Movies About Writing or Writers

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Adaptation
Alex & Emma New!
Almost Famous
Amadeus
American Splendor
As Good As It Gets
Barton Fink
Bullets Over Broadway
Deconstructing Harry
D.O.A.(1988)
Down With Love
Finding Forrester
Finding Neverland
How to Murder Your Wife
Misery New!
Mr. Holland's Opus
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle New!
The Muse
My Favorite Year New!
Naked Lunch
Romancing the Stone/The Jewel of the Nile
Shakespeare in Love
Wonder Boys

Coming Attractions

Really nails the frustration of writing and the lengths writers go to in order to inspire and/or avoid their creativity. Then in the third act it completely comes off the rails, done in by its own self-indulgence. What does it mean to love something with such a passion that you put it above all else? Adaptation squandered the opportunity to explore it.

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Does life affect art or is it the other way around? I suspect it is a two-way street. Exhimit A: this film. A light piece of romantic comedy fluff, but some interesting things about the two-way flow of things between life and art.

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One of my all time favorite films. Rates a B- because there's not a lot in the movie about the creative process, but we still get a nice sense of what it's like to be a writer on a deadline.

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A classic. A+ because this film is all about the creative process, and the difference between those that have to work at it and those to whom creation is second nature. The scene with Mozart on his deathbed, dictating the music in his head to his arch-rival, is worth the price of rental alone.

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More than any other WriterFlick, American Splendor understands the link between real life and what a writer puts down on paper. True, Harvey Pekar's comic book series was autobiographical, but that's not the point. It also explores the importance of writing to its author, as when Pekar discovers he has cancer, and his wife uses his writing to see him through the treatments.

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Having Jack Nicholson's dysfunctional character make his money as an author of love stories was wonderfully ironic and was a great fit for the film. However, outside of one scene, there aren't a lot of writer's insights to be found.

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Is it an art film? A dark comedy? A literary noir film? I don't know. And I wonder if the Coen Brothers even knew. I like their work, but this one is incomprehensible. I suppose I should give it more credit for trying to be about selling out, writer's block and the fragility of creativity, but it really wasn't about that, either.

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Maybe this film is what Barton Fink should have been. How do you tread the line between art and commerce? What makes someone an artist? What do you do with an ingenue you can't fire? Do you love the artist or the man? It's all wrapped up in a fun package that is one of Woody Allen's best latter-day films.

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If Bullets Over Broadway has an evil twin brother, this is it. I liked the theme of art imitates life imitates art, and the way it showed how wrapped up in the process writers can become. But the rest of this Woody Allen film is a mess, filled with unlikable charecters doing unpleasant things.

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Taking a noir classic and retrofitting it for the MTV generation attention span is not necessarily a great idea. Rates a C+ as a writer's movie only for it's portrayal of the "publish or perish" mentality of academia.

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Though the two leads are writers, it is the means rather than the end - although Barbara Novak's loopy speech toward the end about why she wrote her book offers a rather funny motivation. A C- as a movie because a little of its 60's retro stylings go an awfully long way.

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The A+ as a writing movie carries it to an A+ as a movie in general. Important for showing how much passion is required for your craft; "PUNCH the keys for God's sake!"

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Scores big on the write-o-meter for two reasons - first, it shows how writers draw their inspiration from their lives and the things around them to create their fictitious worlds. It also does an excellent job of showing what curious creatures writers are, and how their imagination is not necessarily confined to those times when they are actually writing.

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An outstanding comedy that could not be made in today's politically correct climate. Rates an A as a writer's movie for showing just how self-involved and paranoid we all become.

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A useful film if you're going to have psychotic, obsessed fans, I suppose. Some interesting bits about writing under pressure, although I suppose that some writers feel that their deadlines are just as oppressive as the reasons for the ones in this film. Also has the bonus of having one of the most brutal fight scenes I've ever seen in a movie.

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A rare, insightful film that shows how precious time is to creativity. Also a reminder that life is what happens when you're busy pursuing other plans. Should be required viewing for writers as a reminder to participate in life. It's important to the process.

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How do you keep an audience interested in the life of a basically unlikable person? Good question. Apparently it involves not showing a lot about how she worked as a writer.

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A really great idea, poorly executed. Predictable and moves at a glacial pace. The glimmerings of how writers get their ideas are few and far between. Saved from a flunking grade by a series of brilliant cameos and a conversation at a party that has nothing to do with the test of the film.

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A couple of behind-the-scenes bits about life writing for a hit TV show, but not a lot outside of that. But this movie has a big heart and is a great comedy. Watch it anyway.

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I gave this film some credit for capturing the hallucinatory nature of writing, although in this film it came more from snorting insect powder than the literary muse. There was one other moment I thought rang true, but I'm hard pressed to remember what it was and I don't plan to watch this one again. I'm glad it was on IFC so I didn't have to pay to rent it.

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Curmudgeonly me; I didn't like this when everyone else in America did. If only the whole film lived up to the promise of the wonderful opening sequence. Coulda been a contender...

The sequel, The Jewel of the Nile, is better as a film (B+), but has even less content about writing (D).

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A wonderful movie. It's a literate and affectionate tribute that the Bard himself would have appreciated. What makes it even better is how much a part of the plot the creative process is; it's the driving force behind everything that happens. Great stuff.

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Not even Francis McDormand could save this one for me. I didn't flunk it as a film because of its insights into how fragile a lot writers are.

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© 2007 by Joe Clifford Faust