REEL CRITICS

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Reel Critics column features movie critiques written

by community members serving on our panel.

‘Wonder Boys’ just shy of greatness

“Wonder Boys,” an interesting and offbeat film, focuses on the turbulent

events of a single weekend in the midlife crisis of a pot-smoking college

professor played by Michael Douglas.

His first novel, written many years earlier, became a best-seller. But

now, the washed-up author labors to complete a new novel for his editor,

who has come to visit his aging protege during a major writers conference

at the school.

In the first few minutes of this fateful day, we learn that the

professor’s young wife has left him, his lover is pregnant with his

child, and the suicidal student in his class may be the next boy wonder

of American literature.

His pregnant lover is also the married chancellor of the university

debating whether to leave her husband for our anti-hero. The professor’s

quick response to all this pressure is to get stoned and pass out during

another author’s lecture.

This reaction is revealed to be an ongoing habit of the professor and the

source of his sad yet comic problems.

With this setup, farce could be the order of the day. But director Curtis

Hanson (“L.A. Confidential”) brings adult comedy and social satire to the

mix. He presents the disheveled professor’s responses to his dilemma with

wit and understanding.

An excellent musical score, including songs by Bob Dylan and Neil Young,

help accent the many aspects of middle-aged angst apparent in the twists

and turns of this unusual story. Tobey Maguire turns in a solid

performance as the brooding would-be author who seems poised to

overshadow his teacher’s past success.

Amusing and engaging, the high points of “Wonder Boys” outweigh those

spots where conventional Hollywood thinking takes control of the plot.

Overall, it’s a clever diversion that misses being a great film -- but

not by too much.

JOHN DEPKO, 48, is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator for

the Orange County Public Defender’s Office.

Labor of love is hard labor for viewer

Making “Wonder Boys” was an obvious labor of love for director Curtis

Hanson and his star, Michael Douglas, but for me it felt more like labor

watching the film.

The word “quirky” best describes this movie. Grady Tripp (Douglas) is a

pot-smoking university professor and author of a highly acclaimed novel.

But that was seven years ago, and he has been unable to sufficiently

focus on his second novel even though he is now up to page 2,612.

It’s not that Grady doesn’t have other things on his mind. On the day his

wife leaves him, he learns his married boss/mistress is pregnant, his

aggressive editor arrives to see his book, and his student shoots a blind

dog after it bites his boss’s ankle. And this is just the beginning!

It’s certainly refreshing to see Douglas in a role that’s about as far

removed from his previous slick characters as you can get. Limping around

through most of the movie with gray stubble and his wife’s pink bathrobe,

Douglas displays his gift for droll -- albeit very black -- comedy while

portraying a man who must finally decide what he really wants out of

life.

But the laughs are only sporadic, and the jokes somehow not quite so

funny. Perhaps because the situations are so pathetic -- and after all,

how many dead dog gags can one person really take?

Adapted from Michael Chabon’s novel, the term “wonder boys” applies to

those who have achieved sudden fame and recognition and whose follow-up

efforts may never quite equal that initial burst of glory.

Whether a baseball player, novelist, publisher, actor or director, this

is a theme that many can relate to. The question of how it all translates

to the big screen is for you to decide.

Personally, I would have had more fun staying home and watching “L.A.

Confidential.”

SUSANNE PEREZ, 45, lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for

a financial services company.