Greetings,
A question often raised when it comes to writers is "What makes a successful writer?" Is it how well your books sell, how well those books are written or that you write at all? People have chosen one or more of these as the answer, but most of us, knowing that commercial success is not given to all, would say that, if you write, then you are a writer. And, perhaps, I am reading too much into this, but I think that these questions are a major theme in the film Purple Violets.
Purple Violets is a 2007 "relationship comedy" as Wikipedia describes it, and they're never wrong, that was directed, produced and written by Edward Burns. He also acts in it. And this is why he gets the really good stuff at the craft service table. In all seriousness, I've come to really enjoy Edward Burns over the past few years, as well as admiring him as a writer. This just cemented that.
Anyway, the movie is about a few people, but mostly, Brian and Patty. Brian Callahan, played by Patrick Wilson, is a very successful writer by way of a series of books about a cop named Frank Knight. And yes, all the books have titles that play on that name, like Last Knight, Tonight's the Knightt and, I don't know, The Knight the Lights Went Out in Georgia. Okay, I might have made up that last one, but it would not be implausible. Anyway, Brian, though commercially successful, longs to be taken seriously as a writer through his new book, The Good Doctor. It's not working out to well for him, since the hardcore fans refuse to accept his as anything other than the writer of the Frank Knight series. Almost to a disturbing degree. No lie, I'm surprised they didn't get Kathy Bates to pop in with a cameo to say that she's his "Number One Fan". Anyway, Brian is not exactly in the best place, personally. Perhaps, seeing an ex-girlfriend will help.
Enter Patty Petalson, played by Selma Blair. Patty is also a writer, but when we meet her, she is working as a real estate agent. Not just as a day job to support her writing, but as a day job to, I think, distract her from her writing, as she hasn't done much of it lately, though she was greatly praised in the past. Soon, after reuniting with Brian, she becomes inspired and begins to write again. She also starts to rethink her life and some of the decisions she has made, setting her on a new path to the future, which only seemed to be reached by glancing back at the past. It happens. Trust me, I know.
Meanwhile, we have a subplot pertaining to the best friends of our two main characters, Kate Scott, played by Debra Messing, and Michael "Murph" Murphy, played by the aforementioned Edward Burns. These two also used to date at one time, but Kate hasn't been able to forgive Murph for betraying her pretty badly. According to her. According to him, nothing happened and he cannot figure out why she's so upset. And, may I say, this aspect of the film shows how good of a writer Burns is by making this the subplot rather than the main plot. Not that it isn't good; it's just better suited to something other than the main focus.
So, besides all of those actors and characters, we have a few more to fill out the film and keep things even more interesting. First, we have the late, great Dennis Farina as Glen Gilmore, Patty's overbearing employer. As usual, he does not disappoint. Then, we have Elizabeth Reaser, playing Bernadette, Brian's girlfriend-ish. I say "ish" because she's one of those people who seems to think that six months in a relationship is the equivalent of six years. It's usually not, by the way. She's kind of annoying, but I think that's the point, so good job, Elizabeth! And, finally, we have Donal Logue, playing Chazz, Patty's husband. Though it's kind of "husband" in name only, since these two aren't the most loving or compatible of couples. Oh, and I love Donal Logue. Have I mentioned that? Actually, there's something interesting about his character - he has an accent. Why? I seriously have no idea why. I think that one day he just went up to Edward Burns and said, "Hey, can my character have an accent?" And Edward said, "Sure, why not?" Unless I missed something in the narrative, this is exactly how I imagine it happened.
Anyway, I like this movie. I think, mostly, it's very character oriented. We get to know them, how they feel and how they're trying to work out where their lives are going. And if where their lives are going is where they want to go. Yeah, that totally made sense. So, I'm going to recommend Purple Violets, but I will especially recommend it if you like the people in it. They are a huge part of why it works so well. Also, it has good writing. And it's about writing. Enough said.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
