At a certain velocity, this would be wacky. One of the wise decisions of "Wonder Boys" is to avoid that velocity. Grady plods around in a pink bathrobe, trying to repair damage, tell the truth, give good advice, be a decent man and keep his life from falling apart. The brilliance of the movie can be seen in its details: (1) Hannah is brought onstage as an obvious love interest, but is a decoy; (2) Crabtree picks up a transvestite on his flight in, but dumps him for James, who is not exactly straight or gay (neither is Crabtree); (3) when the transvestite needs a ride, Grady says, "I'm your man," but their drive results not in sex but in truth-telling, and (4) Sara is not hysterical about being pregnant and is understanding, actually, about Grady's chaotic lifestyle.
So all the obvious payoffs are short-circuited. No mechanical sex scenes. No amazing revelation that the transvestite is not a woman (everyone in the movie--save for Crabtree, who doesn't want to admit it--clocks him instantly). No emotional showoffs.
And the sex in "Wonder Boys," gay and straight, is handled sanely, as a calming pastime after long and nutty evenings. (Notice how comfortable the Downey character is with his weaknesses of the flesh.)
Let me give one more example of how the movie uses observation instead of wheezy cliches. When Q, the writer, is giving his speech, he pontificates about "piloting the boat of inspiration to the shore of achievement." James utters a loud, high-pitched giggle. In a lesser movie, James would have continued, making some kind of angry and rebellious statement. Not in "Wonder Boys," where James thinks Q is ludicrous, laughs rudely once and then shuts up.
And listen to the dialogue. Grady has been working on his second novel so long, it now runs well over 2,000 single-spaced pages. Hannah suggests tactfully that by including the "genealogies of everyone's horses, and their dental records," Grady's work "reads as if you didn't make any choices." It's the right line in a movie that does make choices.
Hannah also wonders if the book would have more shape if he hadn't been stoned when he wrote it. Yes, his brilliant first book was written under the influence, but then a lot of first novels are written long before they're actually put down on paper.
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