[10]

Michael Douglas gives a career highlight performance as a fifty-year-old college professor worried about following up a sensational debut novel in this warm, character-driven comedy from Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential, 8 Mile) and author Michael Chabon. I was quickly hooked on each of the movie’s ensemble of anxious, quirky characters, all grappling with their own life-changing dilemmas. Tobey Maguire is excellent as the sullen but devious James Leer and Robert Downey Jr. is perfect as Douglas’ impetuous, libidinous book editor. Frances McDormand plays the chancellor’s wife, with whom Douglas is having an affair, and the cast also includes Katie Holmes, Rip Torn, and Alan Tudyk. What I most appreciate about Wonder Boys is the suggestion that isolation mires us in our problems. Company, even odd company, has a way of helping you see the light. Love the Oscar-winning title song by Bob Dylan.