|
Written By:Movies About Writers By M.G. Wood Seeing yourself represented as a well-written character on the big screen is one of many pleasures of the movie-going experience. Whether it’s the painfully funny cubicle dwellers in Mike Judge’s OFFICE SPACE or in a more dramatic light, Vietnam vets honored by Oliver Stone’s PLATOON. When I’m feeling a bit discouraged by yet another rejection slip, or questioning why I ever wanted become a writer, I throw in one of the following films and for a couple of hours I escape into a world where the writer is king, or at least a king with a drinking problem and writer’s block. SUNSET BLVD. written by Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, and D.M. Marshman Jr. Symbolism from English Lit. 101: Billy Wilder’s pitch black comedy from 1950 about a struggling screenwriter in Hollywood who soon becomes a gigolo for an over-the-hill silent screen star, and in one of most cutting fates ever suffered on screen, our desperate writer ends up lying face down in a swimming pool with a bullet in the back. BARTON FINK written by Ethan and Joel Coen Much like Billy Wilder, the Coen Bros. presented a caustic tale of Hollywood macabre in which our hero Barton Fink comes to tinsel town with dreams of slumming for a quick buck, only to discover a Kafkaesque world where art is a blood stain on a mattress and a severed head in a cardboard box. But, in a slightly more cynical twist, our writer/hero is an obnoxious, self-centered snob who can’t get past his own hubris to see a tragic working-class psychopath sitting right before his face. SIDEWAYS written by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor Paul Giamatti can’t get his book published, but he sure can drink; in other words he’s a writer. The only sustaining relationship in his life is with his manchild best friend who is about to get married. So, off they go on a whirlwind trip through the California wine country for one last road trip. If this film weren’t so funny and beautiful, the Paul Giamatti character would bring most of his real-life soul mates to tears. But, as it is, SIDEWAYS is one of the most authentic portrayals of writers with a dream deferred. ONE TRUE THING written by Karen Croner based on the novel by Anna Quindlen Back east we find a young, ambitious writer played by Renee Zellweger derailed by a family tragedy. Forced to stay home and care for her ailing mother, she finds herself disillusioned by the father she once idolized. Played by William Hurt, the father is a once famous writer with writer’s block and a drinking problem, unable to come to grips with the fact that he may never write the great American novel. The challenges faced by the Zellweger character are true to life and very astute in portraying how difficult it is to be a successful writer while at the same time carrying on an equally successful personal life. MONSTER IN A BOX written by Spaulding Gray A common theme in movies about writers is the unfinished novel. Usually it’s a massive tome that the writer can’t seem to complete. In the case of monologist Spaulding Gray, it’s a true story. For those not familiar with his work, Mr. Gray sits at a desk with a microphone and glass of water, and he talks. A master storyteller with an acerbic wit, Spaulding Gray talks about his life with skillful honesty. While SWIMMING TO CAMBODIA is Mr. Gray’s best and most famous work, MONSTER IN A BOX is a more poignant piece; his life-long struggle to complete his novel, his mother’s suicide and his own battle with depression and alcoholism. WONDER BOYS written by Steve Kloves based on the novel by Michael Chabon No other film to date recreates the world of the writer with such humor, angst, and poignancy. And it holds the honor of being one of the few films that actually surpasses the novel in it’s effectiveness. Michael Douglas plays a middle-aged English professor in the middle of a mid-life crisis who soon finds himself unwittingly mentoring a gifted young student played by Tobey Maguire. WONDER BOYS is unique in it’s ability to show the ugly side of the literary world and still elevate it’s intellectual characters to the level of flawed heroes; an array of oddball characters forming a family not unlike the b-movie freaks and geeks in Burton’s ED WOOD. Michael Douglas’ character is unlike any other in film, he’s the thinking person’s anti-hero, full of neuroses and questionable motives, think Bogart with ink-stained hands. An added delight is the stellar soundtrack featuring the academy award winning original song “Things Have Changed” by Bob Dylan. More great movies about writers: CAPOTE written by Dan Futterman based on the book by Gerald Clarke SMOKE written by Paul Auster ANOTHER WOMAN written by Woody Allen REDS written by Warren Beatty and Trevor Griffiths ADAPTATION written by Charlie and Donald Kaufman based on the book "The Orchid Thief" by Susan Orlean Return to Book Review
Home Page
|
