Wonder Boys poster

2000·107 min·Released

Wonder Boys

“Undependable. Unpredictable. Unforgettable.”

Comedy
Drama

Grady is a 50-ish English professor who hasn't had a thing published in years—not since he wrote his award winning 'Great American Novel' 7 years ago. This weekend proves even worse than he could imagine as he finds himself reeling from one misadventure to another in the company of a new wonder boy author.

6.8(667 votes)

Popularity2

Videos

Wonder Boys (2000) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HQ]

Cast & Crew

Michael Douglas

Michael Douglas

Grady Tripp

Tobey Maguire

Tobey Maguire

James Leer

Frances McDormand

Frances McDormand

Sara Gaskell

Robert Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr.

Terry Crabtree

Katie Holmes

Katie Holmes

Hannah Green

Rip Torn

Rip Torn

Q

Richard Knox

Richard Knox

Vernon Hardapple

Jane Adams

Jane Adams

Oola

Michael Cavadias

Michael Cavadias

Miss Sloviak

Richard Thomas

Richard Thomas

Walter Gaskell

Alan Tudyk

Alan Tudyk

Sam Traxler

Philip Bosco

Philip Bosco

Emily's Father

No editorial yet

Guides and articles for this movie will appear here after content sync.

Peter McGinn

Written on 2/8/2021

I have to believe I saw this movie a year or two after it came out, but I had no feelings of deja vu as I watched it, so perhaps not. I usually have very little patience for movies about writers because I am one, and I get tired of them bringing up writers’ block, which I don’t believe exists, or else they have the character become wildly successful in record time. There are a lot of struggling actresses and musicians and waitresses in movies, but writers often get fast-track succes. Anyway, I wander off topic. I enjoyed the movie with its range of quirky characters, and minor plot twists. There are only a couple of two-dimensional characters; the rest are given depth, even a few who don’t have a lot of screen time. It shows what can be achieved with a good ensemble cast and a decent script.

CinemaSerf

Written on 3/14/2024

"Prof. Tripp" (Michael Douglas) hasn't his troubles to seek. He hasn't been able to follow up on his first novel for almost seven years - much to the chagrin of his agent "Terry" (Robert Downey Jr); his third wife has left him and he is about to father a child with his (married) boss (Frances McDormand) at the university where he works. His writer's block isn't really much helped by the omnipresence of his star pupil "James" (Tobey Maguire) nor by his increasingly debilitating pot habit. It's the man's mid life crisis from hell, but can he navigate a way out of this and keep some semblance of his self respective and, maybe even his career! Meantime, his protégé is having a few issues of his own - not least because he accidentally shot the principal's dog and he is the object of the amorous attentions of the ambisextrous "Terry" too! There's quite a decent dynamic between Douglas and Maguire as both men have to come to terms with their own problems and with their growing reliance on and frustration of each other and there is plenty of witty dialogue that is more complexly structured and subtly potent at times. The narrative is quite tightly packed into just one weekend, and that helps keeps the momentum going as the characters develop in quite a plausible - and not always likeable - fashion. Luckily, the one-dimensional Katie Holmes appears only sparingly as the plot thickens to a nicely bubbling stew at the end. It's a decent reminder that Douglas could act, given a strong story and script, and he shows us that well here with this superior ensemble drama.

Media

Wonder Boys (2000) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HQ]

Wonder Boys (2000) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HQ]