It's only the end of March and, therefore, not very far into the
movie season. The films that will eventually be nominated for Best
Picture are barely a twinkle in anyone's eye. But, as of this moment
at this point in the year of Our Lord 2000 A.D., this is the best
film of the year.
Michael Douglas, in his best performance in quite a while, stars as
Grady Tripp. He is a professor of literature at a posh, New England
college: the sort of place kids with money go to school (you all know
who you are). He pretty much sums up that old adage: those who can,
do; those who can't, teach. It's been a few years since Grady's first
novel (a prize-winning and influential bestseller) was released and
Grady seems to be having a little trouble with his followup. He can't
stop writing it. The book is over a thousand pages and he just can't
seem to find an ending for it. And, as he asserts, his constant pot-smoking
has nothing to do with it.
Grady's having quite the weekend: his agent is in town to see a copy
of his latest book, his girlfriend (Frances McDormand, as delightful
here as in "Fargo") the
wife of his boss, has just announced that she is pregnant, and he
has just taken a troubled and very troublesome student (Tobey Maguire,
one of the best young actors working today) under his wing and into
his house. Oh, and his wife has just left him. As I said, things are
not at their best in the life of Grady Tripp.
The film is so full of pleasures that it's difficult to know where
to begin. The characters live in their eccentricities so easily that
they seem realistic rather than "quirky". Every moment in
the film has the absurd quality of truth to it. Tobey Maguire and
Michael Douglas are both brilliant. Hell, so is everyone else in the
film. Frances McDormand is wonderful, Robert Downey Jr is a riot and
Katie Holmes matches her beauty with a fine amount of talent. The
weather is even realistic. Where most movies give us one perfect day
after another, there are all sorts of snow storms and rain storms
in this Pennsylvania town.
The film is also filled with brilliant comic touches. The jokes are
delivered in a way that reminded me of "pRushmore".
The comedy is very low key, knowing that it's jokes are funny enough
that the audience need not be hammered over the head with them. It
sidesteps convention and predictability at every step of the way,
just like reality, and the characters are likeable without being perfect.
Curtis Hanson, the man who directed the amazing "L.A.
Confidential" delivers a worthy followup that is different
in every respect but its superb craftsmanship.
So, just go already, would you?
