The Rewrite (2014)

I am a huge fan of Hugh Grant’s films, from Two Weeks Notice to Notting Hill to Music & Lyrics. Hugh has been noticeably absent from films for a few years now, saying in interviews that he has become very picky about which films he will be in as they must have a good storyline for him to be interested. Therefore when I heard he had a new film coming out I was both excited and nervous. Excited because it’s Hugh and I always love his films and nervous because he’s a little older now and possibly can’t play the usual character he depicts in the majority of his films.

However, there were some good reviews on the film and so I was hoping that it would be as good as his previous films. I was certainly not disappointed! After watching it my friends and I were singing the film’s praises and Hugh’s part within the film. Yes it is a slightly different character to what we normally see Hugh play, but in a way that’s actually really good because no one wants to see a more mature man trying to act like he’s still in his twenties or thirties!

The film follows Hugh’s character Keith (another difference as normally Hugh is a secondary character to the female lead) who is an Oscar winning screenwriter who now struggles to get any work and is forced into taking a teaching position in a university in the middle of nowhere. We see Hugh’s character go from someone clearly not interested in teaching – he spends only five minutes in the first lecture of term before he dismisses them for a month – to realising what he can do for these students and relishing in his role of teacher. Of course there are many challenges along the way, mainly clashing with a fellow teacher (played by the brilliant Allison Janney) who takes her position very seriously and has an instant dislike to Keith.

The whole cast is very strong, from all the students in Keith’s class – in particular Marisa Tomei who plays the mature student that helps Keith on his path to discovering his love of teaching – to his fellow teachers played by J.K. Simmons (now an Oscar winner for his part in Whiplash) and Chris Elliott.

Though the film is no Two Weeks Notice, it is a new direction for Hugh and is a great watch. There are some genuine laugh out loud moments (something which is hard to come by from ‘comedy’ films these days) and though the storyline may be a little predictable there are still a few curveballs to surprise you along the way. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to all ages.