Behind every great film, there is a great script. And, behind every great script, there is a great screenwriter. Characterized by horrendous fashion, boyband beats, and flip phones, the early 2000s were responsible for some of the best rom-coms to hit the screens since the beginning of cinema. Marc Lawrence, a name you have most likely seen flash onto the screen once or twice, was the screenwriter and director behind the 2000s hit films Miss Congeniality (2000), Two Weeks Notice (2002), and Music and Lyrics (2007).
Early Start
Although best known for his movies, Lawrence got his start as a television writer on the 80s TV series Family Ties (1984-1989). Marc explained in an interview with SellingYourscreenplay.com that, before his TV break, his road to the industry was rocky. After attending a year’s worth of law school and deciding he would “probably rather be living in a box on the street and try(ing) to write than (be) a lawyer,” the screenwriter decided to make his dream come true.
Not having a better place to start, Lawrence wrote a screenplay about his experience in college and sent it to every major player in the industry he could find. Having 78 of his 80 copies returned unread, two individuals took the chance on a newcomer. These players, Jack Rollins- the creator of the Woody Allen movies- and Marsha Amsterdam, who later went on to become Marc’s first agent, took a leap of faith by reading his script. After deciding he was a writer of quality, Marsha encouraged Lawrence to continue with his dream, but suggested he start in the world of television before movies.
After Marc explained his ill-suited knowledge of television writing, Marsha encouraged him to go home and study the art form. When flipping through the channels for inspiration, Lawrence came across the beloved ’80s show, Family Ties, and wrote a script for the characters.
Amsterdam helped the writer get his idea to the show’s creator, Gary David Goldberg, and fairly quickly, he was flown out to LA to join the writing team. Marc explained that over his 5-year stint on the show, he went from staff writer to supervising producer which firmly placed him in the grip of Hollywood.
After Family Ties, Marc went on to write for Michael J. Fox’s, Life with Mikey (1993). While the film’s star was enjoying fame at the height of his career, the movie only experienced marginal success at the box office, bringing in a total of $12,440,858 worldwide.
Success in the Making
After completing Life with Mikey, Lawrence continued in the world of television by writing on 1 episode of Monty (1994) and 6 episodes of Pride and Joy (1995). In 1999, Lawrence was attached to the movie Forces of Nature, which, at the time of release, was considered a cinematic flop. Having a budget of $75,000,000, the film brought in a moderate $93,900,680 worldwide. Following Forces of Nature, Lawrence worked on the Steve Martin movie The Out-of-Towners. Having a 28% score on Rotten Tomatoes, the film was also considered a flop, bringing in a total of $28,544,120 worldwide off a $75,000,000 budget.
After the throat punches of discouragement, Lawrence wrote the script for Sandra Bullock’s smash hit, Miss Congeniality (2000). Not only was the film successful, but it was ranked 20th worldwide at the box office during its release year, bringing in a whopping $212,742,720. Lawrence continued on to have three more wildly successful films from 2002-2007 with Two Weeks Notice (2002), Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005), and Music and Lyrics (2007).
After the success of Music and Lyrics, Marc’s writing started to hit a downward trend in terms of measurable success with 2009’s Did You Hear About The Morgans? and 2014’s The Rewrite, despite having the big-name actors of Hugh Grant, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Marisa Tomei. His last credited writing project to date was for the 2019 direct-to-streaming movie Noelle starring Anna Kendrick and Bill Hader.
While Marc has experienced many less-than-successful projects, his movies have been some of the most beloved films of the past 25 years. But what, you may wonder, made some of these films work over the others? While the quality of the script plays a significant role in the success of the film, everything from the production companies attached to the quality of casting plays a huge hand in a project becoming a hit. It’s impossible to say with full certainty why a film does or does not succeed with the public.
While Miss Congeniality has been, arguably, Lawrence’s most successful film to date, the film’s lead actress, Sandra Bullock, was the same actress attached to Forces of Nature- the writer’s least successful film. Additionally, the actor who played opposite Sandra in Forces of Nature was Ben Affleck; an actor who had just walked off the success of the cult-classic film Armageddon (1998). In Miss Congeniality, however, Sandra’s love interest is played by Benjamin Bratt- an arguably less well–known actor.
Besides the main faces, the directors of both projects were different as well. Bronwen Hughes was the director assigned to Forces of Nature, whereas Lawrence was given the job for Miss Congeniality. My main theory for the film’s success goes down to his ability to control the work as both the director and writer.
Additionally, during Force of Nature’s release in 1999, Roger Michell’s ridiculously successful British film Notting Hill– a movie that went on to experience record-breaking levels of success both domestically and internationally- was being released. After the non-success of Forces of Nature, Bullock’s next project provided some much beloved redemption. Coming off the success of Miss Congeniality, it’s understandable why the 2002 rom-com classic Two Weeks Notice was such a hit. Not only was Bullock enjoying her time in the limelight, but her co-star, Hugh Grant, had just finished one of his most successful films, About A Boy, months earlier.
Additionally, in 2002, the audience had been riding the wave of heartwarming romantic comedies since the early ‘90s, and Hollywood understood how to make their viewership fall in love. This movie was the first project of Hugh Grant and Marc Lawrence’s partnership, but it surely was not the last. After writing and filming Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous, the pairing went on to create three more films.
Although Did You Hear About the Morgans? and The Rewrite did not experience the level of success as Two Weeks Notice, 2007’s Music and Lyrics did.
Bullock went on to collaborate with other directors, and Drew Barrymore took to the stage instead. With a budget of $40,000,000, the film ended up bringing in an impressive $145,896,422 worldwide. Between the filming of Two Weeks Notice and Music and Lyrics, Grant went on to film the industry successes of Love, Actually (2003), and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004).
At this point in her career, Drew Barrymore was a familiar face to the romantic comedy genre as well, having done The Wedding Singer (1998), Never Been Kissed (1999), 50 First Dates (2004), and Fever Pitch (2005). Combined with a charming plot, beloved leads, and a wonderful dialogue, it’s easy to see why this movie experienced the success it did.
What puzzled my brain, however, was the less-than-enthusiastic response to his 2009 film, Did You Hear About the Morgans? Starring Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker, the film’s painful 12% rating on Rotten Tomatoes speaks to some of the critiques set against it. The film’s main critiques came down to a predictably written plot and a lack of chemistry between the leads. Though I thoroughly enjoyed the overarching plot, I agree with the critic’s opinion on Parker and Grant’s romantic believability. After Did You Hear About the Morgans?, Lawrence and Grant went on to create the 2014 film, The Rewrite.
Received significantly better by critics, The Rewrite earned a 66% Rotten Tomatoes score and took home $4,453,524 worldwide. Intentionally designed to be a micro-budget film with a small-scale feel, the film succeeded modestly within its intended bounds. When promoting the film at 92NY Plus, Grant and Lawrence had the chance to speak on the industry dynamics between writer, director, and actor. Marc commented on his directing process by saying,
“If you’ve cast a movie correctly, I find that often actors know more about the part, or have special insight into the part that, as a writer, you may not have.”
Conclusion
As an audience member, the lines penned by screenwriters are delivered to us through the actions and interpretations of the actors. While that presents an interesting dynamic to follow on its own, it does, also, distort the originally intended message of the writer. Marc has spoken of his adherence to collaboration in writing by saying,
“It honestly varies from film to film. Sometimes, the ones that we’ve done together, …I’ve mentioned it to Hugh, and, unless he’s, you know, rejected the idea, I’m writing with him in mind. And when I’m writing for Hugh, it’s a very specific, you know, kind of rhythm and stuff…”
He went on to explain how, for Miss Congeniality, he didn’t have an actress in mind when creating the role so, in that case, he had no one to write for.
Later on during the interview, Annette Insdorf complimented Marc on the quality and competency of the female leads in his movies. He comically responded by saying,
“Well, I’m very insecure in my masculinity, so it’s very easy for me to channel that, but I do remember that, in Two Weeks Notice, when we were rehearsing, Sandy said at one point, ‘Oh, I get it. I’m you…’ Sometimes it’s easier, actually, for me to write about my own stuff and put it in another gender.”
While the sentiment itself appears slightly peculiar, the mild-mannered dryness of Marc’s demeanor, in my opinion, translates to his on-screen writing. His genuine intrigue in the craft over any fanfare or recognition to come out of it showcases the humility and realness with his work. When watching one of Lawrence’s films, the characters, though maybe put in outlandish situations, speak and act as realistic every-men. The dialogue he writes is littered with sarcastically dry humor floating across the screen at every turn.
Although not every script he has written became a big-name success, the artistry of Marc’s work is present in every project he has worked on. As a lover of film production, I have thoroughly enjoyed taking a dive into the logistical world for Lawrence’s creation. As an audience member, on the other hand, I find the oh-so-familiar cadence of plot progression and humour he provides to the screen has primed me to enjoy any and every project Marc has worked on, and, for that, my movie watching experience has forever been enhanced.
Sources
“Did You Hear About the Morgans? (2009).” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1314228/. Accessed 22 April 2025.
“Family Ties (TV Series 1982–1989).” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083413/. Accessed 22 April 2025.
Fogerty, John. “Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous (2005).” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0385307/. Accessed 22 April 2025.
Gifford, Alex. “Forces of Nature (1999).” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0141098/?ref_=fn_all_ttl_1. Accessed 22 April 2025.
“image for The Out-of-Towners.” Rotten Tomatoes, https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_out_of_towners. Accessed 22 April 2025.
“image for The Rewrite.” Rotten Tomatoes, https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_rewrite. Accessed 22 April 2025.
IMDb. “Pride & Joy.” IMDb, IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112129/. Accessed 22 April 2025.
“Life with Mikey (1993).” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107413/. Accessed 22 April 2025.
“Main image for Did You Hear About the Morgans?” Rotten Tomatoes, 18 December 2009, https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1213718-did_you_hear_about_the_morgans. Accessed 22 April 2025.
Marc Lawrence at an event for Did You Hear About the Morgans?, 2009
“Miss Congeniality (2000).” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212346/. Accessed 22 April 2025.
“Monty (TV Series 1994).” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108863/. Accessed 22 April 2025.
“Music and Lyrics (2007).” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758766/?ref_=ttco_ov. Accessed 22 April 2025.
92NY Plus. “Reel Pieces with Annette Insdorf: The Rewrite’s Hugh Grant and Marc Lawrence.” YouTube, Google, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnceAZk3F7s. Accessed 22 April 2025.
“The Out-of-Towners (1999).” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0129280/. Accessed 22 April 2025.
“The Rewrite (2014).” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2509850/. Accessed 22 April 2025.
SellingYourScreenplay.com. “SYS Podcast Episode 062: Writer / Director Marc Lawrence Talks About His New Film, The Rewrite.” YouTube, Google, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2iKk9lITQE. Accessed 22 April 2025.
“2000 Worldwide Box Office.” Box Office Mojo, https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/world/2000/. Accessed 22 April 2025.
“Two Weeks Notice (2002).” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0313737/. Accessed 22 April 2025.
[…] year. Three years later, in 2007, Flower Films produced Music and Lyrics with writer/director Marc Lawrence bringing in a whopping $145,896,422 worldwide off a $40 million dollar […]