It's set in modern times and tells the story of a young publisher who has inherited her presumed dead father's respected publishing house. It follows her interaction with a famous author who had one masterpiece decades earlier but has published nothing since.
Lucy Stanbridge (Aubrey Plaza), the young publisher, has specialized in young adult fiction, but things are not going well. Her former boyfriend, Jack Sinclair (Scott Speedman), wants to buy the business and merge it into his much larger enterprise. Lucy and her assistant, Rachel (Ellen Wong), decide they need a book sensation to get Stanbridge Publishing back on track. They discover that Harris Shaw (Michael Caine) had written one great book published by Lucy's father, Joseph (Luc Morissette). In fact, Shaw's contract indicates he owes the publisher one more book.
The rest of the movie follows Lucy's efforts to get a book from the abusive, reclusive, foul-mouthed, alcoholic Shaw. Once achieving that goal, the rest of the film follows the book tour that Lucy Stanbridge and Harris Shaw take to promote the book. All of Shaw's faults shine throughout the book tour until we learn the cause of Shaw's pain in the end.
This is another of those movies that can't figure out what it wants to do. Initially, it edges towards comedy but then tries to lapse into drama. Neither works all that well. There are moments when Michael Caine's characterization of an 80-something curmudgeon works well, but basically, something is amiss in the screenplay. It's a real disappointment that Caine didn't have a better vehicle.
Lucy Stanbridge (Aubrey Plaza), the young publisher, has specialized in young adult fiction, but things are not going well. Her former boyfriend, Jack Sinclair (Scott Speedman), wants to buy the business and merge it into his much larger enterprise. Lucy and her assistant, Rachel (Ellen Wong), decide they need a book sensation to get Stanbridge Publishing back on track. They discover that Harris Shaw (Michael Caine) had written one great book published by Lucy's father, Joseph (Luc Morissette). In fact, Shaw's contract indicates he owes the publisher one more book.
The rest of the movie follows Lucy's efforts to get a book from the abusive, reclusive, foul-mouthed, alcoholic Shaw. Once achieving that goal, the rest of the film follows the book tour that Lucy Stanbridge and Harris Shaw take to promote the book. All of Shaw's faults shine throughout the book tour until we learn the cause of Shaw's pain in the end.
This is another of those movies that can't figure out what it wants to do. Initially, it edges towards comedy but then tries to lapse into drama. Neither works all that well. There are moments when Michael Caine's characterization of an 80-something curmudgeon works well, but basically, something is amiss in the screenplay. It's a real disappointment that Caine didn't have a better vehicle.