5 Movies About Writers that Inspire Me to Write

As Good As It Gets

If you haven’t seen As Good As It Gets yet you are depriving yourself of one of the greatest comedies in recent cinematic history. Not only is the script flawless and is an example of fantastic screenwriting with absolutely no filler, but it’s also side splittingly funny. The film revolves around Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson), an obsessive-compulsive, homophobic, and anti-Seminitic romance novelist living in New York City, and his infatuation with the only waitress in the city that can stand his demeanor. These are some of the best performances by Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Greg Kinear. The film won two Academy Awards and almost serves as a cautionary tale to what can happen to a writer that doesn’t go out into the world every once and a while.

Mother

Mother is one of those underrated comedies that has for too long gone unnoticed. The reason I enjoy it so much is because Albert Brooks plays as a science fiction writer named John Henderson who is trying to come to terms with his somewhat strained relationship with his mother, played by Debbie Reynolds, as it is his only explanation as to the cause of his failed relationships with women. Ironically, this movie was directed and starred by the son of James L. Brooks, who directed the above-aforementioned film ‘As Good As It Gets’.

Stranger than Fiction

Stranger than Fiction is without a doubt Will Ferrell’s greatest acting role to date. It stars Ferrell as Harold Crick, an auditor for the IRS, who one day begins to hear the narration of his life as it’s happening in real time. It’s soon discovered that Harold is in fact the lead character of author Karen Eiffel’s (Emma Thompson) newest novel and events play out from there. A fantastic film, a great cast (which includes Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifa, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Tony Hale in addition to Thompson and Ferrell), and it’s one of those experiences that you can’t help but appreciate for its inventiveness.

Adaptation

No movie in recent history has better captivated the process of screenwriting better than Adaptation. Many question whether it’s a movie at all? The film is very self-reflexive in that it portrays Charlie Kaufman (played by Nicholas Cage) and his struggles to adapt an otherwise unadaptable film, The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean into a film. The 2002 film went to earn four Academy Award nominations including best actor, best actress, best original screenplay and an Academy Award for best supporting actor for Chris Cooper.

Finding Forrester

For me this one easily tops the list. Many will know director Gus Van Sant for his recent award-winning film Milk but back in 2000, nearly a decade ago, Gus pumped this memorable classic that in my opinion hasn’t received the recognition that it deserves. The film stars Sean Connery as reclusive author William Forrester, a J.D. Salinger-like character that goes into hiding after his first novel, Avalon Landing, becomes an instant classic several decades ago. However, the plot centers around Jamal Wallace, an Africian American teenager living in the Bronx who one day gets accepted to a prestigious private school based on his test scores and athletic prowess. Unknown to everyone else is Jamal one day wants to become a writer and spends most of his days writing his notebooks. Forrester one day discovers his writiing ability and the two strike up an unlikely friendship. It is a fantastic film, because not only do the two leads have great chemistry in the film, but the movie also stars F. Murray Abraham and Anna Paquin. Do yourself a favour and rent this film.