As a former music critic, I’m used to the saying that writing about music is like dancing about architecture. But movies have gotten pretty good at depicting the writing life. In fact, they’ve done so well, that many people comment on it. The Femmes Fatale blog posted this list earlier this week, and I realized that my favorites weren’t on it – and that I had to make my own list. Do you know these movies? What are your favorite films about writing?
- Impromptu: If you haven’t seen this funny fictional account of how writer George Sand and composer Frederic Chopin fell in love, rent or stream it now! While Hugh Grant excels as the ailing composer, Judy Davis’s Sand is a revelation. She plays her as a working writer, churning out the words for money – until she finds some real inspiration in love. A stellar supporting cast, including Emma Thompson as a would-be patron of the arts, round out this romantic take on la Vie Boheme. Line to watch out for: “The horse is a critic!”
- Topsy Turvy: Mike Leigh’s 1999 film (now available in blue-ray) focuses on the creation of the Gilbert and Sullivan masterpiece “The Mikado.” To get there, it takes an in-depth look at the backstage politics, relationships, all-too-human flaws that drive creative personalities – and the moment when a blocked, repeating himself Gilbert (played to perfection by Jim Broadbent) gets the spark that will grow into his master work is priceless
- Adaptation: Charlie Kaufman’s story within a story takes an almost surreal turn as it, on one level, attempts to adapt Susan Orleans’ nonfiction book, “The Orchid Thief,” as a film. Nicholas Cage is appropriately frantic as the blocked writer – and what author wouldn’t want to be portrayed by Meryl Streep – and have her work translated as such a wild adventure?
- Almost Famous: As a onetime rock critic, I have a soft spot for this film. I’ll confess, after my mother saw it, she said, “So, that’s what you do!” Well, not really, Mom. Not by a long shot. But still a great, sweet reminiscence of a writer’s coming of age on the road. Plus, Philip Seymour Hoffman, as Lester Bangs, gives the young writer the single best piece of advice: “You cannot make friends with the rock stars.”
- Shakespeare in Love: Blocked and desperate, a young playwright casts about for inspiration and – failing that – decides to flatter a patron (and his mistress) with a bit of hack work. Only love and a free-spirited young woman (who is way out of his league) intervene. Joseph Fiennes has just the right manic energy here, so that when he begins to imagine lines that will one day become classic, we can hear them taking form – and we can hear (and imagine) the revising along the way. Plus, Dame Judy Dench!
OK, what are your favorites?
You’ve got some good ones there. I liked Wonder Boys, about a once-lauded author who has over 2000 pages on his WIP and still doesn’t know what it’s about. Stranger Than Fiction, with Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, and Will Farrell, is fun, too. It’s about an author who knows that if she kills her main character her book will be spectacular, but she can’t bring herself to do him in. Especially since the protagonist tells her in person that he wants to live.
I confess, I’d forgotten about those two – I adore Emma Thompson (as you can tell), so I think a re-watching of “Stranger Than Fiction” may be in order. Also, “Romancing the Stone,” possibly (for Kathleen Turner). Thanks, Donis!
They’re not exactly about writing per se but two of my favorite writing-related thrillers are the Stephen King stories Misery and The Shining (all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy). Maybe throw Stand by Me in there too, with Will Wheaton turning out to be Richard Dreyfuss in the end.
And two of my fave stories about storytelling are The Princess Bride and The Notebook, because of the way they go in and out of the story vs. the actual telling of it. James Garner as Duke, Jack Nicholson in the snow, Ryan Gosling, Kathy Bates, James Caan, River Phoenix, my name is Inigo Montoya, and of course Columbo and the Wonder Years kid — all classic characters.