Wonder Boys is what critics would label a sleeper. It came out back in early 2000 and tells a fun and interesting story featuring a talented ensemble of entertaining performances by Michael Douglas, Robert Downey Jr. and Frances McDormand, to name a few. The film is based on a novel of the same name by Michael Chabon, and this certainly is the kind of adaptation that makes me eager to track down the source material. While the concept of a writer struggling on his latest novel is hardly an original set up, a well-written screenplay with great dialogue and entertaining characters allows for the film to feel fresh and intriguing enough to keep you invested.
Wonder Boys tells the story of an aging author played by Douglas named Grady Tripp. Tripp's novels are widely praised but he hasn't written a book in over five years. He's suffering from an emotional downward spiral, and it's initially implied that he is also afflicted with writer's block. Actually, it's the exact opposite. When he isn't teaching a college creative writing class or indulging in a passionate affair with the married chancellor of the college, Tripp does nothing but write and that is where his problem lies; he can't stop writing. He has spent all those years writing over two and half thousand pages. He can't decide on an ending because the story he's writing refuses to end.
Michael Douglas is terrific as Grady Tripp. In the early 90's, Douglas became typecast as the protagonist in a handful of erotic thrillers from that time and seemed to hardly branch out much. It's a shame that a film like Wonder Boys is so often overlooked because I put Grady Tripp next to Gordon Gekko as being one his most memorable characters. There really isn't a whole lot to Tripp, but Douglas effectively makes him feel real and likable. Tripp does share many typical characteristics of past movie characters who were writers. He's eloquent and likable, but also doesn't think very highly of socializing outside of his comfort zone, preferring to avoid most people. He has a quiet disdain for other writers, something I know to be quite common amongst real life writers. My favorite quality of his is how he seems so intent on getting away from everyone, yet still does his part in socializing with people who all seem to like him for him and not just his writing. This is because Tripp is a great guy and most of the people in his life recognize this along with his deliberate detachment from them. He's well meaning and a generous guy at heart, but he can't help but be annoyed at the world around him.
Toby Maguire plays James, a student of Tripp's and a fellow brilliant writer who may have greater potential than his mentor. Tripp's relationship with James is as unbalanced as James himself. He seems very withdrawn from the world and suffers from emotional and mental instability, possibly Asperger's. I suggest such because, while displaying a brilliant mind, his demeanor is articulate, yet aloof and childlike. James also has odd obsessions, such as retaining specific knowledge of every documented suicide of a celebrity, what year they died and how. This is one of Toby's better roles and I think he adds enough personality to his character, but I find him to always bring a rather wimpy and overly emotional tone to most of his performances and it kind of bogs his segments down at times, though not enough to take away from everything overall.
Frances McDormand is always a treat. She has such a larger than life screen presence, expressing dominance in her voice and presenting herself in a manner that takes ahold of the viewer without being over the top. McDormand always takes control of her scenes in her films because of how convincingly down to earth and believable she is in her roles while being assertive and direct. My main criticism with her is that most of her scenes here feel shoehorned so they can have more of her. She appears throughout the film, yet I can't help but feel that she was still somehow underused, like they weren't sure exactly how to tie her more into the film while it's wrapped up in the other more engaging subplots that are happening simultaneously. I think that's what it is: despite being a terrific screen presence, McDormand is the feature of a subplot that is the least interesting of the story. It doesn't do too much damage to the film. As I previously said, she's always fun to watch, but it is a noticeable flaw nonetheless.
Robert Downey Jr. and Katie Holmes top off the main cast. I never found Holmes to be an interesting actress, but she's exceptional, here. She doesn't really have much to do and seems tacked on, but like McDormand, she does her best with she has. Downey is always the scene-stealer and there is no exception in Wonder Boys. While another larger than life screen presence, his role and performance is actually much more subtle than expected. He plays Terry Crabtree, Tripp's editor and close friend. Crabtree is very fun loving, hedonistic and flirtatious. Some of my favorite scenes are with Tripp and Crabtree alone together, because you get to see how their professional and personal relationships coincide. As an editor, Crabtree constantly annoys Tripp about getting his hands on the writer's newest book. Outside of professionalism, the two share a close friendship. It's the kind of friendship two people have that no one else can fully understand nor be apart of. I love this most because I feel it hits close to home with my own relationship with my editor. When you're handing over something as important as a novel to someone you hardly know it's one of the most terrifying experiences. You're allowing this person, a professional, to be the first to read what you busted your ass over for a long time. It's stressful just waiting to hear back from them and get their input because you have no idea of the level of criticism you're waiting on. It's like getting tested for an illness and waiting day after day at home for the results. It's best to find someone you can connect with outside of the professional side of things. When someone is that intimate with your work, you need to connect on more levels and understand each other better so your editor can become invested in what the creation is, whom it's coming from, and what it means to them. You, in turn, must become comfortable enough with a person who is going to possibly tell you that you have to trim off fifty pages or more and take out one of your favorite segments. You can't just hear that from anyone. You have to take that from someone you truly can trust, and that's what Crabtree is to Tripp: the one person he can trust with his writing.
There a number of parts to Wonder Boys that I feel will appeal to writers, like the dialogue. It's a solid blend of wit and black comedy, as well as containing occasional terms and quips aimed at writers. One of my favorite lines is when Tripp's voiceover narration describes Q, a fellow renowned author played by Rip Torn, in the party sequence toward the film's beginning:
"Q was rich. Q was famous. Q completed a novel every 18 months. I hated him."
It sort of comes back to what I was saying before about the competitive nature in novelists. It's one thing to admire a fellow writer's work, but when you slave yourself over making something so personal, something that takes months or years to finish, something that you desire to impact the world with, or you can't even get that far, despite your passion and ambitions, it can most often be demoralizing and even disenchanting to associate with someone who produces what you want to accomplish constantly, seemingly without any required discipline.
I feel like I watched this at the perfect time, because I'm in the final stages of finishing my first novel before I soon have it published, so there are all these little quirky moments that do hit close to home regarding the process, discipline and mindset of a writer. Even in some of my favorite films about writers, my biggest peeve is when it hardly or doesn't at all show the writer's discipline. It's my main complaint with the hit television show, Californication. Unfortunately, it successfully attempts to glorify the protagonist's decadent lifestyle with little consequence, instead trying to justify that these experiences and shenanigans all play into what makes the character such a brilliant writer, yet we never see him going through the discipline of creating such alleged "brilliance". On the other hand, you have films like Adaptation and Barton Fink which not only depict the discipline, but the hardships and mental anguish the process can occasionally cause, most specifically when there is an staggering amount of pressure on your shoulders. Wonder Boys falls in between, instead taking the route of making the writing a background character, but still a character and an important one. It's narrated first person by Tripp, and I think such use of narration helps confirm how integral the writing is in the background of everything else. Outside of that, the film overall follows the antics Tripp falls into, most of which could have been avoided if not for the conflicting inclusions of the overbearing party animal Crabtree, the intriguing yet volatile James, and Tripp's own downbeat and desensitized mindset.
Overall, I think Wonder Boys is one of those traditional indie films that will get mixed reactions. Some may find it funny and entertaining, some may find it boring and uninteresting, and others will fall in love with its timeless charm. It's far from a masterpiece and has a few minor flaws, but it's a fun experience throughout and a must watch for fellow writers and those who love movies about them.
