Wonder Boys review

Paramount Pictures has taken the unusual step of re-releasing this movie nine months after its American and British debut. Despite favourable reviews at the time of release, the film failed to take off at the box office. With award nominations just around the corner, Paramount is clearly hoping to be luckier second time around.

The film represents a welcome departure for star Michael Douglas from his customary sleepwalk through roles as sundry wealthy industrialists in second-rate thrillers (The Game, A Perfect Murder). Here he plays Grady Tripp, a perpetually stoned 50-something literature professor with writer's block. Grady is a jaded cynic: he is tired of being asked when his next novel will appear (it's been seven years since his last one), sick of his sycophantic students and generally bored of the cosy professorial lifestyle. He's even tiring of his philandering ways. It's a role Douglas performs with relish and some skill.

Everything changes for Grady over the course of a literary weekend festival at his college. Thrown into a state of bewilderment after learning that he has impregnated the Chancellor (Frances McDormand), his life is further turned on its head by three arrivals: his wild agent Terry (Robert Downey Jr.) blows into town, his sexy and bright student Hannah (Katie Holmes) moves into his house and his reticent and frankly odd pupil James (Tobey Maguire) becomes suddenly very important in his life. This character piece gently follows the interactions between these four: part screwball, part melodrama, it is confident, assured and eminently watchable.

While The Wonder Boys won't pick up the Oscar for Best Film despite Paramount's hopes (although Douglas has a shot at the acting nomination), it is a refreshing slice of American cinema, which actually requires the viewer not to leave their brain at the door. Director Curtis Hanson has made an equally stylish but very low-key follow-up to LA Confidential. Unlike the vast majority of pet projects (which this film definitely feels like), this is a quiet and dignified success.