Wonder Boys (2000)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:121
Fresh:99
Rotten:22
Average Rating:7.2/10
Consensus: Michael Douglas and Tobey Maguire do wonders in this clever dark comedy.
Synopsis: Douglas delivers one of his most compelling performances as Grady Tripp, a disheveled, perpetually adolescent English professor amiably coasting toward a mid-life crisis. On the inaugural day of... [More]
Starring: Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand, Robert Downey
Director: Curtis Hanson
Reviews for Wonder Boys
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
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This is a film that makes us feel as well as think. Full Review |
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Click to read the article Full Review |
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B+ |
If Douglas and Hanson have aimed to make Grady as simultaneously weary and jazzed...as Bob Dylan's Oscar-winning theme song is, they have come enticingly close, with marvelous highs along the way (not just the narcotic kind), but they haven't fully got th Full Review |
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4/5 |
Writer Steven Kloves and director Curtis Hanson turn Michael Chabon’s novel into a quirky goofball pleasure. Full Review |
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A- |
Michael Douglas gives the best perfromance of his career (to be remembered at Oscar time) in this screwball comedy about a college professor who's pushed into maturity by forces beyond his control; a well-acted coming-of-age saga for adults. Full Review |
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A- |
As Tripp, Michael Douglas, looking hugely disheveled, does his best work in years; playing a real character after so many pictures in which he's glided by on an air of silken yuppiness, he proves that he's still a true actor. Full Review |
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...smart, charming, and funny ... It's about finding the right inspiration and making the right choices. Hanson and Kloves, it's abundantly clear, made a lot of right choices. Full Review |
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Wonder Boys digresses so entertainingly, you forget how quickly Grady got into the mess he's in, and can't imagine where we might be headed. Full Review |
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4/5 |
Don't let the lame marketing for this film turn you off, this film is surprisingly enjoyable. Full Review |
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4/4 |
I've never quite seen a movie like Wonder Boys. It is sometimes self-deprecating, often nostalgic and optimistic, but always slightly mysterious. Full Review |
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A- |
Veterans and relative newcomers populate the talented cast, led by Douglas in one of his best-rendered performances to date. Full Review |
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Wonder Boys has a delightfully malicious beginning, an increasingly muddled second act and a conclusion of such moral uplift that it probably should not be shown to the characters themselves. Full Review |
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B+ |
This performance shows Douglas aging gracefully and willingly, an accomplishment that only a couple of famous leading men have achieved in recent years. Full Review |
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2.5/4 |
There's a story there, but it's probably not very interesting. Full Review |
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3.5/4 |
It's very refreshing to see a movie that celebrates writing and intelligence without stooping to become a filmed record of a novel. Full Review |
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5/5 |
It's so rare that I can't find anything to nitpick about in a movie. Full Review |
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4.5/5 |
Douglas is exquisitely subtle in this film; I love it when he takes time out from playing wealthy, power-hungry jerks to craft a real character, and this one is not an easy creation. Full Review |
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B |
...a movie of small pleasures and gentle comedy. One has to be careful not to overpraise it. Full Review |
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With so much to say, Hanson's movie is too frenetic. Full Review |
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3/5 |
Given the Weinsteins' genius for Oscar-gathering, don’t be surprised if Michael Douglas bags Best Actor come March 2001… Recommended. Full Review |
CommentLatest News for Wonder Boys
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