January 19th: WONDER BOYS (Curtis Hanson, 2000)

A self-medicating college professor wrestles with his long-unfinished novel, a promising but troubled student, his married girlfriend, and his impatient and interfering book editor.



Wonder Boys is based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Michael Chabon, who became a best-selling author at the age of 25, and like the main character of this film, struggled to follow-up his initial success. Chabon abandoned a 1,500 page manuscript before going on to write Wonder Boys, which was well-received.



Curtis Hanson has been making films since the early 1970's, working in the teen comedy, thriller, and adventure genres. He finally rose to prominence in 1997 with his adaptation of crime writer James Ellroy's magnum opus L.A. Confidential, which was nominated for nine Academy Awards and earned Hanson and co-writer Brian Helgeland the Oscar for adapted screenplay. Wonder Boys was his subsequent feature, with Hanson taking on a script by writer-director Steve Kloves (who would go on to write all but one of the Harry Potter screenplays).



Hanson successfully fought the studio for the right to shoot the film on location in Pittsburgh, where the story takes place. Michael Douglas took a reduced salary to get the production off the ground, and played a role very much in contrast with his usual straight-laced, dapper persona, also gaining 25 pounds before filming. The cast also includes Frances McDormand, Robert Downey Jr., Tobey Maguire, Katie Holmes, and Rip Torn.



While the film was well-received critically, with much praise for its darkly comic depiction of academic culture, it was underpromoted and mis-marketed by the studio and did poorly at the box office. An attempt to re-release the film again later in the year was only partially successful, with little money being made but the film receiving a good number of critic's awards and nominations. The film's lone Oscar win was for a song Bob Dylan wrote specifically for the film at the request of Hanson, whose specific design for the soundtrack features reflective tracks by various older singer-songwriters.



Running time is approx. 1 hr, 45 min.