I’m just barely young enough that if I did something amazing—say, wrote a culturally significant novel—I might be considered a wunderkind of sorts. Maybe. But I’m also just old enough that some of the glow has worn off of the “remarkable promise” that I showed in my 20’s. In those days, I got attention just for being young, because young people in my profession were rare enough to make me appear interesting.
But there comes a time in an adult’s life when we have to move beyond being a Wonder Boy (or Girl, as the case may be) and do something real to justify our reputation.
That’s the dilemma faced in the film Wonder Boys by aging wunderkind Grady Tripp. The casting of Michael Douglas in this role makes this more of a baby-boomer fear-of-aging film; one reviewer noted that Douglas is ten years too old to play this part. If we grant him credit for being 50—and it would be a hard 50—that still puts him in his 40’s when his first and only novel was published. Hardly young enough to be one of the Wonder Boys of the title.
Fortunately, he’s not the only Wonder Boy involved in the story. This story is actually about a trio of men at varying stages of maturity and mental health. Along with Tripp, there’s Tripp’s editor, the 30-something Terry Crabtree, played by Robert Downey, Jr. Crabtree, as a younger editor, rode Tripp’s first novel to professional success, and finds his reputation as an editor waning along with Tripp’s reputation as an author.
The catalyst for all the change and growth that takes place over the weekend covered by the film is the youngest of the Wonder Boys, Tripp’s student James Leer. Tobey Maguire, an actor of nearly perfect transparency, plays the brilliant but troubled James.
James’ writing in Tripp’s class is dark and disturbing, but shows real genius. When Crabtree arrives, he experiences two level of attraction to James—one as an editor trolling for new writers, and one as a sexually active man of ambiguous preferences.
Both men are able to offer James real affection and guidance, in their own messed-up way. Tripp takes on the father, or perhaps big brother, role, dealing with James with a sometimes harsh exasperation for James’ social ineptitude, sometimes with a vehement protectiveness that surprises him. The awakening of his care for James helps Tripp identify his care for the other important people in his life.
Crabtree, played skillfully and whimsically by Downey, manages to get everything he wants from James without ever seeming predatory or creepy. Crabtree’s affirmation of James’ writing builds James’ confidence when Tripp casually tears it down. His sexual attentions toward James offer an island of acceptance and appreciation in the academic culture that has largely rejected James because of his blatant weirdness. It isn’t quite clear whether Crabtree and James actually consummated the relationship, but we are happy to see the literal physical care Crabtree takes of James.
Aside from the relationship between the two older men and James, the other elements of the film are less skillfully handled. The almost slapstick chain of events set off by the first meaningful encounter between Tripp and James, has been identified by some reviewers as a source of wry humor in the film. Frankly, I don’t see it. How long can one drive around with a dead dog in one’s trunk and expect us to laugh about it? All I see is an irresponsible, self-indulgent middle-aged man making one immoral choice after another. And if his own moral corruption isn’t sufficient, he drags at least three students, including James, into the morass with him. I’m no stranger to faculty cocktail parties where the liquor flows far too freely, but I can guarantee you I’ve never seen a professor offer pills or marijuana to a student.
Frances MacDormand and Katie Holmes make appearances in roles that could have been played by any actresses of the same age range. This is a fault of the writing. I understand that this film is called Wonder Boys, but part of what should be interesting in the boys’ life is their relationship with the opposite sex. Kloves and director Curtis Hanson fall far short of that task, and both actresses are relegated to serviceable but unremarkable performances. In MacDormand’s case, this is truly a loss.
The guiding metaphor of the novel manuscript that makes no choices and can’t commit gets heavy-handed, and I don’t care enough about whether Tripp gets his life together to enjoy the image, even when the novel is finally completed. But I do appreciate that the film ends on a hopeful and satisfying note. It ties up the loose ends quite nicely, and gives us hope that perhaps we can live up to our potential after all.
Popularity: 17% [?]
August 21st, 2008 at 6:46 pm
I saw this movie on video several years ago and really enjoyed it. You’ve summed up the plot along with all the significant details quite nicely.
August 21st, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it. I watched it because I was going through a Tobey Maguire phase at the time, and I think it paid off.