daily stream: why does a movie about depressed writers feel festive? I try to explain...
2000’s *Wonder Boys* is on Paramount+ in the US (and other services, too), and exclusively on BBC iPlayer in the UK
Over the holiday season I’ll be sharing streaming recommendations for movies for when you want to feel festive but not necessarily Christmassy, and also for Christmas movies that you may not have heard of before. Today: one of the former.
And as my holiday gift to you, if you become a paying subscriber by December 31st, you’ll get 50% off your first year:
There’s a trope among the social-media kids today, and it goes like this: “I can’t explain why,” they say, and then they go on to state a thing that seems ridiculous but that actually, strangely, makes a lot of sense.
It doesn’t bother me when other people say this, but for me, as a writer, I have hesitated to jump onto this meme bandwagon, because a writer’s job is to put the inexplicable into words. So please know that it pains deeply me to say that I can’t explain why the 2000 dramedy Wonder Boys feels like a Christmas movie, even though it’s nothing remotely of the sort.
But I’ll try.
Set during a snowy February weekend in Pittsburgh, this is the tale of a weary novelist and university professor (Michael Douglas, maybe better than he’s ever been) coming to all sorts of epiphanies, personal and professional, as he spars with his visiting NYC book editor (Robert Downey Jr) over his seven-years-in-the-making-and-still-unfinished manuscript, grapples with his adulterous relationship with the uni’s chancellor (Frances McDormand), and deepens his rapport with one of his students (Tobey Maguire) till it becomes almost parental, or at least avuncular.
This is a brilliant film — hardly surprising, since it’s based on a book by Michael (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay) Chabon and directed by Curtis (L.A. Confidential, In Her Shoes) Hanson — and in 2000 I called it “one of the best movies ever about what it means to be a writer.” After a recent rewatch, I still feel the same way. But during that rewatch, I tried to find the things that make it feel Christmassy. And here’s what I homed in on:
• all the snow, obvs
• Tobey’s character loves old black-and-white, golden-age-of-Hollywood movies, and I can’t explain why *eyeroll*, but a love of old movies feels Christmassy
• small early screen appearance by demigod Alan Tudyk in a minor role is clearly a gift to be cherished
• IDK but multiple invocations of Marilyn Monroe seems kinda Jesus-y
• a story about finding your true family among likeminded weirdos you have no genetic or marital connection to plugs into the true spirit of the season, maybe?
Am I crazy with this? Eager to hear your thoughts. It’s a fab movie, in any case, and I would be delighted if I could somehow inspire people to see this as a movie to get cozy with at this time of year.
US: stream on Paramount+ with Showtime (via Prime and Apple TV), but leaves in 10 days; rent/buy on Prime and Apple TV
UK: stream on BBC iPlayer
See Wonder Boys at Letterboxd for more viewing options.
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