The Rewrite

I will move on from serious stuff to something a bit different.

The screenshot of the trailer for The Rewrite is a bit weird. The film is just the sort of enjoyable film-watching experience for when you want to relax and enjoy something that won’t make you think too much. OTOH, you will say, “Hmm, this is pretty good.”

There was a period spanning from the near-mid 1990s to the early 2000s when a particular kind of Hugh Grant movie ruled the romantic comedy world. I don’t mean every single Hugh Grant movie, but quite a few Hugh Grant movies, mind you. I call them the “Redeemable S**ts” films. That is, they feature Mr. Grant at his slickest and most glibly charming, except he’s a terrible-to-awful cad (but not to a Ted Bundy extent, of course, and thankfully) except also that he can be saved, and it’s only through forced exposure to and interaction with Better People that he can be saved.

I think that is a good summary. The man baby status of Hugh Grant is this period was mixed (less so in that up a hill/down a mountain film, for instance). The director worked with Hugh Grant in various films, including Two Weeks Notice (Sandra Bullock). That movie had a weaker third act (imho) than this one.

Some people also might not be a fan of the jerk-y nature of some of these characters. Still, I don’t they generally were of the level of too many 1980s teenage films where we were supposed to root for male assholes, including Tom Hanks (!) in Volunteers.

I don’t want to handwave this point. Sometimes, a film has some component that makes me not want to watch it, even though it has various good things going for it.

For instance, mobster movies glorify violence. Yes, we are supposed to think they are deep contemplations of our dark side or something. Sure, Jan. The mobsters repeatedly are the people whose side we are are. Also, police and/or detective stories can be troubling, including handwaving violence and rule breaking.

This film has some of that. A viewer can be completely turned off by Hugh Grant’s characters early actions. We are supposed to forgive them. A viewer can argue that he should have — full stop — lost his job. At best, he should have had to start fresh in a new semester. It would not even have necessarily altered the overall tenor of the film.

Okay …

The Rewrite involves a one-hit wonder screenwriter, who (out of desperation) decides to take a position as a writer-in-residence at a New England college. The plot has some components of the film Liberal Arts (also with Allison Janney as a professor), a film I have not seen. It’s technically a comedy-romance but noticably serious too.

He’s a teacher at a college, so there are college age actors in the cast, obviously, but the film also significantly leans toward the middle age cast. Marisa Tomei (who was 50 IRL) plays a mom and potential love interest. The wondrous J.K. Simmons is the department head. Chris Elliott (generally not playing a boob) is a fellow teacher.

Hugh Grant overall looks and acts more maturely here than some of his other roles in this period. He doesn’t start off well. The theme cited above is shown when he is drunk at a department meet-up as well as his sleeping with a student.

As noted, some might be (reasonably enough) turned off by these antics. Hugh Grant’s character is much more likeable once he is called out by Janney and starts acting like a mature adult. He knows it too. It adds some complexity to the character.

JK Simmons, while noting he likes Grant’s character, in both cases provides some gentle but blunt real talk about both incidents. Janney is good too in a part involving a somewhat unpleasant person who deep down you know is right most of the time.

Grant explaining to his class how his prize winning screenplay was inspired by bedtime stories he told to his son was another good moment. Turns out he has some teacher chops. The film has multiple such moments that add up to a pretty good film.

Nothing special but better than you might expect. I like such films. Nice surprises and pleasant to watch. As usual, the supporting case was central to the enjoyment. Multiple students in his class also provide nice touches. Plus good pacing and so on.

The film can lead — like an article or blog post can result in following links and finding other reading material — to others. There are, of course, many Hugh Grant films, including About A Boy. Ditto Tomei,* Janney, and Simmons.

I cited Liberal Acts, which sounds good, partially since Elizabeth Olsen (yes, the sister of the twins; she was good in multiple films) co-stars. Elizabeth Reaser is also in that film. Reaser was in the wonderful Sweet Land. Puccini for Beginners was also enjoyable.

Bella Heathcote (who plays the student Hugh Grant sleeps with — Ross can you that colleges generally frown upon that) has been in various films. I am not familiar with the actress. One film is Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, which is a based on real life story that is the basis of a book (I didn’t like it, but you might) by Jill Lepore.

The director also has other light fare, including the pretty good Music and Lyrics (Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore + other familar faces) and Miss Congeniality (Sandra Bullock + other familiar faces). His latest according to Wikipedia is a quirky sounding film involving finding a new replacement for Santa Claus (Noelle), not to be confused with another quirky sound film with the same name (almost — Noëlle).

I watched this film three times. The first time was video on demand. I then watched it four years later, probably since it was light and comfortable. I checked it out again to watch it with someone else. This was more than four years later.

I was impressed with the film again. Maybe, that is the idea — see a film every five years of so. Oh. The director also wrote Life With Mikey, a 1993 film with Michael J. Fox as a former children’s star who runs a children’s talent agency. Worth a watch.

The child star “find” in the film popped up in this year’s Freaky Friday sequel. It’s good that some people keep on finding work. The expansion of platforms helps.

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Note: Marisa Tomei is also in Crazy, Stupid, Love, one of her more mature roles after My Cousin Vinny. I thought the film (which has some charm and a good Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling match-up) ultimately disrespected her character, making her look like a buffoon. The film gives Tomei a more generous role here.