Douglas (A Perfect Murder) plays Grady Tripp, who, in addition to being an English teacher, is a successful novelist that hasn’t been able to finish the follow-up to his critically acclaimed success from seven years ago.  And when I say he isn’t able to finish it, I mean he isn’t mentally able.  Grady has several thousand single-spaced pages typed but is no closer to the ending than when he began.

Grady also has a few other things going on his life.  His wife just left him and he’s hot for one of his students (Katie Holmes, Dawson’s Creek).  Terry Crabtree (Robert Downey Jr., Bowfinger), his editor, is on his way into town to read the book that Grady assured him was finished.  Grady’s girlfriend (Frances McDormand, Madeline), who happens to be the Chancellor at his unnamed university, is pregnant despite the fact that it’s been a while since she’s slept with her husband (Richard Thomas, John-Boy Walton), who happens to be the Chairman of the English Department.

As if that isn’t enough to occupy his mind (and yours), Grady and an awkward student named James Leer (Tobey Maguire, The Cider House Rules) spend a day on the run after they accidentally kill the Chancellor’s dog.  As things begin to spiral out of control, you can’t help but think about a younger Douglas going through similar situations in Falling Down.  The actor also provides the gravelly narration for the film, which is told in the first-person through his character.

Wonder Boys is the first film Curtis Hanson has directed since his amazing adaptation of L.A. Confidential.  It offers further proof that anyone can direct a really great script.  Not that he’s a bad director or anything - in fact, there are several nice hand-held camera shots from interesting angles in the film, while cinematographer Dante Spinotti (who worked on Confidential and The Insider) gives the picture a warm, rich look.  The film was shot on location in western Pennsylvania, and Carnegie-Mellon University was used for the school shots.

The script was adapted from Michael Chabon’s novel by Steven Kloves (Flesh and Bone).  Kloves’ script follows the book pretty closely, but for time’s sake, he is forced to leave off a great scene where Grady takes James to his in-laws’ for Passover dinner.  The acting is pretty solid all around, but the casting is a little goofy.  In the book, Grady and Terry were supposed to have met in school, implying that they’re close in age.  Douglas and Downey, Jr. are over twenty years apart in real life.

The best part about the film is the amazing soundtrack, highlighted by a new Bob Dylan song (“Things Have Changed”) recorded exclusively for Wonder Boys.  There are three other Dylan songs included in the film, along with numbers from Buffalo Springfield, John Lennon and Van Morrison.  Standouts include Leonard Cohen’s “Waiting for the Miracle,” which you may remember from Natural Born Killers, and Neil Young’s “Old Man,” which, while laughably appropriate, is remarkably poignant in the film.  This is the first “must-have” soundtrack of the year.

Curiously, the title of the film is never explained – it’s the name of the book that Grady is writing in Chabon’s novel.  So if you walk out thinking you missed something, you really didn’t.  Just some money and a little bit of your time.

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