Release: The Writer and the Film Star

 

The Writer and the Film Star

Genre: Drama/Romance

Director: Thomas Vinterberg

Writer: Alex Conn

Cast: Elle Fanning, Miles Teller, Louis Partridge, Kate Micucci, Jai Courtney, Ben Whishaw

Budget: $40,000,000

Domestic Box Office: $21,105,499

Foreign Box Office: $18,424,222

Total Profit: -$20,009,017

Reaction: Despite the star power of Elle Fanning and Miles Teller, this film clearly struggled to find an audience. Its period setting likely limited its appeal with younger moviegoers while also driving up production costs, making it a challenging proposition at the box office.

"The Writer and the Film Star aspires to be a tragic romance between two towering artists, and while it often falls short emotionally, it remains thoughtful and intermittently compelling. The film struggles to convincingly dramatize why Max and January ever loved one another — both characters are drawn more as archetypes than fully dimensional people — but Thomas Vinterberg’s disciplined direction and strong performances give the material a degree of gravitas." - Sean Williamson, Toronto Star

"Despite its title and lush period trappings, The Writer and the Film Star is a romance almost entirely devoid of romance. Max and January don’t grow or surprise so much as endlessly restate their incompatibility, locked into one-dimensional roles that leave little room for nuance or chemistry. By the time the marriage collapses, the audience feels less heartbreak than exhaustion. Well-acted and handsome, but emotionally hollow." - Michael Wilmington, Rolling Stone

"The Writer and the Film Star feels like a romance written by people who’ve read about love, fame, and marriage but never actually lived any of it. The 1920s Paris-and-Hollywood backdrop is lavishly dressed but dramatically empty, functioning as little more than a costume rack for name-drops and cocktail-party posturing. Max and January don’t feel like a couple shaped by shared history so much as two rigid ideas arguing in expensive rooms, repeating the same emotional beat until it loses any meaning. There’s no sense that the showbiz world pressures, corrupts, or transforms them in any meaningful way - it’s just there, humming along without consequence. When the marriage finally collapses, it doesn’t land as tragic or revealing, merely perfunctory, as if the film has realized too late that it never had much to say beyond its own aesthetic." - Dave Manning, Ridgefield Press

Rated R for sexual content, language, and thematic material.