directed by curtis hanson . screenplay by steve kloves , based on the novel by michael chabon . starring michael douglas , tobey maguire , robert downey jr . running time : 114 minutes . rated aa . reviewed on march 19th , 2000 . a quiet , understated character piece , " wonder boys " is the sort of movie which , when recalled afterward , seems more like a dream than something actually experienced . slow-moving but never plodding , funny and original without being absurd , it is a pleasurable journey through one man's personal struggles . grady tripp ( michael douglas ) is a university of pittsburgh english professor who wrote a critically-acclaimed novel seven years ago and hasn't published anything since . most people think tripp is washed up , but the truth is that his new novel just isn't finished yet ; it is now two thousand single-spaced pages long and counting . tripp , whose wife has just left him , is having an affair with the university chancellor , sara gaskell ( frances mcdormand ) . sara's husband walter ( richard thomas ) is the head of the english department and hence grady's boss . tripp's most promising student is james leer ( tobey maguire ) , a dour and eccentric youth held in disdain by most of his classmates . the lone exception is hannah green ( katie holmes ) , who is also boarding with grady and is clearly interested in taking their relationship beyond the academic . the movie takes place during wordfest , a weekend-long writers' convention . the gaskells host a party to kick off wordfest , during which sara reveals to grady that she is pregnant . going outside for a draw , tripp ( aptly named , given that he spends most of the movie under the influence of drugs , both prescription and otherwise ) encounters james , standing in the backyard with a gun he insists is just a fake . the two sneak upstairs to have a look at walter's collection of memorabilia . when grady is attacked by the gaskells' dog , james shoots it dead . at a loss , tripp ends up lugging the canine corpse around in his trunk until he can figure out what to do about it . all this is just set-up for a sometimes harrowing , always amusing odyssey through the streets of pittsburgh and the problems which plague grady's life . he finds himself having to deal not just with the end of his marriage and the complication of his affair , not just with the dead dog and a stolen piece of walter's collection , not just with editor terry crabtree ( robert downey jr ) whose own job is riding on the publication of tripp's new novel , but with the enigma that is james leer . james isn't just a writer ; the entirety of his behavior is one big creative process ( at one point , intoxicated , he begins narrating out loud ) and it is impossible to take anything he says or does at face value : the fake-gun-that-isn't is just the tip of the iceberg of james' fantasies and deceptions . " wonder boys " is a smart movie that understands its characters and takes the time to develop and explore them fully . written by steve kloves from the novel by michael chabon , it is populated by believable individuals who make believable choices , not ones dictated by stereotypical hollywood expectations . for example , both terry and james are clearly not strictly heterosexual , but when they finally do end up in bed together , it is dealt with almost offhandedly . the event is just a natural development of both characters , and the script does not grind to a halt to exploit it . nothing in " wonder boys " feels staged or melodramatic ; realism seethes from its characters , their relationships with each other , and the decisions they make . but perhaps this is all to be expected . " wonder boys " is a movie all about making choices and the consequences of avoiding them , and a film with such a theme lives and dies on the conviction of its characters . grady has spent the past half-decade evading decisions , and it has cost him his marriage . here , then , is the story of how he comes to rise above his personal apathy and seize control of his life . nowhere is this theme of making choices more clearly illustrated than with grady's epic novel . even hannah , grady's potential new love interest , finds it impossible to finish , but not because it is poorly written . on the other hand , hannah thinks it is beautiful , but she tells grady , " you didn't make any choices " : grady has not found the will to leave anything out of the text , and as a result it has ballooned to mammoth proportions . the manuscript's final fate depicts another important fact about decisions : that sometimes they're made for you , not by you . the movie's dialogue is sparkling throughout , and there are plenty of laughs , many of them derived from the film's frank view of reality . surprisingly for a movie which muses on so deep a theme , " wonder boys " has many of the elements of a screwball comedy , complete with mistaken identities and misplaced valuables . but the screwball elements are always in service to the overall plot , complementing it rather than fragmenting the film . as a result , " wonder boys " is appealing and enjoyable on a number of different levels . the acting is uniformly excellent . douglas finds just the right note as the harried grady , portraying him as confused and aimless without making him seem weak . maguire , always a quiet , reserved actor , is a perfect fit as james -- he is quirky , inspired and fragile , all at the same time . amongst the supporting cast , richard knox gives a hilarious performance as a man who claims to be the real owner of grady's battered car . for a movie about choices , " wonder boys " makes all the right ones . it is smart and well-acted , and the top-notch script finds a good balance between drama and comedy . although its sheer placidness may work against it in such a crowded box office , it should not be overlooked . this may be one of the first oscar contenders of the year 2000 . copyright © 2000 shannon patrick sullivan . archived at <a href= " http : //www . physics . mun . ca/~sps/movies/wonderboys . html " >http : //www . physics . mun . ca/~sps/movies/wonderboys . html</a> 
