Review of Wonder Boys (2000) by Mariann S — 31 Jul 2008

The greatest asset that the Wonder Boys has is its cast. Very rarely has such great casting been done. Each of the actors takes to their characters like cheese to macaroni. Michael Douglas gives one of the best performances of his career as the dopey author-professor suffering from writer's block, recently dumped by his wife and screwing his head of department's wife. Frances McDormand is also excellent as the wife getting screwed and impregnated while acting as the Chancellor of the university. Robert Downey Jr. is absolutely hilarious as the homosexual (for the most part) editor and publicist of the author whose future depends on the writer's next work. Katie Holmes is good as the writer's student and tenant and has a crush on him. Tobey Maguire gives his best performance ever as the troubled and talented young writer and student of Michael Douglas who is twisted, subtle and unpredictable yet sweet.

All of the above characters collide with each other over one weekend and the results are outrageously funny and yet, in some strange ways, very heartwarming. Starting from the shooting of a dog and theft of Marilyn Monroe's jacket, the story rushes forward with it's twists and turns driven by the sheer unpredictability of its characters. And herein lies the second great asset of the movie and that is its script. The dialogues are brilliant, original, quotable and replete with dry, sarcastic and situational humour. Not once does the movie seem to bore. The pacing is excellent. Despite its quirkiness, there is a core of genuineness to this movie that you cannot ignore.

Kudos to director, Curtis Hanson for putting together this movie so well. He has extracted the best performances from each of the actors. The finale of the movie is perfect. The soundtrack is extremely interesting.

Overall, although one may regard Wonder Boys as offbeat, that in no way takes away from the fact that it is a highly entertaining, intelligent and original film. This is a rare film. Savour it. Highly recommended.