Films About Writers

by reesemyers | created - 29 Jan 2017 | updated - 17 Jun 2019 | Public
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1. Paterson (2016)

R | 118 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

90 Metascore

A quiet observation of the triumphs and defeats of daily life, along with the poetry evident in its smallest details.

Director: Jim Jarmusch | Stars: Adam Driver, Golshifteh Farahani, Nellie, Rizwan Manji

Votes: 88,937 | Gross: $2.14M

2. Neruda (2016)

R | 107 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

82 Metascore

An inspector hunts down Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who becomes a fugitive in his home country in the late 1940s for joining the Communist Party.

Director: Pablo Larraín | Stars: Gael García Bernal, Luis Gnecco, Mercedes Morán, Emilio Gutiérrez Caba

Votes: 11,050 | Gross: $0.94M

3. The Postman (1994)

PG | 108 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama

81 Metascore

A simple Italian postman learns to love poetry while delivering mail to a famous poet, and then uses this to woo local beauty Beatrice.

Directors: Michael Radford, Massimo Troisi | Stars: Massimo Troisi, Philippe Noiret, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Renato Scarpa

Votes: 39,000 | Gross: $21.85M

4. Finding Forrester (2000)

PG-13 | 136 min | Drama

62 Metascore

Forrester, the author of a famous book, decides to help Jamal, a 16-year-old student, discover his writing prowess by mentoring him and enrolling him into a prestigious private school.

Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Sean Connery, Rob Brown, F. Murray Abraham, Anna Paquin

Votes: 89,578 | Gross: $66.40M

5. Adaptation. (2002)

R | 115 min | Comedy, Drama

83 Metascore

A lovelorn screenwriter becomes desperate as he tries and fails to adapt 'The Orchid Thief' by Susan Orlean for the screen.

Director: Spike Jonze | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Tilda Swinton

Votes: 203,032 | Gross: $22.25M

6. Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994)

R | 125 min | Biography, Drama

66 Metascore

Dorothy Parker remembers the heyday of the Algonquin Round Table, a circle of friends whose barbed wit, like hers, was fueled by alcohol and flirted with despair.

Director: Alan Rudolph | Stars: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Campbell Scott, Matthew Broderick, Peter Gallagher

Votes: 4,889 | Gross: $2.14M

7. Henry Fool (1997)

R | 137 min | Comedy, Drama

68 Metascore

An introverted garbageman writes his thoughts in a notebook after Henry Fool, writer and ex-con, rents the basement and gives him a notebook and the idea. He writes poetry and Henry helps him along.

Director: Hal Hartley | Stars: Thomas Jay Ryan, James Urbaniak, Parker Posey, Maria Porter

Votes: 7,878 | Gross: $1.34M

8. Annie Hall (1977)

PG | 93 min | Comedy, Romance

92 Metascore

Alvy Singer, a divorced Jewish comedian, reflects on his relationship with ex-lover Annie Hall, an aspiring nightclub singer, which ended abruptly just like his previous marriages.

Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane

Votes: 278,394 | Gross: $39.20M

9. Manhattan (1979)

R | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

83 Metascore

The life of a divorced television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.

Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway, Michael Murphy

Votes: 147,238 | Gross: $45.70M

10. Barfly (1987)

R | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

70 Metascore

Based on the life of successful poet Charles Bukowski and his exploits in Hollywood during the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Director: Barbet Schroeder | Stars: Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway, Alice Krige, Jack Nance

Votes: 21,976 | Gross: $3.22M

11. My Left Foot (1989)

R | 103 min | Biography, Drama

97 Metascore

Christy Brown, born with cerebral palsy, learns to paint and write with his only controllable limb - his left foot.

Director: Jim Sheridan | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Brenda Fricker, Alison Whelan, Kirsten Sheridan

Votes: 79,780 | Gross: $14.74M

12. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

R | 110 min | Comedy, Drama

76 Metascore

The eccentric members of a dysfunctional family reluctantly gather under the same roof for various reasons.

Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: Gene Hackman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller

Votes: 313,149 | Gross: $52.36M

13. American Splendor (2003)

R | 101 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama

90 Metascore

An original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.

Directors: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini | Stars: Paul Giamatti, Shari Springer Berman, Harvey Pekar, Chris Ambrose

Votes: 52,357 | Gross: $6.00M

14. The Front (1976)

PG | 95 min | Drama

In 1953, a cashier poses as a writer for blacklisted talents to submit their work through, but the injustice around him pushes him to take a stand.

Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: Woody Allen, Zero Mostel, Herschel Bernardi, Michael Murphy

Votes: 9,673

15. Impromptu (1991)

PG-13 | 107 min | Biography, Comedy, Music

In 1830s France, pianist/composer Frédéric Chopin is pursued romantically by the determined, individualistic woman who uses the name George Sand.

Director: James Lapine | Stars: Judy Davis, Hugh Grant, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters

Votes: 5,511 | Gross: $4.08M

16. Ruby Sparks (2012)

R | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

67 Metascore

A novelist struggling with writer's block finds romance in a most unusual way: by creating a female character he thinks will love him, then willing her into existence.

Directors: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris | Stars: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas

Votes: 105,437 | Gross: $2.54M

17. Kill Your Darlings (2013)

R | 104 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

65 Metascore

A murder in 1944 draws together the great poets of the beat generation: Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and William Burroughs.

Director: John Krokidas | Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHaan, Michael C. Hall, Ben Foster

Votes: 41,234 | Gross: $1.03M

18. Adult World (2013)

R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama

61 Metascore

A naive college graduate, Amy, who believes she's destined to be a great poet, begrudgingly accepts a job in a shop while she pursues a mentorship with reclusive writer Rat Billings.

Director: Scott Coffey | Stars: Emma Roberts, Evan Peters, John Cusack, Cloris Leachman

Votes: 18,678 | Gross: $0.02M

19. Prick Up Your Ears (1987)

R | 105 min | Biography, Drama

72 Metascore

Biographer John Lahr is writing a book about playwright Joe Orton. Joe and Kenneth meet at drama school and live together for ten years as lovers and collaborators. Both want to be writers, but only one of them is successful.

Director: Stephen Frears | Stars: Gary Oldman, Alfred Molina, Vanessa Redgrave, Wallace Shawn

Votes: 6,538 | Gross: $1.65M

20. Julia (1977)

PG | 117 min | Drama

58 Metascore

At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.

Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, Jason Robards, Maximilian Schell

Votes: 10,412

21. Shakespeare in Love (1998)

R | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, History

87 Metascore

The world's greatest ever playwright, William Shakespeare, is young, out of ideas and short of cash, but meets his ideal woman and is inspired to write one of his most famous plays.

Director: John Madden | Stars: Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Tom Wilkinson

Votes: 234,326 | Gross: $100.32M

22. The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)

R | 126 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama

75 Metascore

Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, popularly known as Che, along with his friend Alberto Granado, decides to take a road trip across South America. His experiences on the journey transform him.

Director: Walter Salles | Stars: Gael García Bernal, Rodrigo de la Serna, Mía Maestro, Mercedes Morán

Votes: 104,774 | Gross: $16.78M

23. Iris (I) (2001)

R | 91 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

76 Metascore

True story of the lifelong romance between novelist Iris Murdoch and her husband John Bayley, from their student days through her battle with Alzheimer's disease.

Director: Richard Eyre | Stars: Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent, Kate Winslet, Hugh Bonneville

Votes: 19,140 | Gross: $1.29M

24. Midnight in Paris (2011)

PG-13 | 94 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance

81 Metascore

While on a trip to Paris with his fiancée's family, a nostalgic screenwriter finds himself mysteriously going back to the 1920s every day at midnight.

Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Kurt Fuller

Votes: 449,842 | Gross: $56.82M

25. Before Sunset (2004)

R | 80 min | Drama, Romance

91 Metascore

Nine years after Jesse and Celine first met, they encounter each other again on the French leg of Jesse's book tour.

Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Vernon Dobtcheff, Louise Lemoine Torrès

Votes: 287,790 | Gross: $5.82M

26. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

R | 118 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama

41 Metascore

An oddball journalist and his psychopathic lawyer travel to Las Vegas for a series of psychedelic escapades.

Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro, Tobey Maguire, Michael Lee Gogin

Votes: 301,493 | Gross: $10.68M

27. Misery (1990)

R | 107 min | Drama, Thriller

75 Metascore

After a famous author is rescued from a car crash by a fan of his novels, he comes to realize that the care he is receiving is only the beginning of a nightmare of captivity and abuse.

Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth, Frances Sternhagen

Votes: 235,546 | Gross: $61.28M

28. Before Night Falls (2000)

R | 133 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

85 Metascore

The life of Cuban poet and novelist, Reinaldo Arenas.

Director: Julian Schnabel | Stars: Javier Bardem, Johnny Depp, Olatz López Garmendia, Giovani Florido

Votes: 26,373 | Gross: $4.22M

29. The Last Station (2009)

R | 112 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

76 Metascore

A historical drama that illustrates Russian author Leo Tolstoy's (Christopher Plummer's) struggle to balance fame and wealth with his commitment to a life devoid of material things.

Director: Michael Hoffman | Stars: Helen Mirren, James McAvoy, Christopher Plummer, Paul Giamatti

Votes: 19,157 | Gross: $6.62M

30. Deconstructing Harry (1997)

R | 96 min | Comedy

62 Metascore

Suffering from writer's block and eagerly awaiting his writing award, Harry Block remembers events from his past and scenes from his best-selling books as characters, real and fictional, come back to haunt him.

Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Judy Davis, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Stephanie Roth Haberle

Votes: 47,808 | Gross: $10.69M

31. The Hours (2002)

PG-13 | 110 min | Drama, Romance

80 Metascore

The story of how the novel "Mrs. Dalloway" affects three generations of women, all of whom, in one way or another, have had to deal with suicide in their lives.

Director: Stephen Daldry | Stars: Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Stephen Dillane

Votes: 138,501 | Gross: $41.68M

32. Starting Out in the Evening (2007)

PG-13 | 111 min | Drama, Romance

78 Metascore

An ambitious graduate student convinces a writer that her thesis can resurrect his career.

Director: Andrew Wagner | Stars: Frank Langella, Lauren Ambrose, Patti Perkins, Lili Taylor

Votes: 3,346 | Gross: $0.90M

33. Young Adult (2011)

R | 94 min | Comedy, Drama

71 Metascore

Soon after her divorce, a fiction writer returns to her home in small-town Minnesota, looking to rekindle a romance with her ex-boyfriend who is now happily married and has a newborn daughter.

Director: Jason Reitman | Stars: Charlize Theron, Patrick Wilson, Patton Oswalt, Elizabeth Reaser

Votes: 87,918 | Gross: $16.31M

34. Naked Lunch (1991)

R | 115 min | Drama, Mystery

67 Metascore

After developing an addiction to the substance he uses to kill bugs, an exterminator accidentally kills his wife and becomes involved in a secret government plot being orchestrated by giant bugs in a port town in North Africa.

Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm, Julian Sands

Votes: 56,651 | Gross: $2.54M

35. Bright Star (2009)

PG | 119 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

81 Metascore

The three-year romance between 19th-century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne near the end of his life.

Director: Jane Campion | Stars: Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw, Paul Schneider, Kerry Fox

Votes: 28,696 | Gross: $4.44M

36. The Shining (1980)

R | 146 min | Drama, Horror

68 Metascore

A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.

Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers

Votes: 1,106,528 | Gross: $44.02M

37. A Man for All Seasons (1966)

G | 120 min | Biography, Drama, History

72 Metascore

The story of Sir Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church to obtain a divorce and remarry.

Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Robert Shaw, Leo McKern

Votes: 37,154 | Gross: $28.35M

38. Certified Copy (2010)

Not Rated | 106 min | Drama, Romance

82 Metascore

In Tuscany to promote his latest book, a middle-aged British writer meets a French woman who leads him to the village of Lucignano. While there, a chance question reveals something deeper.

Director: Abbas Kiarostami | Stars: Juliette Binoche, William Shimell, Jean-Claude Carrière, Agathe Natanson

Votes: 26,892 | Gross: $1.34M

39. Providence (1977)

R | 104 min | Drama

A dying writer bases his last book on his own perception of his family.

Director: Alain Resnais | Stars: Dirk Bogarde, Ellen Burstyn, John Gielgud, David Warner

Votes: 3,507

40. Sunset Blvd. (1950)

Passed | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir

94 Metascore

A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.

Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson

Votes: 236,417

41. My Brilliant Career (1979)

G | 100 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

77 Metascore

A proud young woman in early 20th century Australia must choose between marriage and independence.

Director: Gillian Armstrong | Stars: Judy Davis, Sam Neill, Wendy Hughes, Robert Grubb

Votes: 4,803

42. Wonder Boys (2000)

R | 107 min | Comedy, Drama

74 Metascore

An English Professor tries to deal with his wife leaving him, the arrival of his editor who has been waiting for his book for seven years, and the various problems that his friends and associates involve him in.

Director: Curtis Hanson | Stars: Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand, Robert Downey Jr.

Votes: 66,595 | Gross: $19.39M

43. An Angel at My Table (1990)

R | 158 min | Biography, Drama

79 Metascore

Janet Frame was a brilliant child who, as a teen, was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia. Explore Janet's discovery of the world and her life in Europe as her books are published to acclaim.

Director: Jane Campion | Stars: Kerry Fox, Alexia Keogh, Karen Fergusson, Iris Churn

Votes: 8,685 | Gross: $1.05M

44. Barton Fink (1991)

R | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Thriller

69 Metascore

A renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.

Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Michael Lerner

Votes: 128,949 | Gross: $6.15M

45. Reprise (2006)

R | 105 min | Drama

79 Metascore

Fueled by literary aspirations and youthful exuberance, two competitive friends endure the pangs of love, depression, and burgeoning careers.

Director: Joachim Trier | Stars: Anders Danielsen Lie, Espen Klouman Høiner, Viktoria Winge, Odd-Magnus Williamson

Votes: 15,631 | Gross: $0.55M

46. Network (1976)

R | 121 min | Drama

83 Metascore

A television network cynically exploits a deranged former anchor's ravings and revelations about the news media for its own profit, but finds that his message may be difficult to control.

Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall

Votes: 170,622

47. All the President's Men (1976)

PG | 138 min | Drama, History, Thriller

84 Metascore

"The Washington Post" reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Richard Nixon's resignation.

Director: Alan J. Pakula | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam

Votes: 126,037 | Gross: $70.60M

48. Spotlight (I) (2015)

R | 129 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

93 Metascore

The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.

Director: Tom McCarthy | Stars: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber

Votes: 502,109 | Gross: $45.06M

49. As Good as It Gets (1997)

PG-13 | 139 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

67 Metascore

A single mother and waitress, a misanthropic author, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship after the artist is assaulted in a robbery.

Director: James L. Brooks | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, Cuba Gooding Jr.

Votes: 318,397 | Gross: $148.48M

50. Capote (2005)

R | 114 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

88 Metascore

In 1959, Truman Capote learns of the murder of a Kansas family and decides to write a book about the case. While researching for his novel In Cold Blood, Capote forms a relationship with one of the killers, Perry Smith, who is on death row.

Director: Bennett Miller | Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Clifton Collins Jr., Catherine Keener, Allie Mickelson

Votes: 140,754 | Gross: $28.75M

51. Foreign Correspondent (1940)

Passed | 120 min | Action, Romance, Thriller

89 Metascore

On the eve of World War II, a young American reporter tries to expose enemy agents in London.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall, George Sanders

Votes: 23,715 | Gross: $3.48M

52. Sideways (2004)

R | 127 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

94 Metascore

Two men reaching middle age with not much to show but disappointment embark on a week-long road trip through California's wine country, just as one is about to take a trip down the aisle.

Director: Alexander Payne | Stars: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh

Votes: 204,251 | Gross: $71.50M

53. Roman Holiday (1953)

Passed | 118 min | Comedy, Romance

78 Metascore

A bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome.

Director: William Wyler | Stars: Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Eddie Albert, Hartley Power

Votes: 147,622

54. The Accidental Tourist (1988)

PG | 121 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

52 Metascore

An emotionally distant writer of travel guides must carry on with his life after his son is killed and his marriage crumbles.

Director: Lawrence Kasdan | Stars: William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Geena Davis, Amy Wright

Votes: 17,274 | Gross: $32.63M

55. Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

PG-13 | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

67 Metascore

I.R.S. auditor Harold Crick suddenly finds his mundane Chicago life to be the subject of narration only he can hear: narration that begins to affect his entire existence, from his work to his love life to his death.

Director: Marc Forster | Stars: Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah

Votes: 236,455 | Gross: $40.14M

56. Author! Author! (1982)

PG | 110 min | Comedy, Drama, Family

42 Metascore

While facing the stress of his play being produced on Broadway, a playwright deals with having to raise his son, his stepdaughters, and his stepsons.

Director: Arthur Hiller | Stars: Al Pacino, Dyan Cannon, Tuesday Weld, Bob Dishy

Votes: 5,761 | Gross: $13.11M

57. Being Flynn (2012)

R | 102 min | Drama

53 Metascore

Working in a Boston homeless shelter, Nick Flynn re-encounters his father, a con man and self-proclaimed poet. Sensing trouble in his own life, Nick wrestles with the notion of reaching out yet again to his dad.

Director: Paul Weitz | Stars: Paul Dano, Robert De Niro, Julianne Moore, Olivia Thirlby

Votes: 17,835 | Gross: $0.53M

58. Bitter Moon (1992)

R | 139 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller

62 Metascore

After hearing stories of her, a passenger on a cruise ship develops an irresistible infatuation with an eccentric paraplegic's wife.

Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Hugh Grant, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emmanuelle Seigner, Peter Coyote

Votes: 42,670 | Gross: $1.86M

59. Closer (I) (2004)

R | 104 min | Drama, Romance

65 Metascore

The relationships of two couples become complicated and deceitful when the man from one couple meets the woman of the other.

Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Clive Owen, Julia Roberts

Votes: 236,044 | Gross: $33.99M

60. The End of the Tour (2015)

R | 106 min | Biography, Drama

82 Metascore

The story of the five-day interview between Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky and acclaimed novelist David Foster Wallace, which took place right after the 1996 publication of Wallace's groundbreaking epic novel, 'Infinite Jest.'

Director: James Ponsoldt | Stars: Jason Segel, Jesse Eisenberg, Anna Chlumsky, Mamie Gummer

Votes: 32,574 | Gross: $2.99M

61. Dan in Real Life (I) (2007)

PG-13 | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

65 Metascore

A widower finds out the woman he fell in love with is his brother's girlfriend.

Director: Peter Hedges | Stars: Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook, Alison Pill

Votes: 106,992 | Gross: $47.64M

62. The End of the Affair (1999)

R | 102 min | Drama, Romance

65 Metascore

A desperate man tries to find out why his beloved left him years ago.

Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore, Stephen Rea, Heather-Jay Jones

Votes: 23,937 | Gross: $10.66M

63. Factotum (2005)

R | 94 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

71 Metascore

This drama centers on Hank Chinaski, the fictional alter-ego of "Factotum" author Charles Bukowski, who wanders around Los Angeles, CA trying to live off jobs which don't interfere with his primary interest, which is writing. Along the way, he fends off the distractions offered by women, drinking and gambling.

Director: Bent Hamer | Stars: Matt Dillon, Lili Taylor, Marisa Tomei, Didier Flamand

Votes: 15,036 | Gross: $0.81M

64. The Ghost Writer (2010)

PG-13 | 128 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

77 Metascore

A ghost writer, hired to complete the memoirs of a former British Prime Minister, uncovers secrets that put his own life in jeopardy.

Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Williams, Jon Bernthal

Votes: 170,811 | Gross: $15.54M

65. Her (2013)

R | 126 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi

91 Metascore

In a near future, a lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with an operating system designed to meet his every need.

Director: Spike Jonze | Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson, Rooney Mara

Votes: 669,525 | Gross: $25.57M

66. The Girl in the Book (2015)

Not Rated | 86 min | Drama

68 Metascore

Set in the world of New York publishing, a young book editor is forced to confront a troubling chapter from her past when a bestselling author re-enters her life.

Director: Marya Cohn | Stars: Emily VanCamp, Courtney Daniels, Jordan Lage, Ana Mulvoy Ten

Votes: 4,683 | Gross: $0.01M

67. Romancing the Stone (1984)

PG | 106 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

63 Metascore

A mousy romance novelist sets off for Colombia to ransom her kidnapped sister, and soon finds herself in the middle of a dangerous adventure hunting for treasure with a mercenary rogue.

Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito, Zack Norman

Votes: 103,302 | Gross: $76.57M

68. The Hoax (2006)

R | 116 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama

70 Metascore

In what would cause a fantastic media frenzy, Clifford Irving sells his bogus biography of Howard Hughes to a premiere publishing house in the early 1970s.

Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Richard Gere, Alfred Molina, David Aaron Baker, John Carter

Votes: 17,183 | Gross: $7.16M

69. In the Cut (2003)

R | 119 min | Mystery, Thriller

47 Metascore

New York City writing professor, Frannie Avery, has an affair with a police detective who is investigating the murder of a beautiful young woman in her neighborhood.

Director: Jane Campion | Stars: Meg Ryan, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michael Nuccio

Votes: 26,458 | Gross: $4.75M

70. Moulin Rouge! (2001)

PG-13 | 127 min | Drama, Musical, Romance

66 Metascore

A poor Bohemian poet in 1890s Paris falls for a beautiful courtesan and nightclub star coveted by a jealous duke.

Director: Baz Luhrmann | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo, Jim Broadbent

Votes: 299,322 | Gross: $57.39M

71. Mistress America (2015)

R | 84 min | Comedy, Drama

75 Metascore

A lonely college freshman's life is turned upside-down by her impetuous, adventurous stepsister-to-be.

Director: Noah Baumbach | Stars: Greta Gerwig, Lola Kirke, Shana Dowdeswell, Shelby Rebecca Wong

Votes: 28,750 | Gross: $2.46M

72. Nostalghia (1983)

Not Rated | 125 min | Drama

74 Metascore

A Russian poet and his interpreter travel to Italy researching the life of an 18th-century composer, and instead meet a ruminative madman who tells the poet how the world may be saved.

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Oleg Yankovskiy, Erland Josephson, Domiziana Giordano, Patrizia Terreno

Votes: 30,067 | Gross: $0.01M

73. The Squid and the Whale (2005)

R | 81 min | Comedy, Drama

82 Metascore

Follows two young boys dealing with their parents' divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980s.

Director: Noah Baumbach | Stars: Owen Kline, Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, Jesse Eisenberg

Votes: 90,426 | Gross: $7.36M

74. World's Greatest Dad (I) (2009)

R | 99 min | Comedy, Drama

69 Metascore

When his son's body is found in a humiliating accident, a lonely high school teacher inadvertently attracts an overwhelming amount of community and media attention after covering up the truth with a phony suicide note.

Director: Bobcat Goldthwait | Stars: Robin Williams, Daryl Sabara, Morgan Murphy, Naomi Glick

Votes: 40,769 | Gross: $0.22M

75. Sleuth (1972)

PG | 138 min | Mystery, Thriller

A man who loves games and theater invites his wife's lover to meet him, setting up a battle of wits with potentially deadly results.

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Alec Cawthorne, John Matthews

Votes: 50,161 | Gross: $4.08M

76. The Door in the Floor (2004)

R | 111 min | Comedy, Drama

67 Metascore

A writer's young assistant becomes both pawn and catalyst in his boss's disintegrating household.

Director: Tod Williams | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Kim Basinger, Jon Foster, Elle Fanning

Votes: 16,190 | Gross: $3.84M

77. Becoming Jane (2007)

PG | 120 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

55 Metascore

A biographical portrait of a pre-fame Jane Austen and her romance with a young Irishman.

Director: Julian Jarrold | Stars: Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, Julie Walters, James Cromwell

Votes: 65,085 | Gross: $18.67M

78. Lonesome Jim (2005)

R | 91 min | Comedy, Drama

54 Metascore

Failing to make it on his own, twenty-seven-year-old Jim moves back in with his parents and deals with crippling family obligations.

Director: Steve Buscemi | Stars: Casey Affleck, Liv Tyler, Mary Kay Place, Kevin Corrigan

Votes: 8,084 | Gross: $0.15M

79. Henry & June (1990)

NC-17 | 136 min | Biography, Drama

62 Metascore

Anaïs Nin meets American writer Henry Miller in Paris in 1931. She keeps a diary of her sexual awakening, which includes Henry and his wife June.

Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Fred Ward, Uma Thurman, Maria de Medeiros, Richard E. Grant

Votes: 14,190 | Gross: $11.57M

80. The Great Beauty (2013)

Not Rated | 141 min | Drama

86 Metascore

Jep Gambardella has seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades, but after his 65th birthday and a shock from the past, Jep looks past the nightclubs and parties to find a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.

Director: Paolo Sorrentino | Stars: Toni Servillo, Carlo Verdone, Sabrina Ferilli, Carlo Buccirosso

Votes: 97,391 | Gross: $2.85M

81. Howl (2010)

R | 84 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

63 Metascore

As Allen Ginsberg talks about his life and art, his most famous poem is illustrated in animation while the obscenity trial of the work is dramatized.

Directors: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman | Stars: James Franco, Todd Rotondi, Jon Prescott, Aaron Tveit

Votes: 13,407 | Gross: $0.62M

82. In a Lonely Place (1950)

Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery

A potentially violent screenwriter is a murder suspect until his lovely neighbor clears him. However, she soon starts to have her doubts.

Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy, Carl Benton Reid

Votes: 35,247

83. The Invisible Woman (2013)

R | 111 min | Biography, Drama, History

75 Metascore

At the height of his career, Charles Dickens meets a younger woman who becomes his secret lover until his death.

Director: Ralph Fiennes | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Felicity Jones, Kristin Scott Thomas, Tom Hollander

Votes: 10,470 | Gross: $1.23M

84. Kafka (1991)

PG-13 | 98 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi

46 Metascore

Kafka works during the day at an insurance company, where events lead him to discover a mysterious underground society with strange suppressive goals.

Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Jeremy Irons, Theresa Russell, Joel Grey, Ian Holm

Votes: 10,572 | Gross: $1.06M

85. Infamous (2006)

R | 110 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

68 Metascore

While researching his novel "In Cold Blood", Truman Capote develops a close relationship with convicted murderers Dick Hickock and Perry Smith.

Director: Douglas McGrath | Stars: Toby Jones, Daniel Craig, Sandra Bullock, Sigourney Weaver

Votes: 18,219 | Gross: $1.15M

86. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)

R | 120 min | Biography, Drama

84 Metascore

A fictionalized account in four chapters of the life of celebrated Japanese writer Yukio Mishima.

Director: Paul Schrader | Stars: Ken Ogata, Masayuki Shionoya, Hiroshi Mikami, Junya Fukuda

Votes: 13,763 | Gross: $0.44M

87. Permanent Midnight (1998)

R | 88 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

57 Metascore

A comedy writer struggles to overcome his addiction to heroin while putting his professional and personal life in danger.

Director: David Veloz | Stars: Ben Stiller, Maria Bello, Jay Paulson, Spencer Garrett

Votes: 7,930 | Gross: $1.17M

88. Saving Mr. Banks (2013)

PG-13 | 125 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama

65 Metascore

Author P.L. Travers reflects on her childhood after reluctantly meeting with Walt Disney, who seeks to adapt her Mary Poppins books for the big screen.

Director: John Lee Hancock | Stars: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Annie Rose Buckley, Colin Farrell

Votes: 170,036 | Gross: $83.30M

89. Quills (2000)

R | 124 min | Biography, Drama

70 Metascore

In a Napoleonic era insane asylum, an inmate, the irrepressible Marquis De Sade, fights a battle of wills against a tyrannically prudish doctor.

Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, Joaquin Phoenix, Michael Caine

Votes: 56,736 | Gross: $7.06M

90. Shadowlands (1993)

PG | 131 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

C.S. Lewis, a world-renowned Christian theologian, writer and professor, leads a passionless life until he meets spirited poet Joy Gresham from the U.S.

Director: Richard Attenborough | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Debra Winger, Julian Fellowes, Roddy Maude-Roxby

Votes: 20,445 | Gross: $25.84M

91. 84 Charing Cross Road (1987)

PG | 100 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

True story of a transatlantic business correspondence about used books that developed into a close friendship.

Director: David Hugh Jones | Stars: Anne Bancroft, Anthony Hopkins, Judi Dench, Jean De Baer

Votes: 11,224 | Gross: $1.08M

92. Through a Glass Darkly (1961)

Not Rated | 90 min | Drama

84 Metascore

Recently released from a mental hospital, Karin rejoins her emotionally disconnected family in their island home, only to slip from reality as she begins to believe she is being visited by God.

Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Harriet Andersson, Gunnar Björnstrand, Max von Sydow, Lars Passgård

Votes: 27,384

93. Violette (2013)

Not Rated | 139 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

72 Metascore

Violette Leduc, born a bastard at the beginning of last century, meets Simone de Beauvoir in the years after the war in St-Germain-des-Prés. Then begins an intense relationship between the ... See full summary »

Director: Martin Provost | Stars: Emmanuelle Devos, Sandrine Kiberlain, Olivier Gourmet, Catherine Hiegel

Votes: 2,189

94. The Whole Wide World (1996)

PG | 111 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

In 1933 Texas, a schoolteacher and aspiring writer meets a pulp fiction writer, and a relationship soon develops between the two, but it is doomed by his slavishly devotion to his ailing mother and insistence on his freedom.

Director: Dan Ireland | Stars: Vincent D'Onofrio, Renée Zellweger, Ann Wedgeworth, Harve Presnell

Votes: 4,027 | Gross: $0.14M

95. Satan's Brew (1976)

112 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

A famous poet who hasn't written a word in two years unconsciously plagiarizes the work of Stefan George, while dealing with several mistresses, his dim-witted brother, and a murder investigation.

Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Stars: Kurt Raab, Margit Carstensen, Helen Vita, Volker Spengler

Votes: 2,136

96. Contempt (1963)

Not Rated | 102 min | Drama, Romance

A French writer's marriage deteriorates while working on Fritz Lang's version of "The Odyssey", as his wife accuses him of using her to court favor with the film's brash American producer.

Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Brigitte Bardot, Jack Palance, Michel Piccoli, Giorgia Moll

Votes: 36,031 | Gross: $0.04M

97. Leave Her to Heaven (1945)

Passed | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Romance

A writer falls in love with a young socialite and they're soon married, but her obsessive love for him threatens to be the undoing of them both as well as everyone around them.

Director: John M. Stahl | Stars: Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, Vincent Price

Votes: 14,774

98. Chinese Coffee (2000)

R | 99 min | Drama

Harry and Jake, two unsuccessful writers, spend a cathartic evening arguing about money, aesthetics, their friendship, and Harry's new manuscript.

Director: Al Pacino | Stars: Al Pacino, Jerry Orbach, Susan Floyd, Ellen McElduff

Votes: 4,633

99. A Pure Formality (1994)

PG-13 | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

Onoff is a famous writer who hasn't published any new books for quite some time and has become a recluse. When he is picked up by the police one stormy night, without any identification, ... See full summary »

Director: Giuseppe Tornatore | Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Roman Polanski, Sergio Rubini, Nicola Di Pinto

Votes: 12,563 | Gross: $0.20M

100. Numb (I) (2007)

R | 93 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

A chronically-depressed screenwriter desperately tries to cure his condition when he meets the girl of his dreams.

Director: Harris Goldberg | Stars: Matthew Perry, Lynn Collins, Kevin Pollak, Bob Gunton

Votes: 8,775



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