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BBC
Marubeni
Mutual Film Company
Not part of a collection.
Undependable. Unpredictable. Unforgettable.
Grady is a 50-ish English professor who hasn't had a thing published in years—not since he wrote his award winning 'Great American Novel' 7 years ago. This weekend proves even worse than he could imagine as he finds himself reeling from one misadventure to another in the company of a new wonder boy author.
CinemaSerf
Mar 14, 2024 · via TMDB
"Prof. Tripp" (Michael Douglas) hasn't his troubles to seek. He hasn't been able to follow up on his first novel for almost seven years - much to the chagrin of his agent "Terry" (Robert Downey Jr); his third wife has left him and he is about to father a child with his (married) boss (Frances McDormand) at the university where he works. His writer's block isn't really much helped by the omnipresence of his star pupil "James" (Tobey Maguire) nor by his increasingly debilitating pot habit. It's the man's mid life crisis from hell, but can he navigate a way out of this and keep some semblance of his self respective and, maybe even his career! Meantime, his protégé is having a few issues of his own - not least because he accidentally shot the principal's dog and he is the object of the amorous attentions of the ambisextrous "Terry" too! There's quite a decent dynamic between Douglas and Maguire as both men have to come to terms with their own problems and with their growing reliance on and frustration of each other and there is plenty of witty dialogue that is more complexly structured and subtly potent at times. The narrative is quite tightly packed into just one weekend, and that helps keeps the momentum going as the characters develop in quite a plausible - and not always likeable - fashion. Luckily, the one-dimensional Katie Holmes appears only sparingly as the plot thickens to a nicely bubbling stew at the end. It's a decent reminder that Douglas could act, given a strong story and script, and he shows us that well here with this superior ensemble drama.
Peter McGinn
Feb 8, 2021 · via TMDB
I have to believe I saw this movie a year or two after it came out, but I had no feelings of deja vu as I watched it, so perhaps not. I usually have very little patience for movies about writers because I am one, and I get tired of them bringing up writers’ block, which I don’t believe exists, or else they have the character become wildly successful in record time. There are a lot of struggling actresses and musicians and waitresses in movies, but writers often get fast-track succes. Anyway, I wander off topic. I enjoyed the movie with its range of quirky characters, and minor plot twists. There are only a couple of two-dimensional characters; the rest are given depth, even a few who don’t have a lot of screen time. It shows what can be achieved with a good ensemble cast and a decent script.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
Michael Douglas
Grady Tripp
Tobey Maguire
James Leer
Frances McDormand
Sara Gaskell
Robert Downey Jr.
Terry Crabtree
Katie Holmes
Hannah Green
Rip Torn
Q
Jane Adams
Oola
Michael Cavadias
Miss Sloviak
Richard Thomas
Walter Gaskell
Alan Tudyk
Sam Traxler
Philip Bosco
Emily's Father
George Grizzard
Fred Leer
Kelly Bishop
Amanda Leer
Yusuf Gatewood
Howard
Richard Hidlebird
Hi-Hat Bouncer
Bingo O'Malley
Wordfest Party Guest
Victor Quinaz
Wordfest Party Guest
James Ellroy
Wordfest Party Guest
Lenora Nemetz
Wordfest Party Guest
James Kisicki
Wordfest Party Guest
Rob Mac
Student
John W. Iwanonkiw
Father at Hospital (uncredited)
Sean King
Student (uncredited)
Jeannine Oppewall
Production Design
Jay Hart
Set Decoration
Dante Spinotti
Director of Photography
Jeff Imada
Stunt Coordinator
Curtis Hanson
Director
Dede Allen
Editor
Ned Dowd
Executive Producer
Curtis Hanson
Producer
Scott Rudin
Producer
Carol Fenelon
Music Supervisor
Christopher Young
Original Music Composer
Bob Dylan
Songs
Michael Chabon
Novel
Steve Kloves
Screenplay
Pavlínka
The Shawshank Redemption
Super Grass
Once Upon a Time in America
Apocalypse Now
Green Days by the River
Amarcord
Amores Perros
Billy Elliot
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Walk the Line
Soul on Fire
A History of Violence
Bed and Board
The White Sound
Horror in Happy Swamp
Poslední ples na rožnovské plovárně
Broken Flowers
Paradise Now
Walk on Water
Oliver Twist
Julia
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Absolute Power
Alpha Dog
Radioactive
Kill the Day
Dog Food
Dossier 51
Chasing Ghosts
Fun with Dick and Jane
Youth Without Youth
Porn Theatre
Mambo Italiano
The Million Dollar Hotel
Wonderkid
Muscle
Wedding Daze
Little Girl Fly Away
Underdog
Blue Sky Jo
Release
Playing Around
The Passion of Ayn Rand
Free Floating
Strange Planet
Diferente
Pink Ulysses
Her Private Affair
Bringing Him Back
National Theatre at Home: The Hot Wing King
Ridiculous and Ill-Advised
The Whale's Tooth
Finger Guns
Bobby Beauty Parlour
Space Dogs: The Musical
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The Invisible Life of Addie Larue
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Stuart: A Life Backwards
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This Boy's Life
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Nightmare Alley
Filth
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
At Close Range
A Serious Man
Brave the Dark
To Die For
My Friend Dahmer
The United States of Leland
The Village
Affliction
Just Cause
Submission
Your Friends & Neighbors
Deep Water
Feb 22, 2000
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Leo Kottke: Home + Away
1989
Match in a Haystack
2025
Sign in to vote
Battle your watched movies head-to-head
Community Top Movies
Evil Dead II
1987 · 14 wins
The Dark Knight
2008 · 14 wins
Halloween
1978 · 13 wins
Final Destination
2000 · 12 wins
Halloween II
1981 · 11 wins
Trivia
Leaderboard →Playing as a guest — sign in to save your score and rank on the leaderboard.
Movie Trivia
Guess the movie from a clue — tagline, plot, cast and more. Pick from four posters.
What movie experience do you prefer?
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