Alex & Emma (2003) Kate Hudson Emma Dinsmore/Ylva/Elsa/Anna/Eldora Luke Wilson Alex Sheldon/Adam Shipley Sophie Marceau Paulina Delacroix David Paymer John Shaw Rob Reiner Wirschafter Francois Giroday Croupier Lobo Sebastian Bobby/Flamenco Dancer #1 Chino XL Tony/Flamenco Dancer #2 Cloris Leachman Grandmother Paul Wilson (IV) "Whistling" John Shaw Alexander Wauthier Andre Delacroix Leili Kramer Michele Delacroix Rip Taylor Paulina s Father Gigi Bermingham Madame Blanche Jordan Lund Claude Directed by: Rob Reiner Produced by: Peter Guber, Jeffrey Stott, Jason Blumenthal Alex Sheldon is an author whose writer's block is the least of his problems--he also happens to be flat broke and owes Cuban loan sharks $100,000. The thugs give Alex an ultimatum: pay up in 30 days or wind up dead. The only way Alex is going to get that kind of money is by finishing his novel, which is currently less than one sentence long. He's got some idea of what he wants the story to be, but he just can't seem to get it out onto paper. Now lacking both inspiration and a laptop, Alex secures the services of opinionated stenographer, Emma Dinsmore, to help him complete the novel and get paid by his publisher in time to save his skin. The story of Adam Shipley soon begins to emerge. The fictional Adam is a romantic young writer who has been hired to tutor the children of Polina Delacroix, a chic, gorgeous French woman in dire financial straits. The story that reveals itself is of the obsessive love that Adam develops for Polina, while ignoring the potential for true love with Polina's au pair, known in successive incarnations as the stern Swede Ylva, Elsa the bawdy German, Eldora the Spanish beauty, and down-to-earth American Anna. Meanwhile, Alex and Emma spend their days and nights working together on the novel. Emma challenges his ideas at every turn, and her initially irritating but undeniably intriguing input begins to influence Alex and his story. Soon, real life begins to imitate art--and art, to imitate life. ========== A romantic comedy: Alex is an author whose writer's block and gambling debts have landed him in a jam. In order get loan sharks off his back, he must finish his novel in 30 days or wind up dead. To help him complete his manuscript he hires stenographer Emma. As Alex begins to dictate his tale of a romantic love triangle to the charming yet somewhat opinionated stenographer, Emma challenges his ideas at every turn. Her unsolicited yet intriguing input begins to inadvertently influence Alex and his story and soon real life begins to imitate art. ========== Alex Sheldon is a aspiring novelist who has two things: Writer's Block and a gambling problem. But then two Cuban gentlemen from a mafia comes by his residence and gives him a choice: Finish his next book in 30 days or less and collect $100,000 to pay off the debt, or be killed. It is then that Alex hires Emma Dinsmore , a court stenographer to be his dictator. His novel, set in the roaring 1920's is about a man named Adam Shipley, a writer who has personal problems and is shy to be in love with women. At first things get off to a rocky start, but with Alex telling the story and Emma with her thoughts, comments, and her point of view, they tend to form a relationship similar to the novel.