The rewrite (Hugh Grant)

(Amazon UK link)

It’s ten years since we watched the 2014 film ‘The rewrite’. We hadn’t remembered anything about it, but saw a trailer for it last week, and thought it looked worth rewatching.

Hugh Grant stars as the screenwriter Keith who had a tremendous success fifteen years before the story begins. He won awards, and people still talk about his film ‘Paradise misplaced’. He did write some other screenplays, but had no more triumphs, and is now somewhat depressed, lacking money and uninspired.

Then he’s offered an unexpected post teaching screenwriting at a small university in New York. He hates the idea - he’s convinced that writing cannot be taught - but eventually agrees. He finds people very friendly - one of his potential students rather too friendly - and full of admiration for his famous film. Then he manages to upset one of his colleagues, first by being rude about Jane Austen, and then about women in films. He’s had a bit too much wine and gets himself into more and more trouble…

Since he only arrives a couple of days before his course starts, he’s given an impossible task - of reading through around a hundred 30-page hopeful screenplays by students who would like to be in his class. He has no chance of reading them, so selects girls primarily based on their looks. And a couple of rather nerdy boys. Then he tells them to go and write the rest of their screenplays and come back a month later…

Inevitably he has to go back on this, and starts tentatively teaching, helped by a mature student called Holly (Marisa Tomei) who asks some useful questions. And, little by little, he realises that he can give some useful hints, and provoke some interesting discussions about the students’ ideas. One of the boys has written an excellent script which he thinks could be professionally produced… the other boy is a Star Wars geek and seems unable to do anything other than imitate Star Wars plots and characters. 

The film has an excellent pace, and the acting is mostly good, if a tad caricatured at times. There’s some light-hearted banter here and there, but we didn’t laugh aloud. It’s billed as a charming comedy; there was certainly some charm in Keith’s growing interest in his students’ work, but we wouldn’t have called it a comedy. 

However, it was well-made, cleverly scripted, and we were both completely absorbed. Hugh Grant is excellent, as he so often is, as a slightly awkward Englishman surrounded by people - particularly girls - who find him inspiring and attractive. It seems unbelievable to me that he is not aware of policies related to teacher/student relationships but then that thread is a significant part of the story.

I liked Holly’s character very much; she is a single mother with two daughters, who is working in every possible job she can in order to support them, and to put herself through university. She’s feisty, intelligent and full of wisdom, too. 

However, I can see why we had totally forgotten it in a decade. There aren’t any real surprises or high drama, and there’s nothing very memorable about it. It made a pleasant evening’s viewing, and we’ll probably watch it again in another ten years or so - but it’s not one I would count as a favourite.

The rating is 12, which slightly surprises me as there’s no nudity, no violence and only the mildest of bad language (maybe one instance of ‘strong’ language). However the story does involve issues not relevant to children or younger teens, and it’s unlikely to be of interest to anyone younger than about fifteen.

Review copyright 2026 Sue's DVD Reviews