Wonder Boys (15) Selected cinemas
In 1988 the then 24-year-old American writer, Michael Chabon, was declared a wonder boy on the publication of his critically admired first novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, an acute portrayal of slacker anomie. Consequently, considerable anticipation awaited his next book - but while Chabon produced many short stories, principally for The New Yorker, his second novel, Wonder Boys, was not published until 1995. During the intervening years, it transpired, Chabon had struggled with an epic tome which he finally abandoned, convinced that nobody would read it.
It is no coincidence that the pivotal character in Wonder Boys is a fictional writer, Grady Tripp, who, seven years after receiving excellent reviews for his first novel, is suffering from a form of writer's block. He is on page 2,611 of his second novel, which is hopelessly out of control - and with no end in sight, he's afraid of finishing it because it will fail to live up to the standard of his first book. Ironically, Tripp spends his days working as a creative writing professor at a university in Pittsburgh.
This barbed serious comedy has been incisively and elegantly adapted for the screen by Steve Kloves, the writer-director of The Fabulous Baker Boys, and directed by the versatile Curtis Hanson in his first film since L.A. Confidential. The hard-living, dope-smoking, middle-aged Grady Tripp is played by the reliably adventurous Michael Douglas, who spends much of the movie dishevelled and unflatteringly dressed in a pink candlewick dressing-gown.
The film is set over one manic weekend, during which the struggle with his magnum opus is reduced to just one of Tripp's problems. His editor (Robert Downey Jr) arrives in town, anxious to read Tripp's manuscript and accompanied by a statuesque transvestite whom he has picked up on the plane. Tripp has to preside over a campus literary festival where the guests include the smug, best-selling author (Rip Torn), whose success Tripp envies.
Tripp's wife walks out on him on the same weekend, while his lover (Frances McDormand) tells him she is pregnant by him - a situation rendered all the more problematic given that she is the chancellor of the college where he works and her husband (Richard Thomas) is the head of the English department. Tripp also has to cope with a brilliant, suicide-obsessed student (Tobey Maguire) and with another young student (Katie Holmes) who rents a room at Tripp's home. The hectic consequences also involve a blind dog, an apparent stalker and a stolen ermine-collared jacket which Marilyn Monroe wore on the day she married Joe DiMaggio.
There is so much going on in Wonder Boys that a few narrative strands feel disposable, but Hanson juggles and interweaves the assorted subplots and their wry eccentricities with consummate skill and his fine cast responds with impeccable timing. This picaresque picture of self-discovery astutely comments on the great expectations of youthful ambition and the disillusionments of unfulfilled adulthood as those hopes evaporate. And it is a rare pleasure these days to find an American college movie which draws the adults in from the fringes and on to centre stage, while at the same time etching some vivid younger characters - in particular the aspirant writer played with such expressive ambiguity by Tobey Maguire.
Michael Dwyer
Grey Owl (PG) Selected cinemas
This is the latest in a long list of films over the last decade or so that have attempted to recast the Indian (now Native American) myth on the big screen. Since Dances With Wolves first gave us the caring sharing Apache, actors like Daniel Day Lewis have been donning the animal skins and beads to improbable effect. In this latest instalment from the new old west, Pierce Brosnan puts on the war paint for the first time. Directed by Richard Attenborough, Grey Owl is another story of the lone man and his pursuit of a just cause. This is exactly the kind of story that this director likes, as can be seen from his previous work, in films such as Gandhi and Cry Freedom. Grey Owl is a similarly expansive picture, set in the panoramic landscapes of the Canadian wilderness.
The story concerns one Archie Grey Owl (Brosnan) who lives the lonely life of a trapper and hunter in northern Ontario and Quebec. Apparently part Indian, he lives like a traditional Native American, but also earns a few shillings writing wilderness articles for a British magazine and by acting as a hunting guide for tourists. Starting life as just a kid with a dream of living in the wilderness, Grey Owl continues to pursue his dream until he encounters love in the shape of Pony (Annie Galipeau). Pony convinces Grey Owl to give up his old cruel life of trapping, the couple adopts a few orphaned animals, and Grey Owl starts a new career as a writer and campaigner for the threatened North American beaver. All seems to be going well until Archie's increasing fame means he is recognised by people from his past, and his former life comes back to haunt him.
The most striking thing about this film is the sight of James Bond with ponytails. You keep expecting Grey Owl to take out some gadget that M has given him, or to order a Martini, shaken not stirred. But while Brosnan puts in a steady enough performance, Galipeau is lacking in all screen presence. The plot is a little slow, sentimental and hard to swallow, and Galipeau's underwritten character and flat speech delivery make Grey Owl hard going at times.
But this is a family film with its sights set firmly on the heartstrings, and as such works well enough. With its gentle, sentimental approach, and with its environmentalist message, Grey Owl is the perfect choice for a family outing.
Ian Kilroy
Ring (members and guests only) IFC, Dublin
Based on the 1991 best-selling novel by Koji Suzuki, Ring is not only a hugely successful psychological horror movie, but the highest grossing one in Japanese history. The story has already been snapped up by Hollywood for a re-make. All the more reason to see this dark and haunting Japanese ghost tale before it gets the Californian treatment.
A fusion of the traditional scary folk story and modern urban myth, Ring adds weight to the long-held suspicion that television is bad for you. A video is doing the rounds, being passed from one person to the next like a chain letter. Once you've viewed the disturbing images on your VCR, the phone rings. You're informed that you have one week to live, and the countdown begins.
Shortly after hearing about the video, television journalist Reiko (Matsushima Nanako) discovers that her own niece has died under mysterious circumstances - along with three of her classmates. They had all watched the video at a party. Reiko tracks down a copy of the tape, views it and immediately receives the fateful phone call. With a week to live, Reiko is in a race against time to solve the mystery behind the tape. She enlists the help of her ex-husband (Sanada Hiroyuki), and the trail leads to the isolated island of Oshima, a dead woman with supernatural powers, the dead woman's daughter and a crime committed years previously.
What makes Ring a powerfully effective movie is that the horror is subtle and cumulative. The slow pace of the picture works on its own terms. It relies on the intelligence of the audience, and the haunting images slowly work the viewer up to a heightened state of dread. Restraint is the keyword here, and the movie's pace is a credit to the direction of relevant newcomer Nakata Hideo. This is horror with a small "h", a fine movie and not just a limited genre piece.
Ian Kilroy
Loser (15) General Release
Paul Tannek is a clumsy, bookish, small-town student who finds himself sharing rooms in his New York college with a self-appointed, hip crowd of party animals. Paul has to study hard to stay in college and gets a part-time job to pay for his expenses, but he doesn't fit in and has to find alternative accommodation. To make matters worse, Paul (Jason Biggs of American Pie fame) has fallen for a girl in his class who is having an affair with their heartless and machiavellian English literature professor. Dora (Mena Suvari) is the girl of his dreams, but is a little down on her luck herself, being practically penniless and homeless to boot. Kind-hearted Paul takes her in, and looks after her in her hour of need.
This romantic comedy is better than the usual teen movie offering. While conforming with the nerd-gets-the-girl cliche in many American teen movies, Loser manages to carry it off with the minimum of embarrassment. While the movie is less than subtle, it does succeed in conveying its anti-drugs and its "cool to be uncool" message without overstating it. Within the limits of the genre, director-writer Amy Heckerling has brought her portrayal of teenage America away from the privileged class she dealt with in her hit movie Clueless, and concentrated instead on the kids that don't have it all. Implicit in this film is a critique of the college system operating in the US, as well as of the "me" culture that often prevails among the young and beautiful. As teen movies go, Loser is something of a winner.
Ian Kilroy
