Movie Reviews for Writers: Finding Forrester (part 1)

Fantastic cast. Fantastic script. Fantastic filming. It's easy to fall in love with this amazing flick. 

It's Cinderella for the art set. A young guy who'd never get invited to the ball gets his face time with the Prince of Words and learns that he's better than the folks whose approval he was originally seeking, better than he thought he was or could be. 

Let's start with Jamal. When he breaks into William Forrester's apartment, he flees startled, only to find Forrester has edited and critiqued his work. For Jamal, that's the beginning, his origin story, his triggering moment. Someone believed in him and convinced him to believe in himself. We all have them. For me it was a combination of my wife believing in me and an English professor (who also taught writing classes) who saw in me something I didn't think I could do. Based on their confidence in my work, I entered a college short story contest and won first place -- the first time I'd ever thought of entering such a contest. Needless to say, the trigger worked. My origin story was begun. 

"How about 5,000 words on why you should stay the fuck out of my house!" 

We all have our first writing job. Not the first time we write something, but the first time we write something for someone who "ordered" it, who requested it, who assigned the job to us. It's that push the gives us the confidence to keep going, to push ahead beyond that initial belief in us. It may pay. It may not. But it tells us that someone beyond ourselves is interested in our work. 

Ultimate that confidence, that belief is always tested. For some, it's a long lull in publishing opportunities. For others, it watching others get the good gigs and decent sales. For Jamal, it's the accusation of plagiarism. 

"There's a question in your writing suggesting what is it you want to do with your life." 

What drives your writing? How much of your longing can be found in your words? I've covered this in other reviews, but it's an important topic that movies about writers can often miss. Do you want to matter? Do you want to make money? Do you want to show your true self to the world? Do you want to escape into fantasy? Jamal wants to matter, wants people to acknowledge him, wants a place to fit in. That's evident to Forrester from the first time he reads Jamal's work. 

I want to know that I mattered beyond my death. I want my words to outlast me. That's why drives my work. Ideally, I'd love to see just one story studied in the canon of university literature after I'm gone. So, in a lot of ways, Jamal and I are alike. We just want to matter. Now. Later. 

Perhaps this exchange is my favorite part of the film though. 

"What's it feel like?"

"What?"

Writing something the way you did?"

"Perhaps you'll find out."

That's the goal. Isn't it?

Read part 2 of this review.