THE REWRITE
DIRECTOR: Marc Lawrence
CAST: Hugh Grant, Marisa Tomei, JK Simmons, Allison Janney,
CLASSIFICATION: 13 DL
RUNNING TIME: 106 minutes
RATING: **
HUGH GRANT plays himself, or rather the character that he always plays, in the last however many movies he has made while in Hollywood. He is all raised eyebrows, too much alcohol and bad puns. He stammers and shows the occasional dash of wit and basically bumbles his way through the film.
This time around his guise is that of a one-hit wonder scriptwriter who has bottomed out. Keith Michaels may have won an Oscar for his first script, but it has been a downhill slide ever since and now he finds himself in the ignominious position of having to take a teaching position at a small college just to make ends meet.
So, he slinks along, thinking he can coast through the course. He chooses students based on what they look like rather than their writing ability and promptly starts sleeping with one of them.
But, a chance meeting with Tomei’s eternally optimistic character, older student Holly Carpenter ensues, and he suddenly has to deal with an adult which just might change his outlook.
The film follows the classic three-act structure that Michaels discusses in his class and also incorporates the classic (stereotypical by any other name) characters he mentions.
Luckily the unexceptional plot is leavened by the characters – Simmonds is the straight-as-an-arrow college professor who has to try to keep Michaels in line, while Janney is great as the purse-lipped Jane Austen specialist who exposes him for the misogynist that he is.
Despite himself, Michaels gets sucked into the idea of being a teacher and ends up realising that while he may have passed his glory days, this doesn’t mean he can’t still have a life and be useful.
It’s a gentle comedy, with a plot that is very much on the slight side, but it is a reminder that back in the day, Grant used to be charming and able to get himself out of any pickle thanks to that enduring charm and wit.
Despite the film using every cliché in the scripwriting book, it never gets to a point and you’re left wondering, whatever happened to Hugh Grant?
If you liked Music and Lyrics and American Dreamz, you will like this.