Top Fifty Movies for Writers

by Marley Gibson

During the long, cold, dark, bitter, harsh (you get the picture) New England winter months, what better way to spend your time than curled up on the couch with a mug of something warm, some buttery Orville straight from the micro and a good movie. Better yet, why not take in a movie that inspires you as a writer. There are tons of movies out there with characters that write for a living and we can all take notice of their struggles, successes, ups, downs and triumphs.

After much Googling and a day-long run at the International Movie Database, I’ve come up with a list of the top fifty movies (in alphabetical order) for writers. Okay...so I threw in a couple of stories pertaining to newspaper writers, screenwriters and non-fiction novel writing, but the list just needed a couple of Cary Grant and Clark Gable movies. So sue me.

Most of these movies can be found running on the movie channels, or at your local Blockbuster, or online at www.Netflix.com. A few are still in the theatres, or just ran, so be sure to put them on your list for future viewing.

A River Runs Through It - (1992) Based on the novel by Norman Maclean, this is a true story about two brothers Norman (Craig Sheffer) and Paul (Brad Pitt) growing up in Montana. One is a rebellious reporter who fights his Presbyterian minister father (Tom Skerrit) every step of the way, while the other goes off to school to become a levelheaded English professor. They do share a love of fly-fishing, though. Directed by Robert Redford and Oscar® winner for Cinematography.

The Accidental Tourist - (1988) Macon Leary (William Hurt) is the author of a travel book for people wanting to travel with minimum fuss and as little impact on their lives as possible. Arriving back from a working trip, his wife (Kathleen Turner) announces she can’t take with how he’s dealing with the death of their son with minimum impact. Macon later meets the peculiar Muriel (Geena Davis in her Academy Award® winning role), his complete opposite.

Adaptation - (2002) Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) is a Los Angeles screenwriter battling enormous feelings of insecurity and helplessness as he struggles to adapt a book by Susan Orlean (Meryl Streep) whose main character, John Laroche (Chris Cooper in his Oscar® winning role), searches for love.

Alex and Emma - (2003) Alex (Luke Wilson) is an author whose writer’s block and gambling debts have landed him in trouble. To get loan sharks off his back, he must finish his novel in thirty days or wind up dead. To help him complete the manuscript he hires stenographer Emma (Kate Hudson). When Alex begins to dictate his tale of a romantic love triangle, Emma challenges his ideas at every turn. Her unsolicited yet intriguing input begins to inadvertently influence Alex and his story and soon real life imitates art.

Almost Famous - (2000) Based on director Cameron Crowe’s own experiences. Stillwater (a rock group based on Led Zeppelin) is on the verge of success, and 15-year-old William Miller (Patrick Fugit) is on the cusp of the rest of his life. The youngster coaxes Rolling Stone magazine’s editor (via telephone) into an assignment to cover the band on a cross-country tour. Oscar® winner for Best Original Screenplay.

American Dreamer - (1984) Frustrated housewife/writer Cathy Palmer (JoBeth Williams) ghostwrites a story about Rebecca Ryan, a dashing international spy, and wins a trip to Paris. While there, she’s involved in an accident and awakens in the hospital believing she is Rebecca Ryan. Craziness folows as she meets the writer of the Rebecca Ryan books, spoils real international spies, and eventually gets her memory back.

As Good As it Gets - (1997) Grouchy romance author Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) lives in an obsessive-compulsive fog, sidestepping sidewalk cracks and rigidly following his routine of daily breakfasts in the restaurant where the only waitress he’ll abide is stressed-out single mother Carol Connelly (Helen Hunt). But Melvin’s structured world crumbles when his gay neighbor (Greg Kinnear) needs a dog sitter, and only Melvin can help. Oscars for Nicholson and Hunt in one of the best movies to watch for the Hero’s Journey that applies even to the dog!

Barton Fink - (1991) In 1941, New York intellectual playwright, Barton Fink (John Tuturro), comes to Hollywood to write a wrestling picture. Staying in the eerie Hotel Earle, he develops severe writer’s block. His neighbor, fun-loving insurance salesman Charlie Meadows (John Goodman), tries to help, but Barton struggles as a bizarre sequence of events distracts him even further from his task.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s - (1961) Based on the novel of Truman Capote, this is the story of a young, glamour fortune-hunter, Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) and her lifestyle, that includes her new neighbor, Paul (George Peppard) who is an aspiring novelist and accomplished gigolo. Recipient of the Oscar® for Best Song and Score.

DeathTrap - (1982) A Broadway playwright, Sidney Bruhl (Michael Caine) who has been without a hit in a while, puts murder in his plan to take credit for his student’s, Clifford Anderson (Christopher Reeve) script. But as with any play, there’s a twist. (Lesson from the movie: “beware of your critique partner.”)

Deconstructing Harry - (1997) Harry Block (Woody Allen) is a respected novelist whose penchant to thinly-veil his own experiences in his work, as well as his un-apologetic attitude, has left him with three ex-wives that hate him. As he is about to be honored for his writing by the college that expelled him, he faces writer’s block and the imminent marriage of his latest flame to a writer friend. As scenes from his stories and novels pass and interact with him, Harry faces the people whose lives he has affected - wives, lovers, his son, and his sister.

Down With Love - (2003) In the swinging ‘60s in New York City all the ladies are angling for the attention of handsome journalist Catcher Block (Ewan McGregor). All of them, that is, except for Barbara Novak (Renee Zellweger), a best-selling female advice author who stands for everything that the womanizing Catcher doesn’t. But love has a way of sneaking up on even the unlikeliest pair in this tribute to Doris Day-Rock Hudson romantic comedies.

Falling Off the Verge - (2003) It would seem that nothing is capable of distracting Scotty Johns (Thomas Ian Nicholas) from working on his much-anticipated second book. His debut novel currently resides on top of the best-seller list, and even the possible diversion of Hollywood knocking on his door cannot keep him from his writing. That is until he gets his very own stalker.

Finding Forrester - (2000) A high school basketball star Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown) has a passion not usually associated with jocks: He’s obsessed with reading and writing. Realizing Wallace’s extraordinary writing talent, William Forrester (Sean Connery), an award-winning novelist turned recluse, decides to mentor the youngster.

Heartburn - (1986) Rachel (Meryl Streep) is a food writer at a New York magazine who meets Washington columnist Mark (Jack Nicholson) at a wedding and ends up falling in love with him despite her reservations about marriage. It’s an autobiographical look at Nora Ephron’s marriage to Carl “All the President's Men” Bernstein.

His Girl Friday - (1940) Walter Burns (Cary Grant), editor of a major Chicago newspaper, is about to lose his ace reporter and former wife, Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell), to insurance salesman Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy), but not without a fight! The cunning editor uses every trick up his sleeve to get Hildy to write one last big story, about death-row murderer Earl Williams.

The Hours - (2002) The story of how the novel “Mrs. Dalloway” affects three generations of women. Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman, in her Oscar® winning performance), is hard at work on her classic while battling depression in the 1920’s; Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) is an unsatisfied 1950’s housewife who finds solace in Woolf’s novel; and Clarissa Vaughn (Meryl Streep), is a modern-day book editor whose former lover is dying of AIDS.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days - (2003) Big-talking ad exec Ben (Matthew McConaughey) makes a wager with his co-worker that he can mend his womanizing ways and date a woman for more than 10 days. He picks the wrong girl though — a women’s magazine writer Andie (Kate Hudson) who’s writing an article on how to dump a guy in 10 days and is set on seeing her story through to completion.

Iris - (2001) The true story of the lifelong romance between novelist Iris Murdoch (Dame Judi Dench) and her husband John Bayley (Oscar® winner Jim Broadbent), from their student days through her battle with Alzheimer’s.

Isn’t She Great - (2000) An inspirational look at the life and struggles of actress turned pulp romance author Jacqueline Susann (Bette Midler) who fought the publishing world to have her sensational novel Valley of the Dolls turned into a national bestseller. Standing by her side at every turn is her faithful press-agent husband, Irving Mansfield (Nathan Lane).

It Happened One Night - (1934) Socialite Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) escapes her fathers yacht and heads to the Big Apple via bus to elope with her fortune-hunting boyfriend. Along the way she meets down-on-his-luck newspaperman Peter Warne (Clark Gable), who’s just been fired and — unbeknownst to Ellie — plans to sell her story to get his job back. But a string of screwball misadventures leads them to realize they’re meant for each other.

Just Write - (1997) A tour bus driver (Jeremy Piven) in Holly pretends to be a screenwriter in order to woo and up-and-coming actress (Sherilyn Fenn.)

Kissing a Fool - (1998) Broken-hearted and hopeless romantic writer, Jay (Jason Lee) sets up his best friend since childhood and local Chicago sportscaster, Max (David Schwimmer) with his book editor, Samantha (Mili Avital.) When the two fall in love and get engaged, Max feels he needs a test to make sure Sam will be faithful. He bullies Jay into participating, but soon he and Sam discover there’s more to their relationship than simply business.

Little Women - (1994) A classic, heart-warming tale of the March sisters, told by Jo (Winona Ryder) who one day aspires to be a great writer, based on the book written by Louisa May Alcott, about her own family.

Long Day’s Journey Into Night - (1962) Based on Eugene O’Neill’s autobiographical tale of his volatile home life, compounded by a drug-addicted mother, an alcoholic father and an emotionally unstable brother, all reflected by the youngest son, an aspiring writer. Starring Katharine Hepburn, Jason Robards and Dean Stockwell.

The Lost Weekend - (1945) In his Oscar-winning role, Ray Milland plays Don Birnam, an unsuccessful writer and recovering alcoholic who gets by thanks to his brother's charity. But after ten days of sobriety, his brother leaves town for the weekend, leaving Don on a binge that descends into an alcoholic fog—complete with terrifying hallucinations and an unsettling visit to the sanitarium.

Misery - (1990) Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) rescues romance novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan) from a near-death car wreck. Annie—Sheldon's biggest fan—takes him into her home to nurse him back to health. But she alters from nurturing savior to sadistic jailer when she learns he plans to kill off her favorite heroine, Misery, in his next book. Best Actress Oscar for Kathy Bates.

Moulin Rouge! - (2001) Christian (Ewan McGregor) is a naïve young writer who comes to Paris in search of beauty, freedom, truth and most of all love and finds it with a courtesan, Satine, (Nicole Kidman) at the Moulin Rouge dance hall. Their forbidden love fuels them as they work together and with Toulouse Lautrac (John Leguizamo) to write and produce a Bohemian show unlike any other seen before in 1899 Paris.

My Left Foot - (1989) In a true story, told through flashbacks, Daniel Day-Lewis won an Oscar for portraying Irish writer Christy Brown, who was born with cerebral palsy. Misdiagnosed as mentally disabled for the first ten years of his life, Brown learned to write using his left foot, the only body part he could control.

One True Thing - (1989) An ambitious New York journalist, Ellen, (Renée Zellweger) is called home by her parents when her mother takes ill. She hates going home at first, but once she’s back in her childhood surroundings, her journey of self-discovery begins, changing her forever.

Peyton Place - (1957) Aspiring writer, Allison MacKenzie (Diane Varsi) looks back on life in the New England town where she grew up before WWII. Underneath the town’s serene, God-fearing surface lay a number of dark secrets involving sexual attraction and repression, illegitimacy, rape, gossip, intolerance, and class snobbery.

The Prince of Tides - (1991) When a Southern born New York writer (Melinda Dillon) tries to kill herself, her brother, Tom (Nick Nolte), comes to her aid. He meets with her psychiatrist, Dr. Susan Lowenstein (Barbra Streisand) in an attempt to help the doctor understand her patient. Trying to unlock the answer to her patient’s problems, Dr. Lowenstein relies on Tom to be his sister’s memory, opening up reminiscence of a painful childhood and a domineering mother.

Quills - (2000) Geoffrey Rush plays the Marquis de Sade, a notorious French writer who pens tales about sexual situations, oftentimes using his own blood as ink. The movie chronicles his last days in the asylum. Kate Winslet plays Madeline LeCrec, de Sade’s laundress and handmaiden who smuggles out his last writings.

Riding in Cars With Boys - (2001) An ambitious story about a naive teenager (Drew Barrymore) in 1968 who dreams of going to New York and becoming a writer. But, everything has to put things on hold after an unexpected pregnancy.

Romancing the Stone (1984) - A romance writer (Kathleen Turner) travels to Columbia to search for and rescue her kidnapped sister. She becomes stranded in the jungle and finds help from a soldier of fortune, Jack Colton (Michael Douglas.) The two share many adventures, natural disasters and pratfalls, deal with the bad guys and end up falling in love.

Sex and the Single Girl - (1964) Follow the adventures of a tabloid editor (Tony Curtis) as he tries to parlay an interview with Helen Gurley Brown (Natalie Wood) into headlines and sales. Romance ensues, of course. This movie is thought to be the “godfather” of modern-day romantic comedies.

Shakespeare in Love - (1998) Young Shakespeare (Joseph Finnes), out of ideas and short of money, meets his ideal woman (Gwyneth Paltrow) and is inspired to write one of his most famous plays.

She’s Having a Baby - (1988) Jake (Kevin Bacon) is a frustrated writer trying to decide what to do with his life. He marries college sweetheart Kristy (Elizabeth McGovern), settles into their new life together, an advertising job and a home in the suburbs. They both deal with jobs, in-laws and impending parenthood, but is Jake really ready for the responsibility?

The Shining - (1980) Wannabe novelist Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) accepts a job as the off-season custodian at an elegant but peculiar hotel so he can write undisturbed. No sooner have Jack, his wife (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny settled in than the hotel starts to wield its ominous power over father and son.

Sophie’s Choice - (1982) Sophie (Meryl Streep) is the survivor of Nazi concentration camps, but has found a reason to live in Nathan (Kevin Kline) an American Jew obsessed with the Holocaust. They befriend Stingo (Peter MacNicol), the movie's narrator, a young American writer new to New York City. But her ghosts and his obsessions endanger the happiness of Sophie and Nathan. Academy Award as Best Actress for Streep.

Stand By Me - (1986) Gordie Lachance (narrated by Richard Dreyfus) is a writer who looks back on his preteen days when he and three close friends went on an adventure to find the body of a local kid who had gone missing and presumed dead. When the bad boys in town tail their every move, it becomes a race to see who’ll be able to recover the body first.

Sunset Blvd. - (1950) Penniless screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) hides from car repossessors in the garage of a deserted-looking mansion which proves to be the bizarre home of Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), retired silent screen star. Joe takes shelter there, with the ostensible job of rewriting Norma's hopeless “comeback” screenplay. As the weeks pass, he feels like a kept man and reaches out for a grasp of reality in his clandestine friendship with script reader Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olsen), but is it too late? Multi-Oscar winning picture.

Sylvia - (2003) A story about well-known American poet and novelist Sylvia Plath (Gwyneth Paltrow) and her passionate relationship with English poet Ted Hughes (Daniel Craig.)

Teacher’s Pet - (1950) James Gannon (Clark Gable), the hardboiled city newspaper editor, believes the only way to learn the newspaper business is by doing it. Because he has a low regard for college-taught journalism, he’s miffed when his managing editor orders him to speak in Dr. Erica Stone’s (Doris Day) journalism class. Finding himself attracted to her, he pretends to be a student, not revealing he’s Gannon, whom she loathes. As they dance around their mutual budding attraction, they both gain respect for each other's approaches to reporting news, but how will Erica react when she finds out who he really is?

Three Coins in a Fountain - (1954) A romantic comedy of three American roommates working in Italy wishing for the man of their dreams after throwing coins into Rome's magnificent Trevi Fountain. A secretary at a government agency sets out to win the heart of her employer, a smooth-talking novelist, while her co-worker defies office regulations by romancing an Italian who works at the agency. Finally, office newcomer Maria meets a real Italian Prince Charming and falls madly in love. Now the only thing the three hopeful ladies need to do is seal their fate.

Throw Momma From the Train - (1987) Owen (Danny DeVito) is a wannabe mystery writer who realizes that he and his writing teacher, Larry (Billy Crystal), are both going crazy thanks to the women in their lives. When Larry suggests Owen takes in a movie to inspire him, Owen gets an idea! He’ll kill Larry's devious, novel-stealing ex-wife, Margaret (Kate Mulgrew), if Larry offs Owen’s overbearing mother (Anne Ramsey). Owen fulfills his end of the bargain when Margaret goes missing and Larry’s stuck without an alibi.

Under the Tuscan Sun - (2003) Frances Mayes (Diane Lane), a San Francisco writer whose perfect life has just taken an unexpected detour. Her heart-breaking divorce leaves her with incurable writer's block and depression. Upon the prodding of her best friend, Frances takes a trip to Tuscany. On a whim, she buys a villa in the beautiful countryside and decides to start her life over.

The Way We Were - (1974) Political crusader Katie Morosky (Barbra Streisand) finds herself attracted to golden boy, novelist and screenwriter Hubbell Gardner (Robert Redford.) Despite their differences, the unlikely couple tie the knot, move to Hollywood and become embroiled in the firestorm surrounding the 1950s blacklisting that unravels their marriage.

When Harry Met Sally - (1989) Can men and women really just be friends? Neurotic political consultant Harry Burns (Billy Crystal) and ambitious writer and equally neurotic Sally Albright (Meg Ryan) have always resisted sexual attraction to stay friends even though their likes and dislikes teeter on the brink of true love.

Wonder Boys - (2000) A college English professor (Michael Douglas) is forced to face his writer's block, fear of aging and irresponsibility in his personal like as he watches one of his students (Tobey Maguire) and his talent for writing surpass him.

The World According to Garp - (1982) Born the bastard son of an unconventional mother, (Glenn Close), T.S. Garp (Robin Williams) sees himself as a “serious writer” inhabiting a strange universe filled with well-intentioned head-cases, a feminist icon, a transsexual football player, fanatics and lovers.

Marley Gibson is an RWA PRO, member of the New England RWA chapter and President/Founder of Chick Lit Writers of the World online RWA chapter. She has seven chick lit manuscripts under her belt. She’s been a marketing communication writer for over 15 years writing many corporate newsletters, collaterals and press releases. An avid reader, travel enthusiast and total movie buff, she works full-time in marketing/editing at a local university and lives in the Boston area with her husband and best friend, Mike.