Wonder Boys (2000)

Director:

Curtis Hanson

Writers (WGA):

Michael Chabon (novel)
Steve Kloves (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 February 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy

Tagline:

Undependable. Unpredictable. Unforgettable.

Plot:

An English Professor tries to deal with his wife leaving him, the arrival of his editor who has been waiting for his book for seven years, and the various problems that his friends and associates involve him in.

Plot Keywords:

College | Professor | Dog | Writer's Block | Jacket

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 14 wins & 32 nominations

Cast

Michael Douglas	...	Prof. Grady Tripp
Tobey Maguire	...	James Leer
Frances McDormand	...	Dean Sara Gaskell
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Terry Crabtree
Katie Holmes	...	Hannah Green
Rip Torn	...	Quentin 'Q' Morewood
Richard Knox	...	Vernon Hardapple
Jane Adams	...	Oola
Michael Cavadias	...	Miss Antonia 'Tony' Sloviak
Richard Thomas	...	Walter Gaskell
Alan Tudyk	...	Sam Traxler
Philip Bosco	...	Emily's Father
George Grizzard	...	Fred Leer
Kelly Bishop	...	Amanda Leer
Bill Velin	...	Officer Pupcik

Also Known As:

Cudowni chlopcy (Poland) [pl]
Fin de semana de locos (Argentina) [es]
Jóvenes prodigiosos (Spain) [es]
Zlatni momci (Serbia) [sr]

MPAA:

Rated R for language and drug content.

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

UK | Germany | USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Italy:T | Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Chile:14 | Denmark:7 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Germany:12 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:M | Norway:11 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Spain:13 | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Beaver, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

In the theatrical version James Leer included Alan Ladd's death in his list of celebrity suicides. After complaints from Ladd's family, Paramount removed the offending line in all future releases of the film, including home video. VHS and DVD releases carry a disclaimer, shown before the feature, warning that the film has been edited for content.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Grady is being attacked by the chancellor's dog, in one shot the doorway behind Grady is empty, and in the next shot James stands in the doorway with the cap gun.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Grady Tripp: "The young girl sat perfectly still in the confessional listening to her father's boots scrape like chalk on the ancient steps of the church, then grow faint, then disappear altogether. She could sense the priest beyond the grate...” On that particular Friday afternoon, last February, I was reading a story to my Advanced Writers' Workshop by one James Leer, Junior Lit major and sole inhabitant of his own gloomy gulag.

Movie Connections:

References All Fall Down (1962)

Soundtrack:

Shooting Star

Long Live Vernon Hardapple

Michael Douglas has always been one of my favorite actors. He deserved his Oscar for Wall Street, commanded every second of screen time he had in Falling Down, and has given some of the most underrated comic performances in history in Romancing the Stone and War of the Roses. But I'd have to give his performance in Wonder Boys as his best. His turn as stoner college professor Grady Tripp is the model for the laid back, totally likeable and loveable protaginist. He's the kind of professor I dream of having in real life.

After watching this movie, I seriously wanted to go and write a book. For any of you blocked writers out there, just pop in Wonder Boys and you have your muse.