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Wonder Boys
Grady is a 50-ish English professor who hasn't had a thing published in years—not since he wrote his award winning 'Great American Novel' 7 years ago. This weekend proves even worse than he could imagine as he finds himself reeling from one misadventure to another in the company of a new wonder boy author.
2000 · Directed by Curtis Hanson · 107 min · Comedy · Drama · Screenplay in the scene database · 7 frames
Tagline
Undependable. Unpredictable. Unforgettable.
Plot
Novelist Grady Tripp teaches creative writing at a Pennsylvania university. He is having an affair with the university chancellor, Sara Gaskell, whose husband, Walter, is the chairman of the English department in which Grady is a professor. Grady's third wife, Emily, has just left him, and he has failed to repeat the success of his first novel, published seven years earlier. He continues to labor on a second novel, but the more he tries to finish it, the less able he finds himself to invent a satisfactory ending. He spends his free time smoking cannabis.
Grady's students include James Leer and Hannah Green. Hannah, who rents a room in Grady's house, is attracted to Grady, who does not reciprocate.
During a party at the Gaskells' house, Sara reveals to Grady that she is pregnant with his child. Grady finds James standing outside holding what he claims to be a replica gun. However, the gun is real, as James shoots the Gaskells' dog when he finds it attacking Grady. James also steals a valuable piece of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia from the house. Grady cannot tell Sara of this incident since she is pressuring him to choose between her and Emily. Grady keeps the dead dog in the trunk of his car for most of the weekend. He also allows James to follow him around, fearing that he may be depressed or suicidal. Gradually, he realizes that much of what James says about himself and his life is untrue, seemingly designed to elicit Grady's sympathy.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Steve Kloves
- Cinematography: Dante Spinotti
- Edited by: Dede Allen
- Music: Christopher Young
- Production design: Jeannine Oppewall
- Produced by: Curtis Hanson, Scott Rudin
Cast
- Michael Douglas as Grady Tripp
- Tobey Maguire as James Leer
- Frances McDormand as Sara Gaskell
- Robert Downey Jr. as Terry Crabtree
- Katie Holmes as Hannah Green
- Rip Torn as Q
- Richard Knox as Vernon Hardapple
- Jane Adams as Oola
- Michael Cavadias as Miss Sloviak
- Richard Thomas as Walter Gaskell
Production
- Country: Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: Paramount Pictures, Mutual Film Company, Scott Rudin Productions, Curtis Hanson Productions
- Budget: $35,000,000
- Box office: $33,426,588
- Themes: adultery, infidelity, robbery, based on novel or book, police, pennsylvania, usa, winter, midlife crisis, professor, college
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