely vacant (there’s an oxymoron) portrayal of a gifted young author plagued by inner demons of uncertain origin and equally indeterminate veracity.
Once again, Maguire is the epitome of understatement, something which could never be said of Robert Downey Jr. Aside from his remarkable tour-de-force in the 1992 Chaplin biopic, it’s been a disjointed and largely underwhelming career for such a naturally talented actor. Here he gives a typically flitsome turn as Douglas’ bisexual Editor, mildly camp and vivacious but not quite finding the same sublime level of excellence as his male co-stars.
Comparisons have been drawn between Wonder Boys and American Beauty and in terms of both being unashamedly intelligent yet uncompromisingly mischievous examples of supreme quality US cinema, it’s pretty much on the mark. And, as with Sam Mendes‘ multi-Oscar winning masterpiece, Wonder Boys is a unexpectedly life-affirming experience.
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Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.