Greetings,
We are nearing the end of National Poetry Month, and I've been sharing a lot of what I write with others in order to celebrate it. But I wondered what else I could do as we honor those who embrace the written word, so I thought I would tell you all about some things that have always been a big inspiration to me - movies about writers. There are a lot of good ones out there, and maybe you haven't heard of some of them. So, I'll be sharing a few with you all today. And I'm not just talking about films that have writers in them. I mean ones that are really about writers. You know the difference. Now I could have done a Top Ten list or something, but I don't think I could even rate all these movies that way. Therefore, I'm just going to randomly talk about some of them in a bit of a rapid fire way. I'll save the details for if I review them. Or if I've reviewed them already. However, if I was going to do a list, let's start with what I would put at Number One.
That's right. It's The Whole Wide World. I think this was the first review I ever did on this blog, which is good because it's one of my favorite movies of all time. It's D'Onofrio and Zelwegger at their best. And while on the subject of films about real life writers, I suggest Infamous, the Capote biopic that I personally think was better than Capote. Sorry. Though the latter may be a good one to watch as well. Sylvia was pretty good, albeit a bit depressing, and Saving Mr. Banks is a winner, if you don't mind disliking the protagonist. Yes, I consider P.L. Travers to be the protagonist. For something more fantastical, may I suggest an oldie but a goodie, Hans Christian Andersen. It's got music! And dancing! And Danny Kaye!
For some more modern takes on, not only writers and their process, but how it affects and can be affected by their relationships, may I suggest the Edward Burns penned, Purple Violets, a great family film starring Morgan Freeman called The Magic of Belle Isle or Starting Out in the Evening, which, I think, contains Frank Langella's best performance. Each of them shows how those who come in and out of our lives can have an incredible impact on our work as writers.
If you want a scare along with your inspiration, I suppose the best place to look is the movies that have spawned from Stephen King books. This is where Misery and The Dark Half come into the picture. I've said it before; I'll say it again. I can't believe he wrote a book giving people writing advice when his fiction seems to want to keep people far away from the profession.
Some critically acclaimed writer films that I like include Wonder Boys, which was shot near where I live, and I still like it despite a few of its flaws (Cough, cough...Robert Downey, Jr...cough, cough), The Squid and The Whale, which I like despite a few problems I have with it...like the younger son character. Just no. I also like Stranger Than Fiction, as it has a unique concept to which many writers can relate - the concept that our characters aren't just characters.
Unfortunately, not all the writer movies I like have been received so well by critics and audiences. Paper Man, Authors Anonymous, Stuck in Love, to name a few. Not everyone was crazy about these, but I like them. And that's all that matters. Because I am awesome.
I could go on and on when it comes to this subject, but that's all I'm going to tell you about today. Whilst I believe these movies can inspire writers, I don't want reading my blog to distract said writers from writing. But as I said, I did full-on reviews of quite a number of these before, as well as of ones I didn't mention here. Hopefully, you'll find some films you can enjoy, and if you are a writer, I hope these stories will inspire you.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
