236 Movies About Writers And The Writing Life

Movies About Writers & The Writing Life

Compiled By Christina & Jason Katz

Created on August 11, 2010

Updated on July 26, 2011

Selection parameters:

• A main character in the film must be a writer. No ensembles in this list unless writing is central to the storyline.
• Only cinema movies are included. No TV movies.
• Only print journalism. No broadcast journalism in this list. Screenwriting and TV writing are both represented. Bloggers are included.
• Biographies or biopics about writers are listed. No documentaries are included.
• No academics as central characters, unless the character is a novelist or some other type of writer.
• Diaries are included, if the diary is part of the central part of the story.
• Films are listed in chronological order by release year.
• If a movie was re-released, then it is listed by its most recent release date.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this list. We had fun pulling it together.

Enjoy!
1. Barrets of Wimpole St. (1934)
2. It Happened One Night (1934)
3. His Girl Friday (1940)
4. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
5. Old Acquaintance (1943)
6. The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944)
7. The Lost Weekend (1945)
8. Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
9. I Remember Mama (1948)
10. The Third Man (1949)
11. In a Lonely Place (1950)
12. Sunset Boulevard (1950)
13. Orpheus (1950)
14. Hans Christian Andersen (1952)
15. A Face In The Crowd (1957)
16. Some Came Running (1958)
17. Teacher’s Pet (1958)
18. The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
19. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
20. The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962)
21. Jules and Jim (1962)
22. 8 ½ (1963)
23. Color of Pomegranates (1968)
24. The Odd Couple (1968)
25. Man of La Mancha (1972)
26. Sleuth (1972)
27. The Way We Were (1973)
28. Front Page (1974, originally 1931)
29. All the Presidents Men (1976)
30. The Front (1976)
31. Julia (1977)
32. Superman (1978)
33. Stevie (1978)
34. My Brilliant Career (1979)
35. Heart Beat (1980)
36. Seems Like Old Times (1980)
37. The Shining (1980)
38. Somewhere in Time (1980)
39. Reds (1981)
40. Rich & Famous (1981)
41. Priest of Love (1981)
42. The World According to Garp (1982)
43. Deathtrap (1982)
44. Author! Author! (1982)
45. My Favorite Year (1982)
46. Missing (1982)
47. Sophie’s Choice (1982)
48. Cross Creek (1983)
49. American Dreamer (1984)
50. Romancing The Stone (1984)
51. Irreconcilable Differences (1984)
52. Just One of the Guys (1985)
53. Out of Africa (1985)
54. Mishima: A Life in 4 Chapters (1985)
55. Heartburn (1986)
56. Stand By Me (1986)
57. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
58. 84 Charing Cross Road (1986)
59. Throw Mama From the Train (1987)
60. Barfly (1987)
61. Waiting for the Moon (1987)
62. Prick Up Your Ears (1987)
63. Best Seller (1987)
64. Rowing With the Wind (1988)
65. Funny Farm (1988)
66. The Accidental Tourist (1988)
67. Da (1988)
68. Her Alibi (1989)
69. My Left Foot (1989)
70. Her Alibi (1989)
71. Beautiful Dreamers (1990)
72. Angel at My Table (1990)
73. Henry and June (1990)
74. Misery (1990)
75. Closetland (1991)
76. Impromptu (1991)
77. Barton Fink (1991)
78. Naked Lunch (1991)
79. Hedd Wynn (1992)
80. The Player (1992)
81. Basic Instinct (1992)
82. Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
83. So I Married An Ax Murderer (1993)
84. The Dark Half (1993)
85. Shadowlands (1993)
86. The Dark Half
87. The Paper (1994)
88. Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
89. Paperback Romance (1994)
90. Tom & Viv (1994)
91. Little Women (1994)
92. Il Postino: The Postman (1994)
93. Mrs. Parker & The Vicious Circle (1994)
94. Delta of Venus (1995)
95. Total Eclipse (1995)
96. The Flower of My Secret (1995)
97. Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
98. Carrington (1995)
99. Delores Claiborne (1995)
100. The Pillow Book (1996)
101. The Whole Wide World (1996)
102. Mother (1996)
103. Hamsun (1996)
104. Welcome to Sarajevo (1997)
105. Deconstructing Harry (1997)
106. Henry Fool (1997)
107. Wilde (1997)
108. Chasing Amy (1997)
109. One True Thing (1998)
110. Shakespeare In Love (1998)
111. A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries (1998)
112. Eternity and a Day (1998)
113. Permanent Midnight (1998)
114. A Murder of Crows (1998)
115. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
116. Croupier (1998)
117. Slam (1998)
118. Les Enfants Du Siècle / The Children of the Century (1999)
119. Topsy Turvey (1999)
120. The Passion of Ayn Rand (1999)
121. Snow Falling on Cedars (1999)
122. Never Been Kissed (1999)
123. The Best Man (1999)
124. The End of the Affair (1999, originally 1955)
125. The Muse (1999)
126. Bamboozled (2000)
127. Almost Famous (2000)
128. Before Night Falls (2000)
129. Joe Gould’s Secret (2000)
130. Nora (2000)
131. Pandaemonium (2000)
132. Wonder Boys (2000)
133. Finding Forrester (2000)
134. Quills (2000)
135. Isn’t She Great (2000)
136. Pinero (2001)
137. Iris (2001)
138. Moulin Rouge (2001)
139. The Shipping News (2001)
140. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
141. Bridget Jones Diary (2001)
142. Amelie (2001)
143. Storytelling (2001)
144. Riding in Cars with Boys (2001)
145. How to Kill your Neighbor’s Dog (2001)
146. Orange County (2002)
147. Possession (2002)
148. The Hours (2002)
149. Adaptation. (2002)
150. Blue Car (2002)
151. I Capture the Castle (2003)
152. Alex & Emma (2003)
153. Shattered Glass (2003)
154. American Splendor (2003)
155. As Good As It Gets (2003)
156. Sylvia (2003)
157. Cheaper By The Dozen (2003)
158. Something’s Gotta Give (2003)
159. Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
160. The Swimming Pool (2003)
161. Veronica Guerin (2003)
162. Notre Musique (2004)
163. Before Sunset (2004)
164. Sideways (2004)
165. The Libertine (2004)
166. Finding Neverland (2004)
167. Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
168. Secret Window (2004)
169. The Door in the Floor (2004)
170. Secret Window (2004)
171. La Tigre E La Neve / Tiger and the Snow (2005)
172. The Dying Gaul (2005)
173. The Squid and the Whale (2005)
174. Capote (2005)
175. The Prize-winner of Defiance Ohio (2005)
176. Factotum (2005)
177. Winter Passing (2005)
178. The Night Listener (2006)
179. Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
180. Scoop (2006)
181. The TV Set (2006)
182. The Hoax (2006)
183. Infamous (2006)
184. Half Light (2006)
185. Miss Potter (2006)
186. Ask the Dust (2006)
187. Running with Scissors (2006)
188. Love and other Disasters (2006)
189. Starting Out in the Evening (2007)
190. Martian Child (2007)
191. Slipstream (2007)
192. Freedom Writers (2007)
193. Becoming Jane (2007)
194. A Mighty Heart (2007)
195. Dan in Real Life (2007)
196. Purple Violets (2007)
197. Moliere (2007)
198. In the Land of Women (2007)
199. Zodiac (2007)
200. Music and Lyrics (2007)
201. 1408 (2007)
202. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
203. Atonement (2007)
204. 27 Dresses (2007)
205. Roman De Gare (2007)
206. Nim’s Island (2008)
207. Marley & Me (2008)
208. The Edge of Love (2008)
209. The Stoning of Soroya M. (2008)
210. Me and Orson Welles (2008)
211. Burn After Reading (2008)
212. Sex & The City: The Movie (2008)
213. Funny People (2009)
214. 500 Days of Summer (2009)
215. Julie & Julia (2009)
216. Gentleman Broncos (2009)
217. Bright Star (2009)
218. The Answer Man (2009)
219. 2012 (2009)
220. Motherhood (2009)
221. Broken Embraces (2009)
222. The Soloist (2009)
223. World’s Greatest Dad (2009)
224. The Last Station (2009)
225. Cole (2009)
226. The Boys are Back (2009)
227. Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009)
228. Spoken Word (2009)
229. Tetro (2009)
230. The Rum Diary (2010)
231. The Ghost Writer (2010)
232. Howl (2010)
233. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010)
234. Sex & The City 2 (2010)
235. Eat, Pray, Love (2010)
236. Midnight in Paris (2011)

As time rolls on, we will need to update this list. Feel free to add suggestions below in the comments. The list will be updated annually each summer.