Starting Out in the Evening (2007)

Here we get a low key film giving the characters a chance to truly drive the film, much like a stage play. Frank Langella offers a restrained performance as an old fashioned and quite old author banging out his final novel.

A nubile literature critic graduate student visits an old author, Schiller, who has spent his last years teaching and hasn't turned out a novel in decades. Seeing greatness in Schiller's earlier books, she decides to write a piece in a literary magazine to try and bring him out from behind the shadows and maybe even get his novels reprinted. The professional relationship turns personal and the two begin to challenge the other.

The story speaks most about inspiration and meaning. For Schiller, life has been on pause for decades and more than just a muse has to bring him back to purpose, back from wandering in the woods.

The writing in the film is great as it juxtaposes this most recent generation with that of the silent one. The story blossoms gently into a small and yet poignant flower.

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