for many people , procrastination isn't a problem to overcome , it's a high art . we'll do just about anything to put off a task . when the deadline for this column nears , it's the only time during the week dishes get washed and the bed made and laundry done and plants watered and . . . eventually , hopefully , sometimes , there's a breakthrough and we actually get down to work . amazingly it's almost always easier than we dreaded and after finishing , that sense of oppressive apprehension melts away . and then , the next time , we do it all again . english professor grady tripp ( michael douglas ) is a master . seven years ago , his first book was a hit . he's been working on his second -- a short 200-page piece -- since then . fearful that he can't live up to the first , he can't bring himself to finish it . no writer's block , he's nearing 3 , 000 pages with no end in sight . now he's having a particularly difficult day . the college's annual writers conference is bringing in accomplished novelists reminding tripp that other people are finishing _their_ books . during the first day , his wife has left him , his married girlfriend informs him she's pregnant and his agent is in town with a six-foot transvestite in tow . by the evening , our besieged writer is driving though the snow-covered streets of pittsburgh with a suicidal student beside him , a stolen jacket that marilyn monroe wore on her wedding day in the back seat and a murdered blind dog stuffed in the trunk . this could be a pivotal point in his mid-life crisis . and then there's the next morning . <POS> there's a lot to like about this movie </POS> . there are no huge explosions , shattering glass or computer-generated dinosaurs to distract from the very real human issues . grady is caught up in the curse of people who accomplish great things early in their career . in the world of " what have you done for me lately ? " , he knows his second book has to be better than his first . instead of finding out , he drifts , comfortable in the insular cocoon of academic peter panhood . he doesn't have much of a life and neither does his star pupil james leer ( tobey maguire ) . james may be suicidal and psychotic . certainly everything that comes out of his mouth is a lie . he makes up a past of working clash anguish because the truth of wealth and comfort just isn't interesting enough . as the weekend progresses , they are both forced to fully engage life . that's the question they must face : comfort or real experiences ? the film takes some interesting chances . non-traditional relationships are presented as matter-of-fact . extra-marital , gay , interracial , professor-student : here they aren't judged , merely choices . <POS> the actors are all first-rate </POS> . douglas <POS> triumphs </POS> , playing against type as he spends most of his time disheveled , unshaven and clad in a pink women's house robe . maguire's disengaged alienation <POS> works perfectly here </POS> . robert downey jr . as grady's agent <POS> livens up his scenes </POS> . director curtis hanson ( " l . a . confidential " ) makes a few missteps . the women are underused . frances mcdormand <POS> does a good job </POS> of her limited role of sara , grady's married lover but we never understand much of who she is . the chemistry between the two of them is non-existent which makes some of the ending unconvincing . katie holmes is a student with a major crush on the professor , but her character goes nowhere . we never even see grady's exiting wife . this is very much a guy's film . the varied relationships between the men are much more convincing than any of the others . grady's alternating mentoring and rejection of james is the centerpoint of the film , not him and sara . as the boomers age , expect to see more mid-life crisis films to catch the attention of that demographic . eventually it'll probably become cliche , but right now <POS> we've got a winner </POS> . i'll finish this in a second . right now i have to grab some paint . i noticed some trim in the other room that needs a little touch-up . ( michael redman has written this column for so long that he's made mid-life crisis a career choice . )
