Curtis Hanson is not the most prolific director of all time. His career has spanned thirty years in which he has made a total of ten movies. During his most productive period, the early nineties he seemed to have carved a niche for himself, directing B-grade thrillers with, moreorless A-grade stars. His movies were reasonably enjoyable, passing a relatively harmless but eminently forgettable ninety minutes. He looked set for life as yet another director-for-hire making anonymous, yet easily accessible Hollywood movies but then James Ellroy entered his life. The idea of this supremely average director doing anything more than presentable with Ellroy’s large, serpentine, skilfully crafted novel seemed almost impossible. Yet, thankfully I was proved wrong. He pulled out all the stops; creating a masterful portrait of 1950’s L.A., a suspenseful character-driven thriller that instantly became a modern movie classic.
Wonderboys focuses on Grady Tripp, a college tutor and author, whose life, at fifty is something of an unfocussed, shambolic mess. His wife having left him, he is in the middle of an affair with a fellow teacher, whose husband just so happens to be his boss. As if this wasn’t bad enough, seven years have passed since his debut novel met with much critical success and he is still struggling to complete his follow-up. Rather than focussing on his own problems, he takes James Leer, a troubled student under his wing and helps the young man to bring some resolution to his life. This “mission” is helped in no small measure by Grady’s editor and friend, Terry Crabtree who is in town for a literary festival, and all-too eager to see Grady complete his second novel.
In Wonderboys, Curtis Hanson has created an immensely enjoyable character piece. Like Rushmore, American Beauty and The Ice Storm, it is the kind of movie that is best watched in a relaxed, patient demeanour, letting yourself get lost in the gentle narrative. The character interaction is a joy to watch especially Grady and James who take up the core of the movie with their surrogate father-friend/son relationship. Some of the characters are left very much on the sidelines, most notably and surprisingly Grady’s girlfriend, Sara Gaskell who is given the somewhat thankless task of simply “waiting for her man”.
Although Michael Douglas is very much the star, playing a firm, dependable hub for the drama to play around and segue into, he is gracious enough to let his co-stars steal almost every scene. Robert Downey Jr. plays another over-active gay man, following on from his turns in Home for the Holidays, One Night Stand and James Toback’s Black & White. Downey Jr. has an amazing presence, his performance here cementing his reputation as one of the best actors of his generation. As Terry, he is completely unpredictable; a vivid persona brought to life by this undeniably talented actor. Also among Douglas’ co-stars is Tobey Maguire, a young actor who is steadily building an impressive body of work, particularly excelling in quirky, yet perfectly natural characters who accommodate themselves to each movie rather than domineer them. He plays James Leer as a lost soul just waiting to be discovered, creating a perfectly endearing individual. The other cast members are left very much in support with Frances McDormand as Douglas’ love-interest given a rather fleshless role.
At the end of the day, Wonderboys is a movie that deserves an audience. In America, it was released a year ago and swiftly dropped after a terrible marketing campaign and even worse box office. It is a movie about living, about finding some kind of structure in your life, therefore it should be easy for most people to connect to the drama in one way or another. However, I have my doubts that it will ever be anything more than a critical success, a response typical of today’s movie-going public. I just hope Wonderboys will get the recognition it deserves come Oscar-time. |
