Get us in your inbox

The Rewrite

  • Film
  • 2 out of 5 stars
Advertising

Time Out says

2 out of 5 stars

Those who hoped that playing a ferocious face-painted cannibal in his last movie, ‘Cloud Atlas’, might have got Hugh Grant’s thespian juices flowing again are in for a disappointment with this half-hearted not-quite-romcom. He plays Keith Michaels, a failed Hollywood screenwriter who, in desperation, takes a job teaching at a remote American university. Michaels is a nasty piece of work – he preys on younger women, belittles older ones, drinks too much and generally alienates everyone around him – but whaddayaknow, it’s not long before the joys of education and the charms of simple small-town life have got their hooks into him.

Everyone here deserves better: Marisa Tomei could do vivacious single mom in her sleep, the mighty Alison Janney is reduced to playing a humourless feminist battleaxe – named, to no one’s amusement, Ms Weldon – and Grant looks as uncomfortable and out of place as his character. Still, writer-director Marc Lawrence was responsible for the equally dreadful ‘Did You Hear About the Morgans?’, also starring Grant, so the one-time heartthrob must have known what he was letting himself in for.

Written by Tom Huddleston

Release Details

  • Release date:Friday 10 October 2014
  • Duration:106 mins

Cast and crew

  • Director:Marc Lawrence
  • Screenwriter:Marc Lawrence
  • Cast:
    • Marisa Tomei
    • Allison Janney
    • Hugh Grant
Advertising
You may also like
You may also like

The best things in life are free.

Get our free newsletter – it’s great.

Loading animation
Déjà vu! We already have this email. Try another?

🙌 Awesome, you're subscribed!

Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon!