Films About Writers
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- DirectorJim JarmuschStarsAdam DriverGolshifteh FarahaniNellieA quiet observation of the triumphs and defeats of daily life, along with the poetry evident in its smallest details.
- DirectorPablo LarraínStarsGael García BernalLuis GneccoMercedes MoránAn 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.
- DirectorMichael RadfordMassimo TroisiStarsMassimo TroisiPhilippe NoiretMaria Grazia CucinottaA simple Italian postman learns to love poetry while delivering mail to a famous poet, and then uses this to woo local beauty Beatrice.
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsSean ConneryRob BrownF. Murray AbrahamForrester, 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.
- DirectorSpike JonzeStarsNicolas CageMeryl StreepChris CooperA lovelorn screenwriter becomes desperate as he tries and fails to adapt 'The Orchid Thief' by Susan Orlean for the screen.
- DirectorAlan RudolphStarsJennifer Jason LeighCampbell ScottMatthew BroderickDorothy 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.
- DirectorHal HartleyStarsThomas Jay RyanJames UrbaniakParker PoseyAn 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.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenDiane KeatonTony RobertsAlvy 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.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenDiane KeatonMariel HemingwayThe life of a divorced television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.
- DirectorBarbet SchroederStarsMickey RourkeFaye DunawayAlice KrigeBased on the life of successful poet Charles Bukowski and his exploits in Hollywood during the 60s, 70s, and 80s.
- DirectorJim SheridanStarsDaniel Day-LewisBrenda FrickerAlison WhelanChristy Brown, born with cerebral palsy, learns to paint and write with his only controllable limb - his left foot.
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsGene HackmanGwyneth PaltrowAnjelica HustonThe eccentric members of a dysfunctional family reluctantly gather under the same roof for various reasons.
- DirectorShari Springer BermanRobert PulciniStarsPaul GiamattiShari Springer BermanHarvey PekarAn original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.
- DirectorMartin RittStarsWoody AllenZero MostelHerschel BernardiIn 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.
- DirectorJames LapineStarsJudy DavisHugh GrantMandy PatinkinIn 1830s France, pianist/composer Frédéric Chopin is pursued romantically by the determined, individualistic woman who uses the name George Sand.
- DirectorJonathan DaytonValerie FarisStarsPaul DanoZoe KazanAnnette BeningA 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.
- DirectorJohn KrokidasStarsDaniel RadcliffeDane DeHaanMichael C. HallA murder in 1944 draws together the great poets of the beat generation: Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and William Burroughs.
- DirectorScott CoffeyStarsEmma RobertsEvan PetersJohn CusackA 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.
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsGary OldmanAlfred MolinaVanessa RedgraveBiographer 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.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsJane FondaVanessa RedgraveJason RobardsAt the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.
- DirectorJohn MaddenStarsGwyneth PaltrowJoseph FiennesGeoffrey RushThe 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.
- DirectorWalter SallesStarsGael García BernalRodrigo de la SernaMía MaestroErnesto 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.
- DirectorRichard EyreStarsJudi DenchJim BroadbentKate WinsletTrue 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.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsOwen WilsonRachel McAdamsKathy BatesWhile 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.
- DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsEthan HawkeJulie DelpyVernon DobtcheffNine years after Jesse and Celine first met, they encounter each other again on the French leg of Jesse's book tour.
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJohnny DeppBenicio Del ToroTobey MaguireAn oddball journalist and his psychopathic lawyer travel to Las Vegas for a series of psychedelic escapades.
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsJames CaanKathy BatesRichard FarnsworthAfter 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.
- DirectorJulian SchnabelStarsJavier BardemJohnny DeppOlatz López GarmendiaThe life of Cuban poet and novelist, Reinaldo Arenas.
- DirectorMichael HoffmanStarsHelen MirrenJames McAvoyChristopher PlummerA 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.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenJudy DavisJulia Louis-DreyfusSuffering 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.
- DirectorStephen DaldryStarsMeryl StreepNicole KidmanJulianne MooreThe 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.
- DirectorAndrew WagnerStarsFrank LangellaLauren AmbrosePatti PerkinsAn ambitious graduate student convinces a writer that her thesis can resurrect his career.
- DirectorJason ReitmanStarsCharlize TheronPatrick WilsonPatton OswaltSoon 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.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsPeter WellerJudy DavisIan HolmAfter 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.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsAbbie CornishBen WhishawPaul SchneiderThe three-year romance between 19th-century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne near the end of his life.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsJack NicholsonShelley DuvallDanny LloydA 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.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsPaul ScofieldWendy HillerRobert ShawThe 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.
- DirectorAbbas KiarostamiStarsJuliette BinocheWilliam ShimellJean-Claude CarrièreIn 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.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsDirk BogardeEllen BurstynJohn GielgudA dying writer bases his last book on his own perception of his family.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsWilliam HoldenGloria SwansonErich von StroheimA screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.
- DirectorGillian ArmstrongStarsJudy DavisSam NeillWendy HughesA proud young woman in early 20th century Australia must choose between marriage and independence.
- DirectorCurtis HansonStarsMichael DouglasTobey MaguireFrances McDormandAn 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.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsKerry FoxAlexia KeoghKaren FergussonJanet 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.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsJohn TurturroJohn GoodmanJudy DavisA renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.
- DirectorJoachim TrierStarsAnders Danielsen LieEspen Klouman HøinerViktoria WingeFueled by literary aspirations and youthful exuberance, two competitive friends endure the pangs of love, depression, and burgeoning careers.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsFaye DunawayWilliam HoldenPeter FinchA 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.
- DirectorAlan J. PakulaStarsDustin HoffmanRobert RedfordJack Warden"The Washington Post" reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Richard Nixon's resignation.
- DirectorTom McCarthyStarsMark RuffaloMichael KeatonRachel McAdamsThe 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.
- DirectorJames L. BrooksStarsJack NicholsonHelen HuntGreg KinnearA single mother and waitress, a misanthropic author, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship after the artist is assaulted in a robbery.
- DirectorBennett MillerStarsPhilip Seymour HoffmanClifton Collins Jr.Catherine KeenerIn 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.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJoel McCreaLaraine DayHerbert MarshallOn the eve of World War II, a young American reporter tries to expose enemy agents in London.
- DirectorAlexander PayneStarsPaul GiamattiThomas Haden ChurchVirginia MadsenTwo 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.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsGregory PeckAudrey HepburnEddie AlbertA bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome.
- DirectorLawrence KasdanStarsWilliam HurtKathleen TurnerGeena DavisAn emotionally distant writer of travel guides must carry on with his life after his son is killed and his marriage crumbles.
- DirectorMarc ForsterStarsWill FerrellEmma ThompsonDustin HoffmanI.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.
- DirectorArthur HillerStarsAl PacinoDyan CannonTuesday WeldWhile facing the stress of his play being produced on Broadway, a playwright deals with having to raise his son, his stepdaughters, and his stepsons.
- DirectorPaul WeitzStarsPaul DanoRobert De NiroJulianne MooreWorking 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.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsHugh GrantKristin Scott ThomasEmmanuelle SeignerAfter hearing stories of her, a passenger on a cruise ship develops an irresistible infatuation with an eccentric paraplegic's wife.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsNatalie PortmanJude LawClive OwenThe relationships of two couples become complicated and deceitful when the man from one couple meets the woman of the other.
- DirectorJames PonsoldtStarsJason SegelJesse EisenbergAnna ChlumskyThe 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.'
- DirectorPeter HedgesStarsSteve CarellJuliette BinocheDane CookA widower finds out the woman he fell in love with is his brother's girlfriend.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsRalph FiennesJulianne MooreStephen ReaA desperate man tries to find out why his beloved left him years ago.
- DirectorBent HamerStarsMatt DillonLili TaylorMarisa TomeiThis 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.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsEwan McGregorPierce BrosnanOlivia WilliamsA ghost writer, hired to complete the memoirs of a former British Prime Minister, uncovers secrets that put his own life in jeopardy.
- DirectorSpike JonzeStarsJoaquin PhoenixAmy AdamsScarlett JohanssonIn a near future, a lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with an operating system designed to meet his every need.
- DirectorMarya CohnStarsEmily VanCampCourtney DanielsJordan LageSet 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.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsMichael DouglasKathleen TurnerDanny DeVitoA 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.
- DirectorLasse HallströmStarsRichard GereAlfred MolinaDavid Aaron BakerIn 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.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsMeg RyanMark RuffaloJennifer Jason LeighNew 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.
- DirectorBaz LuhrmannStarsNicole KidmanEwan McGregorJohn LeguizamoA poor Bohemian poet in 1890s Paris falls for a beautiful courtesan and nightclub star coveted by a jealous duke.
- DirectorNoah BaumbachStarsGreta GerwigLola KirkeShana DowdeswellA lonely college freshman's life is turned upside-down by her impetuous, adventurous stepsister-to-be.
- DirectorAndrei TarkovskyStarsOleg YankovskiyErland JosephsonDomiziana GiordanoA 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.
- DirectorNoah BaumbachStarsOwen KlineJeff DanielsLaura LinneyFollows two young boys dealing with their parents' divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980s.
- DirectorBobcat GoldthwaitStarsRobin WilliamsDaryl SabaraMorgan MurphyWhen 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.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsLaurence OlivierMichael CaineAlec CawthorneA man who loves games and theater invites his wife's lover to meet him, setting up a battle of wits with potentially deadly results.
- DirectorTod WilliamsStarsJeff BridgesKim BasingerJon FosterA writer's young assistant becomes both pawn and catalyst in his boss's disintegrating household.
- DirectorJulian JarroldStarsAnne HathawayJames McAvoyJulie WaltersA biographical portrait of a pre-fame Jane Austen and her romance with a young Irishman.
- DirectorSteve BuscemiStarsCasey AffleckLiv TylerMary Kay PlaceFailing to make it on his own, twenty-seven-year-old Jim moves back in with his parents and deals with crippling family obligations.
- DirectorPhilip KaufmanStarsFred WardUma ThurmanMaria de MedeirosAnaïs 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.
- DirectorPaolo SorrentinoStarsToni ServilloCarlo VerdoneSabrina FerilliJep 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.
- DirectorRob EpsteinJeffrey FriedmanStarsJames FrancoTodd RotondiJon PrescottAs 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.
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsHumphrey BogartGloria GrahameFrank LovejoyA potentially violent screenwriter is a murder suspect until his lovely neighbor clears him. However, she soon starts to have her doubts.
- DirectorRalph FiennesStarsRalph FiennesFelicity JonesKristin Scott ThomasAt the height of his career, Charles Dickens meets a younger woman who becomes his secret lover until his death.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsJeremy IronsTheresa RussellJoel GreyKafka works during the day at an insurance company, where events lead him to discover a mysterious underground society with strange suppressive goals.
- DirectorDouglas McGrathStarsToby JonesDaniel CraigSandra BullockWhile researching his novel "In Cold Blood", Truman Capote develops a close relationship with convicted murderers Dick Hickock and Perry Smith.
- DirectorPaul SchraderStarsKen OgataMasayuki ShionoyaHiroshi MikamiA fictionalized account in four chapters of the life of celebrated Japanese writer Yukio Mishima.
- DirectorDavid VelozStarsBen StillerMaria BelloJay PaulsonA comedy writer struggles to overcome his addiction to heroin while putting his professional and personal life in danger.
- DirectorJohn Lee HancockStarsEmma ThompsonTom HanksAnnie Rose BuckleyAuthor 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.
- DirectorPhilip KaufmanStarsGeoffrey RushKate WinsletJoaquin PhoenixIn a Napoleonic era insane asylum, an inmate, the irrepressible Marquis De Sade, fights a battle of wills against a tyrannically prudish doctor.
- DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsAnthony HopkinsDebra WingerJulian FellowesC.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.
- DirectorDavid Hugh JonesStarsAnne BancroftAnthony HopkinsJudi DenchTrue story of a transatlantic business correspondence about used books that developed into a close friendship.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsHarriet AnderssonGunnar BjörnstrandMax von SydowRecently 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.
- DirectorMartin ProvostStarsEmmanuelle DevosSandrine KiberlainOlivier GourmetViolette 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 two women that will last throughout their lives, a relationship based on the quest for freedom through writing for Violette and conviction for Simone to have in their hands the fate of an extraordinary writer.
- DirectorDan IrelandStarsVincent D'OnofrioRenée ZellwegerAnn WedgeworthIn 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.
- DirectorRainer Werner FassbinderStarsKurt RaabMargit CarstensenHelen VitaA 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.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsBrigitte BardotJack PalanceMichel PiccoliA 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.
- DirectorJohn M. StahlStarsGene TierneyCornel WildeJeanne CrainA 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.
- DirectorAl PacinoStarsAl PacinoJerry OrbachSusan FloydHarry and Jake, two unsuccessful writers, spend a cathartic evening arguing about money, aesthetics, their friendship, and Harry's new manuscript.
- DirectorGiuseppe TornatoreStarsGérard DepardieuRoman PolanskiSergio RubiniOnoff 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, out of breath and running madly, without clear memory of recent events, the Inspector is suspicious. Through interrogatory dialectic, the head of this lonely, isolated, broken-down police station tries to establish what has happened, by delving into the mind of his writer-hero, and clearing up a mysterious killing.
- DirectorHarris GoldbergStarsMatthew PerryLynn CollinsKevin PollakA chronically-depressed screenwriter desperately tries to cure his condition when he meets the girl of his dreams.