Love Stories - Erste Lieben, zweite Chancen

I will be short and sweet (kind of like the film was) and won't go into a summary as the rest of the well-written and accurate summaries have been thus far. I thought this film was really good. The casting was great, as was the plot and story line. It was a touching story, where despite the indiscretions of a married couple, you had them rooting for each other to find their way back to each other and to bring their family together.

The movie went fast and even though you hoped for a happy ending, you weren't quite sure how it was going to turn out. I won't spoil it, but the ride to the end was worth it. It is a cute, summer drama that is worth checking out.

As I make the festival rounds every year I search for that elusive "sweet little American indie." I don't come across them very often, certainly not often enough, but when that moment happens there's a little pitter-patter in my heart as I know I'm witnessing what could be the launching pad for hot new talent -- writers, directors, actors -- who will go on to produce exciting, creative work in the years to come. I found that here in "Writers."

First-time writer/director Josh Boone has crafted an exquisite film which successfully combines several themes that few are able to tackle successfully. Like David Gordon Green's "Snow Angels," my #1 Top Pick of 2007 and one of my favorite indies of the past decade, we see three couples struggling to cope with the primordial human connection -- the innocence and fear of first love, the seesaw of a mature relationship, and the pain of an estranged couple. Ironically (or perhaps not), "Writers" is privileged to have enlisted Green's longtime Director of Photography Tim Orr. But this is a much lighter picture than "Snow Angels," making it especially accessible to young people and families.

Greg Kinnear is William Borgens, the classic what-have-you-done-for-me-lately author who hasn't had a hit in ages but refuses to allow anyone to sense his self-pity. His wife Erica, played by Jennifer Connelly, is the quintessential partner cast aside at the expense of William's inattention and indiscretion. Their teenage children Samantha and Rusty, portrayed by Lily Collins and Nat Wolff, are discovering their own offbeat paths into the wacky world they've inherited. High school student Rusty, in particular, is a struggling writer himself who is beginning to experience the first frightening pangs of adolescent desire. Dad isn't the best role model, after all, but this is a father-son relationship that has promise if either or both can get their acts together. Samantha is in college and headstrong in the ways of a young woman determined to control her life and career at the expense of entering the dating scene and submitting to the wants of a man. Enter Lou (Logan Lerman), the earnest intellectual who'll stop at nothing to win her over.

From top to bottom -- Kinnear, Connelly, Collins, Wolff, Lerman -- "Writers" is perfectly cast. All inhabit their roles as if they created them. In fact, to some extent, that's true as the dialogue's authenticity is at least partly rooted in Boone's generosity in allowing the actors to improvise some of their material (a technique favored by the aforementioned David Gordon Green, as well). Wolff, in particular, takes advantage of this opportunity to add a good deal of the narrative's comic relief with his ad-libbed lines. Interestingly, he did the same in last year's Toronto hit "Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding," in which he played virtually the same character -- a naive youth, physically inexperienced, gently and innocently exploring his potential with the tender yet intimidating opposite sex. Lerman, 19 at the time of filming, played a 15-year-old in his other world premiere selection at this same festival, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower." In "Writers," he goes in the opposite direction as a 21-year-old who couldn't be more different from Perks' Charlie. In that film, his role is similar to Wolff's as the vulnerable virgin. Here, he's a self-assured, bright college student who is destined to charm Samantha off her feet. The fact that he can convincingly portray both these characters in two pictures at the same festival is testament to his talent and versatility. As his would-be suitor, young Lily Collins is an able foil to Lerman's advances and wins over the audience with her sharp wit.

The adults who anchor the film deserve far more credit than they're given. Jennifer Connelly, who won an Academy Award opposite Russell Crowe in 2001's "A Beautiful Mind," is a beautiful soul inside and out as the wounded spouse who still has a place in her heart for a potentially loving husband. He still holds a torch for her, as well, an intensely personal plot device that could easily lack credulity in the hands of lesser professionals. Oscar-nominated Kinnear proves once again why he is one of the industry's go-to guys. Few actors handle comedy and drama equally well, and he has no problem convincing the audience as a tormented has-been. He may be down on his luck but retains the earnestness that brought him fame and a loving family not that long ago. He's poised for a comeback and it's a role tailor-made for Kinnear.

The film is technically well-balanced between slick Hollywood production values and a relaxed indie look. Bright lighting belies the turmoil beneath the surface. The quaint beach house setting used in many of the scenes is awash with a color palette of earth tones and rustic furnishings, a counterculture milieu befitting this family of intellectuals. Mike Mogis and Nate Wolcott's score is combined with a soundtrack of indie music featuring Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, whose attraction to the material led him to write original music for the movie.

Tim Orr is truly a master cinematographer. His signature style is the ability to capture beauty in nature and everyday objects -- a dripping gutter here, a playground swing there -- and photography that is comforting, enveloping the actors in a warm glow that matches their affections. Nobody does it better. Boone was truly fortunate to have Orr on board.

"Writers" is overflowing with the authenticity of real life. You'll laugh, you'll cry -- often in the same scene -- and, most of all, you'll empathize with at least one of the characters. There isn't one of us who hasn't experienced the feelings and emotions exhibited by the members of this richly complex family. That's key to this ensemble that features many of our best and brightest young independent film actors. For what I expect a "sweet little American indie" to accomplish, "Writers" is simply perfection.

Because if this is anything it's a fantasy by writers about writers for people who think they want to be writers. Everyone is brilliant I insightful charming warm caring and infinitely forgiving of the people who screw them over the hardest. They even tend to the sick and have hot chocolate with the black maid. Except for the Lilly Collins character. She's a narcissistic bully trying to be Diablo Cody age 20 going on 55 trying to be 17. Everyone totally gets and loves everyone. Girls will sleep with you before the first date. Anyone under the age of 25 instantly knows every social and pop reference including all literature for the past half century. And I don't know what smartphones they have but they sound better than my home theater. Ms. Bell steals the show with her smart funny role but her character is sadly not realistic with the nearly 20 year difference of her "buddy". Kinnear plays to type: depressed. Ms Connelly also plays to type; angry needy clingy yet bossy and passive aggressive. But the takeaway is that if you want to be a published novelist with your first and only book all you need is to be smart and sassy.

This movie is okay now, but it would be great if they don't make it about writers. They could change the occupation to a more realistic one for the kind of characters they have. I mean please don't demean the profession. The base story about relationships of the family was good. But why did they have to show a 19 year old publishing her first book so easily?

According to them, if you write journals then you would be a great writer. If you are suffering then just go and click click on your keyboard and you are ready with a story that will get "The Stephen King" to call you. HaHa.

"A writer is the sum of their experiences. Go get some." William Borgens (Kinnear) is a famous and best selling author who hasn't written anything since his wife left him three years ago. He is raising his two children who are also trying to become published. While his children are trying to figure their lives out William is stuck between trying to move on with his love life or keep waiting for his ex to return. This is a movie that I had high expectations for basically because I really like Greg Kinnear. This movie is very much like Crazy Stupid Love in tone so if you like that movie you will like this one as well. The acting in this is great as would be expected and this is a very real life type movie. Everyone in this is flawed but nothing to outrageous or unbelievable. That fact alone made the movie seem real and grounded. There really isn't much I can say without giving things away but I do recommend this and I did like it a lot. Overall, fans of Crazy Stupid Love will really like this. I give it a B.