Greetings,
There aren't a ton of people who I let get away with doing pretty much the same kind of movie over and over again. Hugh Grant is someone to whom I give permission. I can't help it. More often than not, I have been getting charmed by this man for about twenty years now. And he still succeeds to do so. For better or worse, where the actual movies are concerned. So, when I heard about this film, I knew I would have to check it out. Let's talk about The Rewrite.
The Rewrite stars Mr. Grant as Keith Michaels, a once successful screenwriter who has fallen into a dry period in his career, not to mention a divorce and losing most of his money. So, when the opportunity arises for him to become an artist-in-residence, teaching a screenwriting class at a college in Upstate New York, he reluctantly accepts.
Immediately, Keith makes impressions in very different ways on several people. First, he gets...um..."acquainted" with one of the students from the school named Karen, played by Bella Heathcote. Relax, she's of age, so it's not illegal. Creepy and gross, maybe, if it wasn't Hugh Grant. But isn't that's how it's always been with him? Moving on. He also befriends a fellow teacher, Jim, played by always a pleasure Chris Elliot, as well as Department Chairman, Dr. Harold Lerner, played by the great and powerful J.K. Simmons. He has a wife and four daughters. He has no opinions. Direct quote of his from the film that is. Hilarious and most likely true. And let's just get this over with. He is the best thing in the film. But when is he not? Of course, not everyone is so fond of Keith. He is far from having a fan in the resident Jane Austen expert, Mary Weldon, played by Alison Janney, who is just fantastic in this. Yeah, more of her, please.
And then, we have Keith's students, who are an interesting bunch. We already know about Karen, of course. Add to that Sara, something of a pretentious film snob, Andrea, lover of Dirty Dancing and anything like it, Billy, who pretty much wants to rewrite Star Wars, and we all know how well that tends to work out, and Clem, who turns out to be a bit of a diamond in the rough, just to name a few. But the one that ends up being the most prominent is Holly Carpenter, played by Marisa Tomei. Yeah, that's right. This movie has TWO Oscar winners in it. Make of that what you will. Anyway, Holly is a middle-aged single mom who has returned to college and, when she needs a Lit requirement, she decides to try for a spot in Keith's screenwriting class. She's kind of feisty and doesn't let him get away with much, but she also gets him to open up a lot about things that he prefers not to do so. I wonder what's gonna happen between these two. Hmmm...
Okay, fine. There's nothing particularly unprecedented about this plot, but that's okay, I think. A film like this doesn't have to do that, necessarily. It can just be, for lack of a word I haven't overused already, charming, and The Rewrite certainly fits that description. It's a feel good story, it's nice and easy and sometimes that's all we want out of a film. Also, there's something I like about a coming-of-age story centered around people who aren't so young anymore. I like the idea of telling stories about second chances and new beginnings for people who think the only place they're heading is to the end of their life. Stories like that, I think, can give a lot of hope to those who are running out of it.
So, if you like a pretty good rom-com that has a lot of heart to it, or if you like Hugh Grant-y type films, I say check it out. I think it will definitely put a smile on your face, and, holy smokes, do we need more movies to do that these days. Just good, standalone, non-franchise movies that make us happy. Thank you.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
