TEN MOVIES ABOUT WRITERS
Burdened with a craft that's essentially uncinematic, writers in the movies
are perennially blocked, broke, and insane, simultaneously romanticized and
ridiculed for their excesses-- from the wise-cracking drunks of "Mrs.
Parker and the Vicious Circle" to the sticky sweetness of
"Shakespeare in Love," the self-regarding self-reflexivity of
"Adaptation," and the homicidal madness of "The Shining."
Here are ten films that have something real to say about what it means to
write.
1. The Singing Detective
2. Barton Fink
More wrestling, this time literally: in the Coen Brothers' 1991 Cannes
winner, John Turturro sells out to Hollywood, drinks with William Faulkner's
alter ego, befriends John Goodman, and watches the wallpaper peel off in the
shabby hotel where he is desperately trying to toss off his screenplay. Does it
give you "that Barton Fink feeling?" You bet it does. Just for once,
the world around Fink is crazier and more absurd than the writer.
3. Wonder Boys
Michael Douglas is endearingly ridiculous in his pink bathrobe, working on
a second novel that's over a thousand pages long with no end in sight. Based on
Michael Chabon's book and featuring appealing young actors Katie Holmes
(pre-Tom) and Tobey Maguire (pre-Spidey), "Wonder Boys" tells tales from the inside a graduate
writing program that are too wacky not to be true.
4. Deconstructing Harry
Not every writer has to justify their work to an angry Judy Davis armed
with a revolver; deep down, however, they're all afraid their friends and
family will confront them about their thinly veiled characters. One of Woody
Allen's last great films, "Deconstructing Harry" is a poignant and
hilarious cover version of Ingmar Bergman's "Wild Strawberries."
5. Factotum
Matt Dillon gives a wonderful performance as Charles Bukowski's alter-ego
in Brent Hamer's adaptation/biopic about the hard-drinking, hard-living writer
and poet. Outlandish scenes tumble into each other, buoyed by Bukowski's
drunken wit and saved from precocious romanticism by his direct, unglamorous
honesty.
6. Naked Lunch
It's a Kafka high: typewriters turn into bugs and extraterrestrial agents
dispense strange drugs in David Cronenberg's adaptation of William S.
Burroughs' most famous novel.
7. Capote
Most of the talk about Bennett Millers' film has centered on Philip Seymour
Hoffman's Oscar-winning performance -- it is easier to praise his outstanding
mimicry than to dissect the complexities of the script. Capote tackles tough
issues about manipulation, ambition, and the real-life cost of creating art.
8. My Brilliant Career
In Gillian Armstrong's 1979 classic, Judy Davis has yet to display her
talent for caustic sarcasm and biting humor. She plays impetuous, young Sybylla
Melvyn, a budding author who chooses her fiction over love.
9. I Capture The Castle
Like father, like daughter: marvelous Bill Nighy and heartbreakingly
earnest Romola Garai struggle with their craft, doubt their talent, and
persevere. Set in a crumbling castle, Tim Fywell's tender, funny adaptation of
Dodie Smith's 1949 novel captures the essence of the writing life.
10. Morvern Callar
Lynne Ramsey's 2002 film might seems like an odd choice for this list--the
film's actual writer is dead at the outset. His partying girlfriend picks up
his manuscript and sells it under her own name. "Movern Callar" isn't about the pain of creating, it's
all about the pay-off: in the title role, Samantha Morton gets the supreme
pleasure of having written without ever having touched pen or keyboard.
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