“School of Schlock”
By Chris Olson
Hugh Grant plays an unenthusiastic screenwriting teacher at an American university when his career as a Hollywood writer seems to be languishing in the boulevard of broken dreams. His unorthodox, and somewhat reckless, approach to moulding the minds of these future greats, though, places his new career in jeopardy.
Those who can’t do teach. The old adage that haphazardly dismisses a significant proportion of working adults forms the basis of The Rewrite, as we see a dried-up writer having to take a job as a teacher in order to stay afloat. However, in a similar style to Jack Black’s character in School of Rock (2003), Keith Michaels (Grant) fails to pay much attention to the rules and finds himself at loggerheads with the powers-that-be. Rulers at the ready.
In a story about a jaded, washed-up writer from L.A. who once wrote a famous screenplay and has been living off its popularity for years, you can imagine his cynicism forms a large part of his personality. Which is definitely true, and to have Hugh Grant play such a character is a genius move. The bumbling, politely awkward gent is in full-swing in The Rewrite, with Grant being the main focal point. Even Marisa Tomei doesn’t get much of a look in as the mature student-cum-mother-of-two.
This is Grant’s classroom and all eyes are fixed firmly on him, with a few comic turns from J. K. Simmons and Allison Janney.
Films that take writing as its main focus have a tendency to become sermonic; rattling on about clichés and the oh-so-ghastly nature of popular culture. The Rewrite, luckily, contains all of this but ridicules writers nontheless. Keith is a perfect example of where being on your high horse will get you, what all your purist beliefs will amount to, and how writing can be meaningful to all walks of life - not just those considered to be “talented” (luckily enough for me).
Having made the School of Rock references earlier in this piece, it seems fitting to conclude with another comparison. Whereas Jack Black stole the show amongst a group of child musicians, riffing off Rock clichés and middle-class snobbery, Grant steals this show amongst a diluted group of student stereotypes by babbling through a series of tired jibes about industry standards and the people who made him who he is.
The surrounding characters are not given enough focus, but if you want to major in Hugh Grant-isms, welcome to the textbook.
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