I really love this film. Based on a novel by Michael Chabron, the film is set in a university over the course of a week-end long writing festival. The story concerns Professor Grady Tripp (Michael Douglas) who's first novel was a huge success and has been struggling with the follow-up novel for years. When the film begins, Grady's young wife has just left him and his lover (who is married to the head of the English Department) is pregnant. Also, Grady's editor (Robert Downey Jr.) has arrived to see his (still unfinished) novel. To add to Grady's woes he has to cope with a brilliant, but deeply odd, student (Tobey Maguire).

The film has some very strong and witty dialogue, and benefits from great performances all around. Probably writers and aspiring writers will like this film for it's portrayal of the literary life. Anyone though will enjoy the humour, heart and fun of this inspirational movie.

For the longest time into the movie I couldn't figure out why the story seemed so familiar, knowing I'd never seen it before. Then it struck me that I must have read the novel by Michael Chabon on which it's based. Very weird, because I don't recall reading that particular book either. I could quite possibly have been a character in this film.

Well I like quirky stuff and this one had a lot of it. It probably could have been a Coen Brothers movie without much problem. The murdered dog situation puts it a bit over the top; placing it in James Leer's bed at his grandparents' house was probably good provocation for a heart attack if the writers had gone in that direction but there was already a lot going on. I liked all the players in this one, with special kudos to Robert Downey Jr. for reminding me why I'm conflicted about the actor. He just comes across so smarmy and arrogant that I tend to ascribe that to his off screen behavior without really knowing why. Might have something to do with his drug related problems and arrests back in the late Nineties. But the guy is talented, no doubt about it. Antonia Slovak (Michael Cavadias) was quite the trip too; the story could have used a bit more of the character.

This won't be everyone's cup of tea but if you like dark comedy and stories about conflicted characters, there's enough here to maintain your focus. Personally, I can't imagine anyone ever reading a twenty six hundred plus page novel like the one Grady Tripp (Michael Douglas) was working on. Stephen King would be envious. Most unconventional too were the thematic songs by Bob Dylan. Imagine a tune sung by Dylan that doesn't sound like Dylan.

Some people might compare "Wonder Boys" to "Good Will Hunting", but I found the former better. It features Michael Douglas as pot-smoking* literature teacher Grady Tripp, about to go on a voyage of self-discovery. Looking back on it, Tobey Maguire's character James Leer was a sort of precursor to Spiderman, the way he was looking for his place in life (as it was, he played similar characters in "The Ice Storm" and "The Cider House Rules"). Probably the most effective scene in the movie is when the book gets destroyed; it shows how Grady manages to start over in life. All in all, I would consider this part of Curtis Hanson's troika of masterpieces, along with "LA Confidential" and "8 Mile". Also starring Robert Downey Jr, Frances McDormand, Katie Holmes, and Rip Torn. And of course Bob Dylan sings the Oscar-winning song "Things Have Changed" (and he looked like Vincent Price at the Oscars).

*Ironically, later that year Michael Douglas played a drug czar in "Traffic".