Mr. Write (1994)

User Rating:

3.4/10   

Director:

Charlie Loventhal

Writers:

Howard J. Morris (play)
Howard J. Morris (screenplay)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Charlie's got a bad case of writer's block...And her name is Nicole!

Plot:

Aspiring writer (with no talent) gets a job on a TV commercial, falls for an advertising executive. |

Plot Keywords:

Advertising | Bear Costume | Based On Play | Independent Film

Cast

Paul Reiser	...	Charlie Fischer
Jessica Tuck	...	Nicole Barnes
Martin Mull	...	Dan Barnes
Doug Davidson	...	Roger
Thomas F. Wilson	...	Billy (as Tom Wilson)
Jane Leeves	...	Wylie
Darryl M. Bell	...	Lawrence
Wendie Jo Sperber	...	Roz
Eddie Barth	...	Dad
Gigi Rice	...	Shelly
Shannon Sturges	...	Rachel
Bernard Hocke	...	Jake
Renee Souli	...	Peg
Jack Kenny	...	Restaurant Host
Gloria Fishman	...	Mother in Play

Also Known As:

Don't Stop Now (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Australia:MA | USA:PG-13

Company:

Star Partners Limited Partnership

Quotes:

Mr. Rhett: What the hell were you doing up there? Do you think acting is just standing up on a stage, mumbling lines? Is THAT what you think, Mr. Arrogant Playwright? You're a BABY! You DISGUST me! You're VOMIT! You're COMPLETE and ABSOLUTE, VOMIT!
Charlie: So, in other words, you didn't like it?
Mr. Rhett: Get off the stage, VOMIT. I said, Get Off The Stage! You're hopeless. You're all hopeless...

Soundtrack:

Gimme A Little Sign

Too many Ding-a-Lings in the script.

There's a certain sort of movie or television fare that I like to have tuned in on telly in the background while I'm doing boring housework. The show has to be interesting enough to divert me, but not interesting enough to demand my full attention, because then I won't get the housework done.

'Mr Write' came on while I was housecleaning. It proved to be *more* boring than housework ... and I was just about to switch off, when there was one clever piece of dialogue. A man asks his wife where the toothpaste is, and she replies 'It's in the tube marked "Crest".' I was impressed with this line; it's not especially funny, but it's a clever way to get a product plug into the dialogue.

So now get this ironic plot. Paul Reiser plays a struggling playwright. Out of the blue comes a candy manufacturer played by Martin Mull, whom I've never found remotely funny. (I've found Reiser funny elsewhere, but not here.) Mull offers to use his money to bankroll a production of Reiser's play. Reiser agrees, but then he learns there's a catch: the dialogue and staging of the play must include several references to Mull's product Chocolate Ding-a-Lings. Suddenly, Reiser's character has artistic qualms.

Huh? Wha-? I know for a fact that many live-theatre productions contain commercial plugs. What Reiser has been offered here is nothing new. And of course this same thing -- product placement -- happens in movies routinely. Reiser's response is utterly implausible. Even more implausible is the fact that Mull is able to put his Ding-a-Lings into the script without Reiser's consent or even his knowledge. Under the terms of the Dramatists Guild agreement, a stage play (unlike a movie or TV script) CANNOT be altered without the playwright's consent.

All of this hugger-mugger pluggery is made more contrived because of the presence of that line about Crest toothpaste, suggesting that the people who made this film are very familiar with how product placement works.

Elsewhere in this wretched movie, we have a prole character who compares himself to 'that guy Willy Loman'? Why can't he just cite Willy Loman, and leave 'that guy' out of it? Obviously, the scriptwriter assumes we've never heard of 'Death of a Salesman', or perhaps that we won't believe that this character would be familiar with the play.

Jane Leeves, whom I've found very funny and extremely sexy elsewhere, is wasted here as a woman from Leeds (with the wrong accent). I'll rate this rubbish exactly one point, for that toothpaste gag.