Also recommended
From December 2000
Film
Review
• PURELY BELTER (Film of
the Month)
• other
November releases
Also recommended |
From December 2000
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• PURELY BELTER (Film of
the Month) |
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WONDER BOYS
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Michael Douglas and Curtis Hanson talk about making WONDER BOYS in this issue
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| STARS: Michael Douglas, Katie Holmes, Robert Downey Jr, Tobey Maguire, Rip Torn, Frances McDormand DIRECTOR: Curtis Hanson SCREENPLAY: Steven Kloves CERTIFICATE: 15 • DISTRIBUTOR and Picture copyright: UIP RUNNING TIME: 1hr 52 mins OPENING DATE (UK): November 3 |
| It’s All Academic His first film since LA Confidential, and rather than the expected fanfare, Curtis Hanson’s Wonder Boys is a film that is fortunate to be aired at all. Not that it’s bad, for this tale of mid-life crisis, easily matches Hanson’s celebrated film noir for incisiveness, albeit in an entirely different milieu. But already released in the US, the film was buried after poor box-office within a number of days, set to become a forgotten gem, until distributors decided to re-release it in its own country this autumn. Thankfully this reprieve has ensured it has avoided the straight-to-video hell that it may have had to endure. Michael Douglas plays Grady Trip, a professor of literature at the University of Pittsburgh whose wife has just left him during the very week that his gay editor, Terry Crabtree (Downey Jr) is coming into town to collect the manuscript for his long-overdue second novel. As if to add to his problems, cute college girl Hannah (Holmes) has a crush on him, while he also discovers that a sexual encounter with the university chancellor (McDormand) has left her pregnant. Based on the novel by Michael Chabon, Wonder Boys represents yet another process of maturity in the work of Hanson. With a cast to die for, Hanson is in full control of the narrative, eliciting both humour and pathos in this story that rivals American Beauty for its attempt to dissect the American middle-classes. Douglas gives his best performance since the days of his Oscar-winning effort Wall Street, while Maguire – who plays Grady’s distant and troubled star pupil – demonstrates once again just why he is one of finest actors of his generation. While Holmes, McDormand and Downey Jr are offered substantially less ‘character’ to play with (often slipping into caricature, unfortunately), their considerable talents are enough to see this film through to the end. Written by screenwriter Kloves with a wry sense of detachment, Wonder Boys is both literate and entertaining – a rare quality indeed. James Mottram |
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 Also reviewed online this month:  PURELY BELTER (FILM OF THE MONTH) • released November 3 FULL DETAILS AND REVIEWS OF ALL THESE AND MORE IN THIS ISSUE |
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