Themes: Workplace Romance, Creative Block, Writer's Life
Main Cast: Kate Hudson, Kate Hudson, Kate Hudson, Kate Hudson, Kate Hudson, Luke Wilson, Luke Wilson, Jordan Lund, Sophie Marceau, David Paymer, Alexander Wauthier, Earl Carroll, Leili Kramer, Rip Taylor, Chino XL
Release Year: 2003
Country: US
Run Time: 96 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Rob Reiner directs Luke Wilson and Kate Hudson in Alex & Emma, a romantic comedy about an author and his secretary. Gangsters will kill Alex (Wilson) in 30 days if he doesn't pay back his gambling debts. The only way he can do that is to finish his new novel. He hires sassy court stenographer Emma (Hudson) to transcribe his dictation. The film intercuts between the two of them writing the story, and the story within the story. Hudson plays three roles in the film, and Wilson plays two. Sophie Marceau and David Paymer round out the cast. The premise is (very) loosely based on a series of events that befell Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Rob Reiner - Wirschafter; Francois Giroday - Croupier; Lobo Sebastian - Flamenco Dancer #1; Chino XL - Flamenco Dancer #2; Cloris Leachman - Grandmother; Robert Costanzo - Bus Driver; Michael Rapaport - Casino Owner; Paul Wilson - "Whistling" John Shaw; Danica Sheridan - Receptionist; Gigi Bermingham - Madame Blanche; Jordi Caballero - Flamenco Dancer #3
Credit
Helen Harwell - Art Director, Ring of Fire Studios - Animator, Perry Dodgson - Boom Operator, Jane Jenkins - Casting, Janet Hirshenson - Casting, Laura Z. Wasserman - Consultant/advisor, Pete Anthony - Conductor, Joseph Merhi - Co-producer, Adam Scheinman - Co-producer, James Holt - Co-producer, Shay Cunliffe - Costume Designer, Timothy Wegman - Costume Designer, Candice Sabbah Dobkousky - Costume Designer, Shari Gray - Costume Designer, Frank Capra III - First Assistant Director, Rob Reiner - Director, Robert Leighton - Editor, Alan Edward Bell - Editor, Peter Guber - Executive Producer, Jeffrey Stott - Executive Producer, Steve Tisch - Executive Producer, Jason Blumenthal - Executive Producer, Rita Troy - Hair Styles, Kathy Bondell - Hair Styles, K. Troy Zestos - Hair Styles, Robbie Goldstein - Location Manager, Marc Shaiman - Composer (Music Score), Cheryl Voss - Makeup, Ronnie Specter - Makeup, Renata Helfman - Makeup, Anthony Gaudioz - Camera Operator, John Larena - Production Designer, Gavin Finney - Cinematographer, Catherine S. McComb - Production Manager, Todd Black - Producer, Alan Greisman - Producer, Jeremy Leven - Producer, Rob Reiner - Producer, Elie Samaha - Producer, Michael S. Pryor - Producer, Andi Brittan - Set Designer, Ring of Fire Studios - Special Effects, Robert Eber - Sound Mixer, Tim Boyle - Sound Mixer, Donna Evans - Stunts, Jeremy Fitzgerald - Stunts, Diamond Farnsworth - Stunts Coordinator, Jerry Spivack - Special Effects Supervisor, Jeffrey Stott - Unit Production Manager, Jeremy Leven - Screenwriter, Rob Reiner - Screenwriter, Andrew Scheinman - Screenwriter, Adam Scheinman - Screenwriter, Charles Saldana - Production Assistant, Bill Hardy - Production Assistant, Bridget Carroll - Production Assistant, Michael Damski - Production Assistant, Margaret Kibe - Production Assistant, Stephen Lynd - Production Assistant, Annette Montalvan - Production Assistant, Kenny Vasquez - Production Assistant, Ryce Hetherington - Production Assistant, Paulette Osorio - Unit Publicist, John Connor - First Assistant Camera, Jimmy Keys - Gaffer, Don Estes - Grip, Tom Greene - Grip, Chris Roundtree - Grip, Mark Rubin - Grip, Fred Steele - Grip, Justin Van Fleet - Grip, Spencer Wilcox - Grip, Jeff Case - Key Grip, Scott Stambler - Music Editor, Alice S. Kim - Post Production Supervisor, Marci Rosenberg - Production Coordinator, James Basile - Properties, David Bedusa - Properties, Chip Herwegh - Properties, Greg Peregon - Properties, David Perez - Properties, Ira Proctor - Properties, Wally J. Weiss - Properties, Scott Buckwald - Properties Master, Melissa Hofmann - Re-Recording Mixer, Stanley Johnston - Re-Recording Mixer, Kerry Lyn McKissick - Script Supervisor, Todd Y. Murata - Second Assistant Director, Dan Hegeman - Sound Effects Director, Mark L. Mangino - Sound Effects Director, Karen Vassar - Sound Effects Director, Dennis Dion - Special Effects Coordinator, Bob Gorelick - Steadicam Operator, Greg Smith - Steadicam Operator, Suzanne Tenner - Still Photographer, Jerry Spivack - Supervising Animator, Lon E. Bender - Supervising Sound Editor, Michael S. Pryor - Visual Effects Producer, Paul Soucek - ADR Editor, Christopher Hogan - ADR Editor, Anna MacKenzie - ADR Editor, Michael Wesley - Assistant Location Manager, Mark Dobkousky - Assistant Production Coordinator, David Clark - Assistant Properties, Lisa Corbin - Assistant Properties, Scott Kidner - Best Boy Electric, Scott Jackson - Best Boy Grip, Bill Pollock - Best Boy Grip, Megan Malley - Buyer, Brandon Cox - Camera Loader, Michelle Lewitt - Casting Associate, Jimmy Crawford - Chief Lighting Technician, Chris Jones - Construction Coordinator, Amanda Linder - Costumes Assistant, Robin Roberts - Costumes Supervisor, Neal Anderson - Dialogue Editor, Kimberly McCord-Wilson - Dialogue Editor, Carlos Gallardo - Dolly Grip, Mike Sweeney - Electrician, Norman Ash - Electrician, Paul Birk - Electrician, Ron Newburn - Electrician, Smith & Webster-Davis Casting - Extra Casting, Aaron Marshall - First Assistant Editor, Jim Towne - First Assistant Editor, James Moriana - Foley Artist, Jeffrey Wilhoit - Foley Artist, Steve Borgese - Greensman, D. Erick Steinway - Leadman, Travis Hjorth - Lead Scenic Artist, Angie Cobbs - Personal Assistant, Mike Gillis - Personal Assistant, Keith Lesser - Personal Assistant, Richard Read - Personal Assistant, Pamela Jones - Personal Assistant, Ian Watermeier - Production Executive, Serge Nolfield - Second Assistant Camera, Melissa V. Barnes - Second Second Assistant Director, Ken Carriveau - Set Dresser, John Pollard - Set Dresser, Leigh French - ADR Loop Group, David Raymond - Cable Person, Roger Baer - Construction Foreman, Mike Cruz - Construction Foreman, Nerses Gezalyan - Foley Mixer, Gary Burritt - Negative Cutter, Jeffrey Caruso - Production Secretary, David Falicki - Set Medic/First Aid, Bart Dion - Special Effects Foreman, Scott Crabbe - Video Assist, Martin T. Charles - Graphic Design, Abigail Sheiner - Art Department Coordinator, Camilla Cox - Art Department Intern, Kristrun Eyjolfsdottir - Art Department Intern, Thomas H. Scully - Assistant Editor, Jennifer Bell - Department Head Hair, Patty York - Department Head Makeup, Bobby Bowman - First Assistant Sound Editor, Susan Hegarty - Dialect Coach, John Ciampa - Compositor, Eric Heavens - Compositor, One Danny Yoon - Lead Compositor, Mark Boucher - Painter, M. Gwinn Alderson - Painter, Jerry Carr - Painter, Clifford Lecuyer - Painter, Joe Murton - Painter
Alex (Wilson) is the author, who must repay a USD$100,000 debt to the Cubanmafia or face dire consequences. After his laptop is destroyed, he hires Emma (Hudson), a stenographer who talks as much as she writes. As Alex dictates his novel to Emma, the movie cuts away to scenes from the novel, where Adam (Wilson) falls for a series of nannies (all played by Hudson). Eventually life imitates art, and Alex and Emma fall in love.
Production
Developed under the working title, Loosely Based on a True Love Story, the movie is loosely based on a true love story of authorFyodor Dostoevsky, who dictated his novel, The Gambler, in 30 days in order to pay off a gambling debt—and in the process, fell in love with his young stenographer.
