The Rewrite (2015)

That was an excellent one.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Blistering performances.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The Rewrite was surprisingly good. Hugh Grant stars as the stereotypical writer who had a big hit but now has had a long dry run and stands on the outside looking in on the successful side of Hollywood.Grant (as Keith Michaels) is desperate for money, so he accepts a job in upstate New York's sleepy town of Binghampton, working as a teacher for a Screenplay Writing class. He's never taught before, how he picks his class is classically funny, how he teaches is a laugher, and how he interacts with the class is truly funny.Grant meets Marisa Tomei who gets him to look more seriously at his actions. She's an older non-traditional student in his class who is seemingly everywhere on campus. Grant has a silly relationship with a young student which I still cannot fathom why that had to be there, except to show how stupid Grant was.However, Grant's self-deprecating humor, and his willingness to fire torpedoes at all his colleagues, was really funny. Allison Janney plays the head of the department and she too was terrific. She's an impressive actress who plays this stick-in-the-mud department head who likes things the way they are and is in no mood for Grant's silly behavior.Grant is though a pretty good guy who is really a pretty good mentor because no one can teach a course better than someone who has reached his level. Will he eventually realize this? What will happen with him and Tomei, or with this young student. will the truth prevail?For a pretty simple film, there's enough intrigue to keep you involved and wondering how it will turn out, like McFarland, or Hoosiers - will the good guy do the right thing or sell out?I recommend The Rewrite - good solid story, good acting. Enjoy.

Hugh Grant plays Keith Michaels, a raffish LA screenwriter who won an Oscar for his screenplay some years ago but his career has struggled since. Whatever he writes is not what the Hollywood producers are looking for, they want to see movies with a kick ass action girl.Estranged from his family, with rejected screenplays and short of cash his agent gets him a job teaching screen writing at a small university just off New York.As soon as he arrives he has a sexual relationship with one of his class student Karen (Bella Heathcote.) At a party he offends stuck up Professor Mary Weldon (Allison Janney) by insulting Jane Austen. He also has no interest in teaching his class or reading their fledgling scripts.However he soon finds inspired to teach by the work his class has produced and especially by one of his nerdy male student who produces a promising screenplay. He also falls for a mature student Holly (Marisa Tomei.) Keith who is arrogant even aloof at first decides it is important that he sticks with his class although Professor Weldon wants to see the back of him.There is nothing much original about the film, it has an easy charm, an amiable time waster and a good cast rounded off by JK Simmons as the department head.

Written and directed by Marc Lawrence, "The Rewrite" stars Hugh Grant as a washed-up screenwriter who embarks upon a teaching career at a state university. Here he finds love, happiness and learns various life lessons.It's hard to write a tale about screenwriters without seeming smug and/or pretentious. And if you do, your story still oft comes across as a giant writer's fantasy anyway. Lawrence solves none of these problems in "The Rewrite"; this is ultimately a phony film which, though it at times works well as a paean to teachers, bristles with tired "insights" into the world of Hollywood and Hollywood writing. For this material done better see "In a Lonely Place", "State and Main" and to a lesser extent 2014's "Liberal Arts". Marisa Tomei co-stars.6.9/10 – Worth one viewing.

Grant's a lesson in urbanity and wit in most of his movies but never as convincingly as here in this low budget but perfectly cast and beautifully written light comedy set in Binghamton, New York. The movie is about a Hollywood screenwriter who hasn't had a hit in years whose agent gets him a paying 'gig' as a college instructor teaching screen writing.Marisa Tomei gets into his class, J.K. Simmons is Head of his department, and Chris Elliott also teaches at the college and lives next door. Allison Janney plays a pivotal part as the fearsome Professor Weldon, the Head of the Ethics Committee, in front of which Grant is taken for having an innocent affair with one of his students.All in all I thought the comedic timing and direction near perfect and more than a little enjoyable. Clearly the stars here read the script and thought it delightful. With one caveat, that I've taught and live in a college town, I highly recommend. Hugh Grant fans will be especially enthralled but this should be a good choice for any guy too.