Wonder Boys (2000) on Netflix
Seven years after his first novel made his name, Grady Tripp cannot finish a second. His wife has left him, his editor wants pages, and his mistress, the chancellor, is pregnant.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb7.2/1069,425 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes81%
Trailer
Plot summary
Grady Tripp is a writing professor at a university in Pennsylvania who has published nothing since his first novel, seven years back. His third wife, Emily, has just walked out. He is sleeping with Sara Gaskell, the chancellor, whose husband Walter runs the English department where Grady works. On the weekend of the university's WordFest, Terry Crabtree, Grady's editor, flies in to find out whether any of the long-delayed second novel exists, bringing a companion he met on the flight. At a party at the Gaskells' house, Sara tells Grady she is pregnant. James Leer, one of Grady's students, follows him around for much of the weekend.
Cast
- Richard Knoxas Vernon Hardapple
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Wonder Boys (2000)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Robert Downey Jr. was on probation during the winter of 1999 when Hanson considered him for a role; Hanson was cautious because of the actor's drug history and because it would be a tough film shot in sequence in Pittsburgh, and hired him after a long dinner conversation.
- Paramount was not interested in making a quirky, character-driven comedy drama until Douglas agreed to work well below his usual large fee, and the actor gained 25 pounds for the film by consuming pizza, subs, and beer.
- Kloves, best known for writing and directing The Fabulous Baker Boys, returned to the film business after a self-imposed seven-year retirement to adapt Michael Chabon's novel; he was originally going to direct the film as well, but bowed out and Hanson came on board.
- Dylan admired Hanson's previous film, L.A. Confidential, and after much convincing screened 90 minutes of rough footage from Wonder Boys.
- The soundtrack features several songs by Bob Dylan, including one new composition, "Things Have Changed", which would win the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
- The Los Angeles Times' Kenneth Turan slammed the poster, writing that it "brings Elmer Fudd to mind", and Hanson said that the poster made Douglas look "like he was trying to be Robin Williams".
- Wonder Boys opened at No. 7 in the US and Canadian box office with $5.8 million from 1,253 theaters, and went on to gross $19,393,557 there and $14,033,031 in other countries, a worldwide total of $33,426,588 that, based on a $55 million budget, made it a box office bomb.
- Reportedly, Downey acted professionally for the entire four-and-a-half month shoot, but after it ended he returned to Los Angeles and violated his parole.
