After hearing about the passing of Curtis Hanson on Tuesday night, my mind immediately went to Wonder Boys. After being known as a bit of a B-list filmmaker with efforts like The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and The River Wild, Curtis Hanson stepped into the A-list in a big way with his 1997 film, L.A. Confidential. It was a critical success and earned him an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay while also bringing neo-noir thrillers into the 90’s with the greatest of ease.
That’s the kind of success a filmmaker dreams of and there is no denying that L.A. Confidential is a great film, but for some reason Wonder Boys is the one that sticks with me. It’s much smaller in scale and a lot of its success is based on the fact that Hanson doesn’t try to duplicate what he did with L.A. Confidential and demonstrates his diverse skill behind the camera.
Wonder Boys uses a standard premise – the older, wiser father figure who both teaches and learns from his protégé – as a starting-off point. While it’s true too many movies of this sort veer into overly-sentimental melodrama, Wonder Boys manages to keep audiences involved despite its less-than-original underlying idea. There are two obvious reasons for this. The first is the tone finds a perfect balance – the film successfully shifts from comedy to poignancy without the awkwardness that often mars such transitions, and it never goes overboard in either category. The second is characters. The men and women inhabiting this film feel like real people, not recycled caricatures from other, similar motion pictures.
Grady Tripp (Michael Douglas, looking far and away from his Basic Instinct days) is a celebrated English professor at a small university. Once upon a time, Grady was regarded as a literary luminary, but it has been seven years since his critically acclaimed Arsonist’s Daughter was published. His editor, Terry Crabtree (Robert Downey Jr.) is itching to release the much anticipated follow-up, but the author keeps putting him off. It isn’t that Grady is suffering from writer’s block, but he can’t figure out how to end his latest novel – an epic endeavor that is at least twice the length of War & Peace. Meanwhile, Grady’s personal life is a mess. His wife has left him. His married girlfriend, Sarah Gaskell (Frances McDormand), who also happens to be the college’s chancellor, is pregnant with his child. And a student named Hannah (Katie Holmes), who rents a room in his house, has a huge crush on him. Then there’s the strange case of James Leer (Tobey Maguire), a brooding young man with unlimited writing potential. Grady decides to take James under his wing and teach him a little about life. The experience turns out to be much different than Grady anticipated.
Wonder Boys has a fair amount to say about the craft of writing and as a writer, I think that’s why the film has stuck with me for so long. The movie takes place against the backdrop of the school’s annual “Wordfest”, a gathering of world-renowned writers. Grady’s life is defined by his writing, but he has lost his zest for it. With glum cynicism, he takes a look at today’s society and comments, “Books don’t mean anything – not anymore.” When he speaks those words, he is like a once devout man who has lost his faith. His current opus turns out to be hollow and shallow despite its great length. Even the adoring Hannah recognizes that it is written without passion. And, in James, Grady sees an element of what he has lost. In reference to his pupil, he says, “Sometimes people just need to be rescued,” but he’s really talking about himself.
Wonder Boys is about the relationship between Grady and James, and the importance of storytelling to both of them. The teacher and pupil aspect of the film allows Grady to learn a lot about himself and makes him remember the excitement he once felt when creating a story. On the surface James is an odd duck, but he represents the joy that Grady has seemed to have lost. The film’s other characters are secondary, and often serve little purpose beyond acting as catalysts. Wonder Boys explores themes that most of us can relate to: chasing the dreams of youth, taking risks and making a commitment, and finding and pursuing something of meaning.
At the time of its release, Michael Douglas was known more for playing suave and debonair men. In Wonder Boys, he had no trouble essaying someone who could care less about his physical appearance. He slips effortlessly into the role and is believable throughout. The supporting work by Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand and Robert Downey Jr. is also top notch from top to bottom. Even Katie Holmes, with very little to do, delights in a smaller role that showed that she was much better than most of the young actresses of the her generation at the time.
When great talent passes away we often look back on their past work. Curtis Hanson was no different and I’m just happy he gave us a film like Wonder Boys to consistently be inspired by. Thanks for giving us your gift, Mr. Hanson and thanks for leaving behind a film that motivates our own creativity.
