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Wonder Boys | 2000 | R | - 3.3.6

In this comedy/drama, a college English professor (Michael Douglas) spends a weekend dealing with his editor (Robert Downey Jr.) who wants to see his far-from-finished next book, the married university chancellor (Frances McDormand) with whom he's having an affair and a gifted but ultra-depressed writing student (Tobey Maguire). Also with Katie Holmes, Rip Torn, John R. Devich, David Lean, Matt Ross and Richard Thomas. [1:48]

SEX/NUDITY 3 - Some sexual innuendo (including a discussion about putting spices and other items on male genitalia to increase pleasure) and a little kissing. A clothed man and woman hold each other on a bed; also, we see two shirtless men lying in bed together. We see a shirtless man, a man wearing boxers and a woman wearing only a T-shirt (most of her bare legs are visible).

VIOLENCE/GORE 3 - Most of the scenes have a humorous rather than dramatic tone. A dog is shot several times (the scene isn't too mean-spirited, but could be upsetting to some); its body is stuffed into a car trunk (we see it there a couple of times) and later put in a bed. A dog bites a man's ankle; when he lifts up his pant leg we see the very bloody wound. A man cuts his hand (we don't see the wound, but see him cover it with a bandage). A man jumps in front of a car several times to stop it, then jumps on its hood and makes a dent. A few scenes of reckless driving; in one scene, a car crashes into a brick wall (the driver isn't injured). Some threatening with guns (one scene is quite suspenseful); a man shoots a gun but doesn't hit anyone.

LANGUAGE 6 - 8 F-words, some anatomical references and slang terms, many scatological references, several mild obscenities and a few insults.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Writing, infidelity, marijuana and prescription drug abuse, drunkenness, transvestites, homosexuality, theft, deception.

MESSAGE - Stop going through the motions of life and do what you truly want to do.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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