Wonder Boys

The number of wonderful comments surprised me. There's no question that the cast was excellent. Most of the cast have such compelling personalities in whatever roles they play, I always enjoy watching them. Frances McDormand, Katie Holmes and Robert Downey, Jr. rarely fail to add life to whatever scripts they're given. None of the cast, however, can compensate for the script. In the first 20 minutes, I whispered to my companion, "I'm loving this!" Then it all never materialized. It was an entire movie of exposition clinging to a clumsy plot made almost entirely of far-flung contrivances. The endless dog bit added nothing to the movie but the promise of suspense. A promise that was never fulfilled. At some point the plot just disposes of the entire premise after slogging the audience through one implausible and uninteresting scene after another. I did laugh. It was funny. It just didn't hang together.

As this movie started winding down, I realized that this is not the kind of movie that I enjoy. I realized that I'm more interested in movies that are fun to watch and have a fantastic, ironic ending. I was thoroughly enjoying this movie for about the first 50 minutes, at which point I started getting bored. The problem is not that nothing happens, or that it's not still interesting, it's just that it doesn't move forward. The plot wavers a great deal, and the ending to which I was looking forward, started to whither away. I'm tired of watching movies where nothing happens; just stories. I'm not one who likes action movies, but I do like BIG endings. This one just sort of, as I said, whithered to an end. I left disappointed.

While the Wonder Boys is certainly watchable one thing it isn't is memorable.It drags a little even though it is only 100 minutes long and the story did nothing for me at all. Michael Douglas plays a teacher that once sold a best selling novel but now is struggling to write a follow up. His publisher turns up from New York (Robert Downing Jnr) expecting the new book only to discover a new young talent (in more ways than one) that could make his flagging career take off again. Perhaps there is more to the story than my synopsis but i couldnt see it . The acting is ok but no more than that and i cant help wondering if Michael Douglas had not taken up the lead role would this film have ever been made? 5 out of 10.

I have to confess, I couldn't last beyond the 10min mark. It is just too boring. The main character ( I hope I'm correct about that ) just narrates non-stop, talking about petty things. Stop the nonsense and show us something interesting, please!

No, I didn't get this movie. I couldn't find any parallels to Proust, James, or even Joyce. I don't even know who doze guys are but I thought mentioning them would make me sound a lot less dumb than I actually am. Please allow me to quote from a man who is arguably the most insightful thinker of our time, Homer J. Simpson: "BOOOOOOORING!!!" Want a fun film? Catch "Ronin" or "Payback." Want to pretend you're an intellectual? Experience "Citizen Kane" or "Ugetsu." Or do you just want to escape? Try "Blade Runner" or "Brazil." Summation: I want my $19 back. Geez, at least my wife get a good nap out of that dreary 112 minutes. Or perhaps it was 112 hours.

Yawn. Movie is long, boring and pretentious. This is the worst movie about writing and writers that I have ever seen. I know the pointless verbosity is supposed to be "illustrative" of the characters' journeys, but it still bored me to tears. Don't believe the hype; stay away.

The movie tells the story of a professor who lost his inspirations in writing and his almost autistic student as a promising writer. The acting from M. Douglas and T. Maguire is passable. At the beginning, the plot seems promising but the subplots are shallow and uninteresting. Although it's classified as a comedy-drama, the comedy side is rather light and sort of left to antics of R. Downey Jr. The characters outside M. Douglas and T. Maguire come and go with no discernible effect on the main story. To sum up, when you don't have a solid story to tell, it doesn't matter how many stars are stuffed into the cast. The movie fails to engage the audience and falls flat.

I am a big fan of Chabon's novels and was worried when I heard they were making WONDER BOYS into a film. But, I was blown away by the expert touch this movie showed. Hanson did a fantastic job with the tone of the piece and the performances are amazing. I can take or leave Michael Douglas but I feel this is the best performance he has ever given. The haunted, fearful look of a once great writer with awful writer's block, now forced to teach creative writing at a Pittsburgh college, Douglas absolutely nails it. From Tobey Maguire to Frances McDormand - there isnt a bad performance in the film. It totally captures the little "wars' that take place on college campuses amongst the staff and the students. Competition, tenure, talent, no talent, drugs, sex - it's all there in a muted, grey, ugly snow look that shows a Pittsburgh winter perfectly. One of the best films I have seen about how hard it is to write. Perfecto.