Wonder Boys |  | Director: Curtis Hanson
Actors: Philip Bosco, Robert Downey Jr., Frances McDormand, Michael Douglas, Richard Thomas
Studio: Paramount
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy Used: $1.94
as of 2/10/2010 01:01 EST details
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Seller: goHastings
Rating:  191 reviews
Sales Rank: 10883
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 111 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: D332614D
ISBN: 0792165144
UPC: 097363326144
EAN: 9780792165149
ASIN: B00003CXDJ
Theatrical Release Date: 2000
Release Date: March 13, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A college professor who's been divorced three times and hasn't been able to overcome writer's block, gets his boss's wife, the college chancellor, pregnant.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 8-AUG-2006
Media Type: DVD
Amazon.com
Wonder Boys is one of those movies in which more twists and turns disrupt the life of the hero in one weekend than would bother most of us our whole lives. Professor Grady Tripp (Michael Douglas) is an aging one-novel wunderkind at a small Pittsburgh college who's laboring on his seven-years-in-the-making, 2000-plus page second opus with no end in sight. The morning of the college's literary lollapalooza, WordFest, Grady's wife leaves him; that evening, his mistress (Frances McDormand) announces she's pregnant (she's also the chancellor of the school, as well as the wife of Grady's boss). Grady's voracious editor (Robert Downey Jr.) is also in town, transvestite date in tow, determined to read the highly anticipated new book; there's also the nubile student (Katie Holmes), who seems more than willing to ease Grady's pain. And then there's James Leer (Tobey Maguire), the mordant and brilliant writing student who's the catalyst for Grady's lost weekend, which involves a soon-to-be-dead blind dog, a stolen car, and the jacket that Marilyn Monroe wore when she wed Joe DiMaggio. Had enough flights of fancy? It's only the beginning, and in the hands of director Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential) and screenwriter Steve Kloves (The Fabulous Baker Boys), Wonder Boys will have you begging for more. Adroitly adapting Michael Chabon's novel and distilling it to its droll, melancholy essence, Kloves and Hanson have fashioned a briskly unsentimental and darkly funny tale; these characters may be down on their luck, but they sure don't feel sorry for themselves. Douglas, by turns dryly sarcastic and sincerely heartfelt, single-handedly makes up for years of alpha-male posturing as the passive pothead Tripp, and whoever thought of pairing him with the resilient McDormand is brilliant--they convey the complexities and history of their relationship in a single glance or movement. And under Hanson's guidance, the rest of the cast is truly exceptional, with Maguire in a breakthrough performance and Downey at his manic best. The ending of Wonder Boys may feel a little too pat, but after everything these characters have been through, a happy ending seems a just reward. --Mark Englehart
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 191
 Writer's Block? Not! August 30, 2009
Scotman (St. Louis, MO)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
The year 2000 saw the release of The Wonder Boys, a tale of a washed-up, one-hit wonder novelist who ends up in a university teaching writing. Michael Douglas plays Grady Tripp, a guy who smokes pot to get through his day, and meeting up with his gay publisher.
As the movie progresses, marching out these cast of characters, I was struck by the chemistry of the actors. Katie Holmes, an aspiring writer herself, wants more than a student/teacher conference, but the script does not play her up well. Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) plays the gay publisher, who has not had a hit ever since Grady's successful novel, though it's been seven years.
No, the focus is on Tobey Mcguire's (Spider-man) character, James Leer, who is a chronic liar, runs away from his rich parents and his only saving grace is his writing. James shoots a blind dog and steals a Marilyn Monroe jacket for kicks and Grady tries to get him through it.
Surviving the weekend, Grady makes some choices in his life including giving an angst-ridden writer (who has many problems) a chance at a novel.
I was intrigued by the chemistry and the writing really helped this film, although slow at times and a bit tiresome as the plot plods along. Grady wants the chancellor, played by Frances McDormand (Fargo). I don't get what he sees in this plain, stoic woman who can't make up her mind about Grady and frankly treats him like crap.
Good film for film and writing students to see, R-rated for drug use.
 wonder boys May 10, 2009
V. Thomas (OKC,OK)
GOOD QUALITY DVD.I HAD OWNED IT ON VHS AND BOUGHT IT AGAIN ON DVD.RECEIVED IT IN QUICKLY AND WAS REASONABLY PRICED.
Spiderman, Iron Man and Batman's Girlfriend All In One Movie April 2, 2009
Tara Schechter
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Okay, a little deceiving title to my review since this movie has nothing to do with superheros. In fact, this movie is more about the anti-hero with its flawed, but endearing characters. I really love to watch top-notch actors (multiple Academy Award nominations) given quirky characters that allow them to stretch and become much different personalities than what they've often portrayed in other movies. I recommend this movie for people who appreciate dark comedies with interesting and lovable loser characters that by the end of the movie you'll be hoping wind up a little better situated than they were at the start.
2.5 stars out of 4 February 5, 2009
One-Line Film Reviews (Easton, MD)
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
The Bottom Line:
A movie that seemed to me weird for the sake of being weird (Tobey Maguire's shooting the dog seems to come out of a Farrelly Brothers movie), Wonder Boys features an enjoyable performance by Michael Douglas but it's long and winding and slow and not nearly as clever as it thinks it is.
Wonder Boys December 28, 2008
Danielle DeGarie (Little Rock, AR)
This is one of my favorite movies. These are the best characters I've ever seen Michael Douglas and Toby Maguire play. It's a little dreary but hilarious. Excellent characters and good cinematography.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 191
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