Wonder Boys

"Undependable. Unpredictable. Unforgettable."

2000 1h 47m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

🍅

81%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.2

IMDB

★6.8TMDB · 693🍅81%Rotten Tomatoes●74Metacritic★7.2IMDB · 68,520

ComedyDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“Undependable. Unpredictable. Unforgettable.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Michael Douglas
Grady Tripp
Tobey Maguire
James Leer
Frances McDormand
Sara Gaskell
Robert Downey Jr.
Terry Crabtree
Katie Holmes
Hannah Green
Rip Torn
Q
Richard Knox
Vernon Hardapple
Jane Adams
Oola

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Curtis Hanson
Writers: Steve Kloves
Languages: English
Countries: Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 96% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

26 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 4 countries: Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Curtis Hanson, shot by Dante Spinotti. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Christopher Young. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Dede Allen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Michael Douglas and Tobey Maguire and Frances McDormand carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Undependable. Unpredictable. Unforgettable.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Curtis Hanson directs. Dante Spinotti behind the camera. Christopher Young scores. Dede Allen cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 96% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
226 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3International production across 4 countries: Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, United States of America.
4Directed by Curtis Hanson, shot by Dante Spinotti. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Christopher Young. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Dede Allen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Michael Douglas and Tobey Maguire and Frances McDormand carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Undependable. Unpredictable. Unforgettable.".
9IMDB entry: tt0185014 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 24 themes, including "adultery", "infidelity", "robbery", "based on novel or book".
11Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Dante Spinotti
Original score: Christopher Young
Editing: Dede Allen
Production design: Jeannine Oppewall
Costume design: Beatrix Aruna Pasztor
Makeup / hair: Michal Bigger
Stunt coordinator: Jeff Imada
Runtime: 107 min · 1h 47m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $35,000,000
Box office: $33,426,588
Return: 96% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Wonder Boys (2000)
Rotten Tomatoes: 81% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 74/100
IMDB rating: 7.2/10 · 68,520 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

Won 1 Oscar. 21 wins & 46 nominations total

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Curtis Hanson

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Peter McGinn2021-02-08
★ 9/10
I have to believe I saw this movie a year or two after it came out, but I had no feelings of deja vu as I watched it, so perhaps not. I usually have very little patience for movies about writers because I am one, and I get tired of them bringing up writers’ block, which I don’t believe exists, or else they have the character become wildly successful in record time. There are a lot of struggling actresses and musicians and waitresses in movies, but writers often get fast-track succes. Anyway, I wander off topic. I enjoyed the movie with its range of quirky characters, and minor plot twists. There are only a couple of two-dimensional characters; the rest are given depth, even a few who don’t have a lot of screen time. It shows what can be achieved with a good ensemble cast and a decent script.
CinemaSerf2024-03-14
★ 7/10
"Prof. Tripp" (Michael Douglas) hasn't his troubles to seek. He hasn't been able to follow up on his first novel for almost seven years - much to the chagrin of his agent "Terry" (Robert Downey Jr); his third wife has left him and he is about to father a child with his (married) boss (Frances McDormand) at the university where he works. His writer's block isn't really much helped by the omnipresence of his star pupil "James" (Tobey Maguire) nor by his increasingly debilitating pot habit. It's the man's mid life crisis from hell, but can he navigate a way out of this and keep some semblance of his self respective and, maybe even his career! Meantime, his protégé is having a few issues of his own - not least because he accidentally shot the principal's dog and he is the object of the amorous attentions of the ambisextrous "Terry" too! There's quite a decent dynamic between Douglas and Maguire as both men have to come to terms with their own problems and with their growing reliance on and frustration of each other and there is plenty of witty dialogue that is more complexly structured and subtly potent at times. The narrative is quite tightly packed into just one weekend, and that helps keeps the momentum going as the characters develop in quite a plausible - and not always likeable - fashion. Luckily, the one-dimensional Katie Holmes appears only sparingly as the plot thickens to a nicely bubbling stew at the end. It's a decent reminder that Douglas could act, given a strong story and script, and he shows us that well here with this superior ensemble drama.