Not long ago, I wrote about how lots of us wish there were more movies about and for grownups as opposed to intellectual property / superhero movies. I was wondering, what’s a good example of the type of movie they don’t make anymore.
It came to me: Wonder Boys
Plot
Without looking it up, it’s about an author/professor, Grady Tripp, teaching at a liberal arts college in Pittsburgh. He wrote a legendary novel and can’t follow it up, while phoning it in as a teacher and having an affair with the chancellor’s wife. Over the weekend of BookFair, he takes a talented but troubled writing student under his wing while his editor hopes to finally see his second book. A dog is shot, Marilyn Monroe’s jacket is stolen, Grady loses his entire 2000-page manuscript – yet somehow everything works out in the end.
A perfect example of lower “stakes” in a movie, but it never drags.
- Michael Douglas – One of the few times in his career playing a sympathetic lead character, not an 80s/90s asshole.
- Robert Downey, Jr – Before he was Iron Man and before he was insurable but never better on film.
- Tobey Maguire – In the sweet spot between Cider House Rules and Spider-Man. And before he became a legendary asshole at Hollywood poker games.
- Frances McDormand – Same year as Almost Famous and just as good.
- Katie Holmes – Before Tom Cruise
Then a stacked lineup of great actors and “that guys”: Rip Torn, Richard Thomas, Jane Adams, Alan Tudyk, Kelly Bishop, Philip Bosco.
No Antagonists
My favorite thing about this movie? There are no villains. No cops and robbers, nobody trying to pull a heist, no character in the movie hates any other character. It’s pretty remarkable.
You would think that results in no plot or drama, but it doesn’t. People are chasing their dreams, working, figuring out relationships, all without some evil character twirling his moustache.
There is some light gunplay, a light kidnapping, a seriously messed-up student, some ethical violations, an unwanted pregnancy, and main character unable to live up to his promise.
That’s a lot – but every character ends up happy, even the cucked chancellor, thanks to Robert Downey, Jr.’s character.
Does that sound like it’s too pat of an ending? Maybe. But who cares. Yeah, it is a bit of a soft ending but satisfying.
As in any great storytelling – things don’t just happen in sequence one after another. My favorite definition of “plot” is when things happen in sequence because of each other.
I cared more in this movie about whether a student gets suspended or not than I care about the world being saved in Avengers: Endgame.
Movies Are Not Dead in 2026
For sure, good movies and indies like this still exist. But not in the same numbers. There might have been 3 major studio movies per month with the ethos of Wonder Boys or Nobody’s Fool (1994, Paul Newman), and never with this mid-size budget or solid cast. We’re lucky to run into a couple of indies per year in this mode.
Look at the graphic on the right here. I just picked the week in February every 5 years with the best or most enduring releases in one week. You can see the degradation over the years and we all know why. There’s no need to explain or explore the demise of movie quality and studio economics.
The Novel
It’s an adaptation of a great book by Michael Chabon. I have to note that his novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, is a top five favorite book for me.
There’s a couple of changes in the adaptation, but I personally think they helped.
The brilliant theme of the novel is how hard it is to live up to the reputation of being a “Wonder Boy,” someone who created their masterwork early in life and then have to figure out how to keep going.
Curtis Hanson
The director, Curtis Hanson, wove that theme in so well. About using Bob Dylan for some music (including an original song which won an Academy Award), Hanson said, “Who knows more about being a Wonder Boy and the trap it can be, about the expectations and the fear of repeating yourself?”
Similarly, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen and John Lennon have well placed songs. If I picture driving around a beautiful Pittsburgh in the winter, I hear their music because of this movie.
Hanson was on a moviemaking roll in 2000 and all of these movies are so different it shows that he’s a great director without imposing his shtick on the movies like so many other directors.
- 1992 The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
- 1994 The River Wild
- 1997 L.A. Confidential
- 2000 Wonder Boys
- 2002 8 Mile
Have I sold you on this one yet? If nothing else, I’ve convinced myself to watch it again tonight.
One last pitch: If you have ever found either Michael Douglas or Robert Downey, Jr. charming and haven’t seen this, please put it on your list.
I suppose my takeaway is to ask if you say something to the effect of, “They don’t make them like that anymore” – do you have a particular movie in mind?
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