“If I’d known you were coming, I’d have sent you an invitation.”

Justin’s rating: A damn fine piece of pie

Justin’s review: The way I see it, there are two types of California movies. There are the ones where California suburbs and high schools stand in for America as a whole, and there are the ones where Hollywood fawns all over Hollywood as if it’s the only thing worth knowing and idolizing. I’m very much over the second variety, especially in this age where we’ve seen the wizard behind the curtain and have lost our awe of him.

So why embark on Just Write, a romcom that threatens to be more of a love letter to showbiz than a promising couple? Honestly, I did this based on upbeat word-of-mouth recommendations and perhaps some lingering loyalty to Jeremy Piven because of PCU a few years before.

Here, Piven plays Harold, a genial tour bus driver who’s living his great dream of showing off the homes of the stars to the unimpressed. He does feel as though he’s missing that love connection and perhaps a greater purpose, especially in the face of his family’s tour company getting shut down by the bank.

One day at his friend’s bar, Harold bumps into his all-time favorite actress, Amanda Clark (Sherilyn Fenn, Twin Peaks). She’s worried about the quality of the script for an upcoming project and mistakes Harold for a screenwriter, asking him to punch it up for her.

Starry-eyed and given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Harold decides to take a crack at becoming a writer so he can keep seeing her. Can you blame him? I don’t think anyone would, because these two have an effortless chemistry that we’re cheering for them from the first minute. And to his credit, Harold feels sick at the lie but doesn’t want to give up this chance to hang out with his literal dream girl.

You probably can fill in the blanks from there to the end credits and wouldn’t be too far off base. The only variation on this theme is the sprinkling of Hollywood business lingo and character actors (including Wallace Shawn, JoBeth Williams, and Yeardley Smith). Even cult B-movie maker Fred Olen Ray shows up for some reason.

There’s a lot to like about Just Write, from the nostalgic ’90s soundtrack to an (ironically) well-written script. Fenn is the very model of starlet grace, and Piven stutters out rambling charm while being pretty far from some of the more obnoxious roles he’d end up taking. Harold’s friend Danny (Jeffrey D. Sams) is a standout extra who killed it in almost every scene he was in.

Plus, this film is a nice twist on the rich girl/poor guy dynamic, where the whole premise is always teetering on the edge of collapse if the lie is discovered. Maybe even — and I’m going out on a ledge here — a more modern retelling of Cinderella. Harold makes a genuine effort to grow into the role of a screenwriter, because he can’t fake a good script. He simply has to write something worthy of the woman he admires.

If you’re looking for feel-good, easy-going fluff with pretty people and a few good laughs, Just Write can deliver. It’s been riding below a lot of notice, but it’s worth digging up if you’ve got the inclination for a decent indie romcom.

Intermission!

• I’m gritting my teeth to ignore the pun title of this film
• How much money did they spend on the rights to “American Pie?”
• A kid who wanted to be a tour bus driver as a life ambition… is kind of sad
• “I know this mic is on because I can hear you sleeping.” that makes no sense
• Jean Claude Van Damme is a big draw, because this was 1997
• “We’re from Wisconsin, we’re splurging.”
• Trucking your dad around on a dolly because of his cast is anything but normal
• Harold’s friend making walrus faces from the bar was a great cutaway
• “Now she’s going to think I’m a writer with really nice clothes.”
• “Be careful, I take vitamins.”
• CARNIVAL DATING MONTAGE
• “What’s he doing down there.” “That’s the way he came in.”
• Lisa Simpson as a palm reader
• “Trollywood Tours” is a good name for this tour bus
• “This is like the bus from Speed!”