Four Summer Movies About Fictional Writers
As a writer, it’s always interesting to see how Hollywood portrays our kind. I still haven’t seen a movie that shows a writer in her pajamas at three in the afternoon with a sink full of dirty dishes, but there’s hope.
Where do all of these fictional writers get such excellent outfits?
Unforgivable (now playing – limited release) This film, originally released in Belgium last summer, tells the story of a crime writer who moves to an island in Venice. In a cinematic meet-cute, the writer falls in love with his real estate agent and agrees to purchase this writing oasis on one condition: that she also moves in.
The romance takes a dark turn when the author hires someone to follow his new wife, but doesn’t he look great in that flannel?
Lila, Lila (now playing – limited release) Released in Germany in 2009, this romantic comedy focuses on an unassuming waiter named David who falls for Marie — who claims to fall for writers. David is defeated, until he purchases a secondhand end-table at a flea market and finds a manuscript hidden in its drawer. Passing off the novel as his own, David woos Marie and the two fall in love. But complications arise when Marie secretly submits the manuscript to a publisher and David unknowingly becomes a best-selling author.
Could someone please tell me where these people are who fall for writers? And grab me one of those excellent suit jackets while you’re at it.
Blind Revenge (now playing – limited release) After being released in the UK as A Closed Book (2010), Blind Revenge is finally getting some US screen time. The late Chilean filmmaker Raoul Ruiz’s recounts the story of recently blind critic Sir Paul as he dictates his memoirs to an American stenographer. The American moves into the protagonist’s home, eerily altering his shut-in existence (both in the memoir and in life), bringing danger to the safety of the written word.
But boy do both of them have fantastic cardigans!
Ruby Sparks (July 25 – limited release) Zoe Kazan fills the role of both screenwriter and actress in this quirky romantic comedy. Brought to audiences by the directors of Little Miss Sunshine, this movie imagines a world in which a struggling writer’s protagonist comes to life.
I don’t know how I would feel if one of my characters came to life and started going on adventures with me, but can I please have this novelist’s glasses?
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