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If movies like Freddy vs. Jason, Godzilla vs. Megalon, Alien vs. Predator, Godzilla vs. Mothra, Kramer vs. Kramer, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, Ecks vs. Sever, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and King Kong vs. Godzilla have taught us nothing else, it's that everything is somehow better in battle format. We here at BOP recognize this fact, but at the same time realize that our breed of super-smart readers sometimes yearns for a touch of the intellectual at the same time. And since Hollywood has a certain obsession with turning literature of all types into big screen features, we're afforded the perfect opportunity to set up grudge matches galore.

And so, whenever the Tinsel Town hotshots decide that it's a great idea to turn the little-known Herman Melville classic Redburn into a theatrical event film, we'll be there. Whether the results are triumphant (see: The Lord of the Rings trilogy) or tragic (i.e. The Scarlett Letter), we'll take it upon ourselves to give you the verdict and spark the discussion.

Wonder Boys

As of late, it has become a habit of mine to read novels with a counterpart in Hollywood. Recent examples include No Country for Old Men and Atonement, two stories that impressed me in print, and then again in their theatrical translations to the big screen.

So when I finally got around to reading Michael Chabon's Wonder Boys earlier this summer, I thought it fitting to sit through Curtis Hanson's take on the 1995 novel, which explores the personal demons of a college professor and what he can do to soothe his misfortunes over the course of a single weekend.

The Book
Used to the Chabon that lets his stories run their course over long time periods in a single, thick novel - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, anyone? - I was pleasantly amazed, really, that he also has a knack for penning stories with an expiration date of only a few days.

Chabon's second novel stars Grady Tripp, a professor in Pittsburgh whose latest manuscript already sits at a massive 2,600-plus pages. Making matters worse, his editor is in town and has heard from Grady that he is "almost finished" for several years now. Moreover, Grady's wife, Emily, walked out on him; his mistress, Sara Gaskell, is pregnant with Grady's baby and his star student, James Leer, nearly commits suicide at a party attended by Grady, leading the professor to act as a parental figure for James over the same weekend. These issues and more fit tightly under Chabon's radar for the remainder of the story, fitting the bill for a ride through the complicated life of an equally complicated professor, who, it must be said, also likes to get high pretty much all the time.





What I found most interesting about Grady's character is that he is one I shouldn't have liked. He cheats on his wife, has children out of wedlock, smokes pot to rid himself of difficulties and would seem to be in favor of avoiding confrontation altogether than settling something outright. But for all the negativity set up by Chabon, I still found the man quite charming. He's funny, he's smart, he knows how to butter up the in-laws and surprisingly becomes a hell of a role model for troubled James as the novel runs its course. For all his misgivings, Grady also has a lot to be thankful for - personality-wise - which only strengthened my interest in seeing the man overcome his personal difficulties.

Much explodes in Grady's face at the onset, and yet Chabon finds ways to quickly rebuild his tarnished image, without it at any time seeming too implausible to believe. Of course, Chabon's gift with the written word certainly helped matters.

The Movie

Wonder Boys is perhaps Michael Douglas' best performance as an actor to date. He took on the challenging character in stride and made it appear quite effortless. He very naturally smoked his weed as if he's been doing it all his life, all the while looking like that cool professor you only wished you could've had for an upper level English course. And I say the same for the majority of major characters. Robert Downey, Jr. nailed Grady's eccentric and flamboyant editor, Terry Crabtree, and the always excellent Frances McDormand posted another solid performance as college chancellor and Grady's mistress, Sara.

A bulk of the novel also translated quite well to screen, especially its comic relief sequences. I liked what was done with the chancellor's former four-legged friend, and scenes with Terry's tranny friend, Miss Antonia Sloviak, were even more fun to see on screen than to read in print.

The Verdict

I finished up Wonder Boys thinking that a theatrical adaptation could be successfully made from Chabon's story. Unfortunately, Hanson's take just isn't the adaptation that I was expecting to see. Though casting certainly earned my seal of approval, omitting - in my book - crucial scenes and characters did not.

My biggest complaint would be the entire day (literarily speaking) that Chabon spent in Emily's home, an episode that simply didn't exist in the adaptation. Taking up a good chunk of the novel's 368 pages, the day's events introduced readers to Emily's somewhat dysfunctional family, and most importantly, gave Grady the opportunity to explain himself (if choosing to take it), as well as a moment of reconciliation for both parties. The adaptation extinguished these important moments of dialogue, while keeping on other subplots - the whole Vernon Hardapple business - for seemingly no purpose.

Though this isn't to say I did not enjoy the film. In fact, I picked out a whole slew of things that worked visually. Instead, this is just another case where the original story - the book - turns out better than its translation to screen.