''Just Write'' is a 1997 American

romantic comedy film Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

directed by Andrew Gallerani starring

Jeremy Piven Jeremy Samuel Piven (born July 26, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Ari Gold in the comedy series ''Entourage'', for which he won a Golden Globe Award and three consecutive Emmy Awards. He also starred in the British ...

Sherilyn Fenn Sherilyn Fenn (born Sheryl Ann Fenn; February 1, 1965) is an American actress and author. She came to attention for her performance as Audrey Horne on the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991, 2017) for which she was nominated for a Go ...

JoBeth Williams Margaret JoBeth Williams (born December 6, 1948) is an American actress and television director. Her directorial debut with the 1994 short film ''On Hope'' earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film. In 2009 she began ...

and

Wallace Shawn Wallace Michael Shawn (born November 12, 1943) is an American actor, playwright, and essayist. His film roles include Wally Shawn (a fictionalized version of himself) in '' My Dinner with Andre'' (1981), Vizzini in ''The Princess Bride'' (1987), ...

Plot

Harold McMurphy (Piven) is a single, 30-year-old, Hollywood-obsessed tour bus driver in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...

who works for his father's struggling tour company. He dreams of finding a perfect woman that will love him for who he is, despite his father's insistence that he lower his standards. When two women from a tour ask Harold where they can see Hollywood stars, he directs them to a trendy Hollywood cafe where his best friend, Danny (Jeffrey D. Sams), is a bartender. Harold goes to meet them and overhears a conversation in which a man hits on a woman by telling her that he is a writer represented by Arthur Blake (Shawn). Harold then spots up-and-coming actress Amanda Clark (Fenn) arguing with her agent, Sidney Stone (Williams). Danny encourages Harold to ask Amanda for an autograph. She greets him warmly and asks what he does. He lies and tells her that he is a writer represented by Arthur Blake. Amanda asks for his feedback on a screenplay for a movie she is cast in. Danny encourages Harold to pursue Amanda romantically, even though she has a movie-star boyfriend, Rich Adams (

Costas Mandylor Costas Mandylor (born Konstantinos Theodosopoulos; 3 September 1965) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Kenny in ''Picket Fences'' and for portraying Mark Hoffman in the ''Saw'' films. Early life Mandylor was born i ...

). Harold meets with Amanda to discuss the script and is the only person who sees the same problems with the screenplay that she sees. Amanda takes Harold to a party filled with stars and elites so they can confront Sidney with Harold's opinion of the script. After Sidney dismisses them both, Amanda catches Rich with another woman. Rich and Sidney set out to stop Harold's budding relationship with Amanda before it embarrasses them both. Meanwhile, Harold's father decides to set him up with an "interesting-looking" psychic named Lulu (Yeardley Smith). After escaping from Lulu, Harold takes Amanda on a date to a local fair. At the end of their date, Amanda tells Harold that she's arranged for him to rewrite the screenplay, telling Harold that Sidney will call Arther Blake the next day to finalize the details and set the pay. Harold tries to tell Amanda the truth about himself, but can't bring himself to. The next morning, Harold sneaks into Arthur Blake's office and explains the whole situation. Arthur Blake advises Harold to "just write". Despite knowing nothing about writing, Harold buys a stack of books on screenwriting and dedicates himself to rewriting the screenplay. His father convinces him that the key to being a great writer is to be a great drinker, and encourages him to go find a bar and get drunk. Meanwhile, Amanda realizes she's falling for Harold and begins digging for information about him. Nobody knows anything about him. She calls the tour company looking for him. Harold's father answers, thinking he's talking to Lulu, and tells her to forget about Harold because he's only interested in Hollywood floozies. Amanda then finds Harold at the bar where they first met, drunk and surrounded by giggling women. She confronts Harold about his obsession with floozies and ends their relationship. He tries, again, to tell her the truth, but she drives away before he can finish explaining it. Dejected, Harold goes back home and finishes rewriting the script. Assuming that his screenwriting career is over before it began, Harold goes back to driving the tour bus. Harold's father finds out that Amanda accused him of being obsessed with floozies and realizes that he is the reason they broke up. He goes to Amanda's home to explain the mix-up and fix her relationship with Harold. While driving the tour bus, Harold sees Rich with a bouquet of flowers and realizes that he is on his way to see Amanda. Harold races with Rich to get to Amanda's house first so he can finally explain why he lied about being a writer. Harold arrives at Amanda's house and she tells him that his father already explained everything. She also tells him that she loved the script, except for one thing. She asks if he's ever been in love, because the hero in the movie doesn't respond like a man in love. Then they kiss, serenaded by applause by customers on the tour bus.

Cast

as Amanda Clark *

as Harold McMurphy *

as Sidney Stone *

as Arthur Blake *

Alex Rocco Alex Rocco (born Alessandro Federico Petricone Jr.; February 29, 1936 – July 18, 2015) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive, gravelly voice, he was often cast as villains, including Moe Greene in ''The Godfather'' (1972) and his Pr ...

as Mr. McMurphy * Jeffrey D. Sams as Danny *

as Rich Adams *

Yeardley Smith Martha Maria Yeardley Smith ( ; born July 3, 1964) is an American actress, artist and writer. She currently stars as the voice of Lisa Simpson on the long-running animated television series ''The Simpsons''. Smith became an actress in 1982 afte ...

as Lulu *

Holland Taylor Holland Virginia Taylor (born January 14, 1943) is an American actress. She won the 1999 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Judge Roberta Kittleson on ABC's ''The Practice'' (1998–2003). F ...

as Emma Jeffreys *

Anita Barone Anita Louise Barone (born September 25, 1964) is an American actress. She is known for co-starring roles in sitcoms '' The Jeff Foxworthy Show'', ''Daddio'', ''Shake It Up'', '' The War at Home'' and ''Friends''. Life and career Barone was born ...

as Carrie *

Bellina Logan Bellina Logan is an American television and film actress. She is known for her roles in such films and television shows as ''Interview with the Vampire'', ''Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American mystery serial drama television series c ...

as Tory *

Stephanie Miller Stephanie Catherine Miller (born September 29, 1961) is an American political commentator, comedian, and host of ''The Stephanie Miller Show'', a Progressive talk radio program produced in Los Angeles, California, by WYD Media Management and sy ...

as Blake's Assistant *

Nancy McKeon Nancy Justine McKeon (born April 4, 1966) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Jo Polniaczek on the NBC sitcom '' The Facts of Life'' and Jinny Exstead on '' The Division''. Early life and family Nancy Justine McKeon was born o ...

as Bride *

Ed McMahon Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. (March 6, 1923 – June 23, 2009) was an American announcer, game show host, comedian, actor, singer, and combat aviator. McMahon and Johnny Carson began their association in their first TV series, the ABC game sh ...

as Luncheon Chairman *

Todd Susman Todd Susman (born January 17, 1947) is an American actor. Early life A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Susman graduated from Ladue Horton Watkins High School in 1965. Career Susman has appeared in over one hundred different television series and ...

as Priest *

Kristin Dattilo Kristin Dattilo (born November 30, 1970) is an American television actress, known for playing manager Yola Gaylen on ''The Chris Isaak Show'' from 2001 to 2004 and detective Barbara Gianna in season 3 of ''Dexter''. Early life Dattilo was bo ...

as Tourist *

Fred Olen Ray Fred Olen Ray (born September 10, 1954) is an American film producer, director, and screenwriter of more than 200 low-to-medium-budget feature films in many genres, including Horror film, horror, science fiction, action film, action/adventure f ...

as Mandalay Man *

Dorian Gregory Dorian Gregory (born January 26, 1971) is an American actor and television host who played Darryl Morris on the television show ''Charmed'' (1998–2005) and was the fourth and final permanent host of ''Soul Train'', replacing Shemar Moore. ...

as Valet * John Fleck as Bum *

Lou Cutell Lou Cutell (October 6, 1930 – November 21, 2021) was an American actor, who was perhaps best known for his appearance as Amazing Larry in the 1985 film '' Pee-wee's Big Adventure''. Life and career Cutell was born in New York City to Sicil ...

as Luncheon Guest * Barbara Perry as Mildred *

Josh Keaton Joshua Luis Wiener (born February 8, 1979), known by his stage name Josh Keaton, is an American voice actor. He is known for his roles as Takashi 'Shiro' Shirogane in '' Voltron: Legendary Defender'', Spider-Man in various media in addition to ...

as Trolley Teenager *

Mary-Pat Green Mary-Pat Green is an American film, television, and theatre actress. Career Television and film She is best known for playing Odessa on the television series '' Any Day Now''. She has appeared as a guest star on many television series, inc ...

as Mother *

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009 ...

as Himself

Awards and nominations

Marco Island Film Festival: *1998: Won, "Audience Award for Best Feature Comedy" - ''Andrew Gallerani''. Santa Barbara International Film Festival: *1997: Won, "Best Independent Award" - ''Andrew Gallerani''. Santa Clara International Film Festival: *1998: Won, "Best Feature Comedy Film" - ''Heath McLaughlin''. Temecula Valley International Film Festival: *1997: Won, "Viewer's Choice Award" - ''Andrew Gallerani''.

References

External links

* *{{Rotten Tomatoes, just_write 1997 films 1997 romantic comedy films American independent films Films shot in California Films set in California American romantic comedy films 1997 independent films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films