Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by clarkjohnsen (i) on November 27, 2000 at 08:53:40:

Rush headlong, do not run, to see Wonder Boys while it's still in town. One of only two films in recent memory to be re-released to theaters, I would vote for Permanent Exhibition. It's the best movie (American style) I've seen in years.

Briefly, Wonder Boys is both a light satire on writers and writing, and a trenchant, deeply human comedy. Many tropes of style and form are humorously engaged -- for instance, the Mystery: You'll see a dead body stuffed into a trunk (and how long has it been since you've laughed at *that*?) -- as in a multitiered novel, but here we are... watching a goddam movie! All very sly.

Michael Douglas as a beleaguered, unproductive professor-novelist, Tobey McGuire as a disingenuous undergraduate student-protoge, Francis McDormand as the boringly-married University Chancellor and Robert Downey, Jr. as a carboy of Habenero Sauce splashed on the proceedings, could not be better. The estimable Chris Hanson directed and DeDe Allen -- famous for her brilliant work on Bonnie and Clyde -- cut it.

But the top credit must go to the writers... whatstheirnames... The movie is populated by a chorus of secondary characters, each one finely drawn and most of them enjoying a surprise reprise. Likewise several zingers reappear, showing that characters have listened to each other and filed some good lines away for future use. Sample to remember: "Double Dickles on the rocks."

The audience at the Sunday matinee in Boston laughed loudly and applauded warmly (love that old tradition). On my way up the aisle afterwards I said to everyone, "Tell your friends. Tell your friends." And they said, "Yes. Yes."

clark