Hugh Grant, Marisa Tomei Carry Standard Issue Rom-Com 'The Rewrite'

By Joel Wicklund in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 12, 2015 8:00PM

Marisa Tomei as Holly Carpenter and Hugh Grant as Keith Michaels in “The Rewrite,” an RLJE/Image Entertainment Films release. (Photo : Anne Joyce.)

As an alternative to the bondage-themed 50 Shades of Grey, the Valentine's Day weekend release of The Rewrite seems well timed, though as a mainly video-on-demand release (it's playing at one suburban theater), its success depends on couples who are staying at home. Fair enough. The film's minor pleasures and nondescript visual style don't really warrant a $10 to $12 ticket anyway.

Its title is sure to be a bullseye for critics, but The Rewrite really isn’t a bad movie, just a terribly generic one. Maybe another rewrite could have spruced up this by-the-numbers romantic comedy, but a tad more energy in its execution wouldn't have hurt either.

To be fair, if Hugh Grant looks a little tired and bored in the lead, it suits the role ... to a point. As a down-on-his-luck screenwriter desperate to recapture the magic of his one hit film, he plays burned out very well. The trouble is that when the inevitable uplift occurs (no spoiler alert needed; this is a romantic comedy after all), Grant's demeanor changes only marginally.

In need of work, his character leaves L.A. to take a job as a screenwriting teacher at Binghamton University in New York. With no interest in teaching, he uses his class to scope out attractive female students for possible conquests while planning to spend most of his time working on a comeback screenplay. A more age-appropriate coed (Marisa Tomei) invades his phony academic domain, challenging his lax methods and questionable motivation.

If you are curious how this scenario will play out, you don't go to the movies very often. But predictability isn't lethal when the formula is done right, and there are times when The Rewrite comes close to its intended familiar-but-fun mark. Grant's dry delivery nicely emphasizes the writer's deflated ego with a handful of good lines, and Tomei does a solid job playing the optimistic go-getter rubbing against his defeatism.

The movie has a good supporting cast too, with the inimitable Chris Elliott adding a slightly creepy vibe to Grant's needy neighbor and Oscar lock J.K. Simmons as his tough but occasionally weepy boss. Allison Janney's comic talents are largely wasted as Grant’s teaching nemesis, but she does what she can with the limited part.

There's a lethargic feel to the movie that no cast member could really undo. Writer-director Marc Lawrence made three previous features with Grant as his leading man, but his screenplay doesn't capitalize on his star's trademark delivery and charisma. The classroom scenes suggest Lawrence was afraid to make too many movie-savvy references and lose a general audience, where they actually could have added some much needed pop culture punch.

The Rewrite comes at an especially weak moment in Grant's career. Admittedly, mainstream Hollywood isn't turning out the kind of sophisticated comedies that best suit him. Still, the former A-lister shares some of the blame for his increasingly low box office profile. He has coasted for a long time on his familiar onscreen persona. His inspired vocal performance in the sensational Aardman animated film, The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012), suggests what he might do with a role that didn't require him to merely be charming or droll.

Without the box office expectations Grant was once saddled with, Tomei has fared much better at mid-career, including her Oscar-nominated role in The Wrestler. Not everything on her recent resume has been a winner, but she seems to have a better eye for material than Grant, or at least works harder to find it—appearing in nearly three times as many films as he has since 2007.

Being prolific doesn't guarantee good results, but if Grant wants to reinvigorate his career (he may not, as he's talked of retiring), he might do well to look homeward, as British film comedy seems to be on the uptick. A pairing with Steve Coogan perhaps? If not that, I would be first in line for a sequel to Pirates.

The Rewrite. Written and directed by Marc Lawrence. Starring Hugh Grant, Marisa Tomei, J.K. Simmons, Allison Janney and Chris Elliott. 107 mins. No MPAA rating.

Opens Friday, Feb. 13 at the AMC South Barrington 30 theaters and via VOD.