Wonder Boys Review by Tim Wick

Four out of Five Beakers

I must admit that it is somewhat ironic that I write these reviews for MISFITS despite making rather extensive attempts to avoid reviews myself. However, in the case of Wonder Boys, it was because of a review that I went to see this film and I am glad that I did.

Roger Ebert writes a weekly column about classic films that I try to read. I also take a look to see what films he is reviewing in case I have heard of any of them. This week, I noticed he had given Wonder Boys four out of four stars, so I took a look at the review. I probably would have gone to catch one of the two best picture nominees that I have yet to see (The Insider and The Cider House Rules for those of you keeping track at home).

I find myself trying to categorize Wonder Boys as something just so I have a good way to explain it. I would like to say it is a love story, and a drama, and a screwball comedy and a.....hmmmmmm. You take a dash of Educating Rita and a teaspoonful of DOA, add some Paper Chase and.....no, that doesn't work either.

The movie is a comedy, but not in a laugh out loud kind of way. The humor sneaks up on you slowly, making you laugh all of a sudden right when you thought it was going to get serious. The story is about coming to grips with who and what you are and making choices rather than trying to live with them all. My one criticism would be that there isn't that much meat on the bones of this picture, but the meat that is there is soooooo tasty!

Michael Douglas plays a college professor suffering from writers block and from relationship block (certainly no coincidence). Though he has played similar roles before (the successful middle aged man who isn't happy with what he has), this one is a bit different. For instance, he is downright UGLY in this movie. Emotionally and physically, his character is hard to look at. That is, of course, why the character has such a hard time looking at himself.

The rest of the cast contains many actors that I consider some of the best. Frances McDormand (Fargo) is Douglas' girlfriend and his boss' wife. She always puts in a solid performance and it is so refreshing to see a middle aged man in a relationship with a woman somewhere near his own age. Tobey Maguire (Pleasantville) is great as Douglas' student. He puts just the right amount of humanity into a character that could easily have become grating. Robert Downey Jr plays Douglas' publisher, someone obsessed with sex far more than he is with his job (no matter what he might say).

The movie is shot with a lot of hand held cameras, giving it a jittery and manic feel even when the scene is static. You get the feeling that there is a lot going on underneath the surface that would bubble up if the characters just gave it a chance. In the meantime, a dog gets shot, a coat gets stolen and every character has to make a decision about where they want to end up by the end of the film

Wonder Boys is very quirky and slow. If you didn't like Magnolia or Being John Malkovich, then this is probably not the film for you. It moves slowly. The laughs are there, but they are all built to very slowly and in a way that surprises you when you realize where you were headed. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it. Four out of five beakers from me.