Whether it’s pen to paper or fingers to keys; whether for the screen or the printed page: writers have a gift for opening up a world of imagination to us and plumbing the mysteries of the human condition.
Here are some movies about writers that do just that.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Genre(s): Comedy, Drama
Director: Terry Gilliam
Starring: Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Ellen Barkin
If you’re looking for a film that depicts the madness everyone expects exists inside the untamed mind of a writer, there’s nothing better than this psychedelic, fictitious portrayal of journalist Hunter S. Thompson’s quixotic trip with his lawyer and a suitcase full of drugs to cover–of all things–a motorcycle race in Las Vegas.
The film gives a colorfully stark, spectacular and drug-addled vantage of a wild ride from the inside out of a mind–or two minds–turned out of their minds on mind-bending substances. Hallucinations commence!
Stream Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas on DIRECTV STREAM or Starz.
Adaptation (2002)
Genre(s): Drama, Comedy
Director: Spike Jonze
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper
What’s better than a movie about one writer? A movie about two writers.
Or, two characters–identical twins played by the same actor–portraying two sides of the film’s actual screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman, in this fictitious… wait for it… adaptation of a bestselling book. Whew!
The book is Susan Orlean’s non-fiction portrait of a roughneck orchid poacher in the Florida swamps, and this film is a loose spin on that.
To give just an idea of how meta this romantic escapade into madness really is, Kaufman’s fictional twin brother in the film is actually credited as a co-writer in the film’s own credits.
Stream Adaptation on HBO Max.
Capote (2005)
Genre(s): Biography, Drama
Director: Bennett Miller
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Clifton Collins Jr., Chris Cooper
Now for something a little more serious–or a lot more. This biopic covers the personal life of the tortured writer Truman Capote as he wrote “In Cold Blood,” the groundbreaking narrative nonfiction true crime book that chilled a nation.
It shows him overcoming the hurdles to writing the horrific and controversial true story of a whole family viciously, brutally murdered in their own home.
It shows the true burdens and obsessions of being a writer and the toll of the stories they tell and the work involved in telling them can take on him.
You can stream Capote on HBO Max and DIRECTV STREAM.
Midnight in Paris (2011)
Genre(s): Romance, Fantasy
Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Michael Sheen, Kathy Bates, Adrian Brody
The premise of this lush and lyrical romantic fantasy paints all the picture you need to go see this dreamlike picture: on a nostalgia-obsessed screenwriter’s trip with his fiancée’s family to Paris, he finds himself taken back in time to the 1920s every night at midnight.
Oh, and it was also written by its own legendary auteur Woody Allen.
Midnight in Paris is available on Amazon Prime Video, Paramount Plus, Epix and DIRECTV STREAM.
Kill Your Darlings (2013)
Genre(s): Drama, Romance, Mystery, Thriller
Director: John Krokidas
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, David Cross, Diane DeHaan, Michael C. Hall, Jack Huston, Ben Foster
The Beat Generation brought us not one but a gaggle of poets and writers who all shared a zeitgeist and an acquaintanceship as they each began their own dubious paths to distinction.
This engrossing sleeper film chronicles the events and influences that shaped the likes of William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsburg and Jack Kerouac–notably in this account a murder that brings them together while they were students at Columbia University in the mid-1940s.
Catch Kill Your Darlings on Tubi.
Paper Lion (1968)
Genre(s): Comedy
Director: Alex March
Starring: Alan Alda, Lauren Hutton, Joe Schmidt
A sports writer George Plimpton, working for Sports Illustrated, wants a new story to pacify his editor. In order to get the best one, he tries participating (with hilarious results) in a baseball and boxing game first before moving on to joining a professional football team (NFL’s Detroit Lions).
Plimpton’s facade of expertise breaks down soon when the other players learn about his true skills. Nevertheless, he manages to find support and takes part in an actual game. Plimpton does not perform well and is eventually sacked from the team after their loss. Despite the setback, he still comes up with a story to write about later.
You can find clips from Paper Lion on YouTube.
Colette (2018)
Genre(s): History, Drama
Director: Wash Westmoreland
Starring: Kiera Knightly, Fiona Shaw, Dominic West, Robert Pugh
Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette moves with her new husband, successful writer “Willy,” from simple and humble rural France to extravagant and intellectual Paris. There, she takes on an unexpected role as her husband’s ghostwriter, penning a partly autobiographical novel about her own journey.
This book, “Claudine,” becomes a massive sensation and spawns a series of acclaimed novels all featuring Colette’s fictional self at their core.
Colette is available to stream on Hulu, Hoopla and Kanopy.