Writing for paper cool again...in films

News flash: Journalists are hip again.

Hollywood recently released two movies that portray newspaper writers.

Suddenly, writing for the paper is cool. This hasn't happened since "All the President's Men."

Who would've thought? Here newspapers are dying like investment houses and they're on the big screen like cops and Hanna Dakota or whatever her name is.

How could someone make a movie about the tedious life of a journalist, you're wondering? What do they do for action — show them taking a scintillating phone call?

The answer: They fill in the dull parts with pretty people and throw a dog into the mix.

"Marley and Me" is a story about a long-haired newspaper columnist with a dog, a funny nose and a deep streak of sarcasm, which, come to think of it, sounds a lot like someone I know.

Then there is "State of Play," a movie about a long-haired, grungy investigative reporter with a pretty, perky sidekick and the ethics and personality of Dan Rather. Their investigation into government corruption makes Watergate look like an Easter Egg hunt.

What did they get right and wrong in these movies? Glad you asked.

The columnist, played by Owen Wilson, yuks it up with the newspaper's editor, who gushes over the writer's column. He tells him how HILARIOUS his column is and how he's just eating it all up and laughing his guts out. No way. Never happens. Editors have no sense of humor. When they apply for editor's jobs, they are forced to watch video clips of Bill Murray, and if they so much as smile they don't get the job. What editors really say to columnists: "It's too long! It's late! Do you know what 'deadline' means?" NOT THAT THIS IS TRUE OF MY EDITORS. I MEAN EDITORS AT OTHER PAPERS.

At one scene, Wilson's wife, seeing that he is sad and depressed, tells him, "You got nothing for Tuesday, do you?" To which he replies, "I got nothing." There's just one thing I'd like to say about this scene: It's absolutely true. There are days I would give a day's pay for a column subject. Every columnist lives this scene a thousand times. Or he wakes up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. Maybe you noticed that I am having one of those moments today. When this happens to me, I study the newspaper, search the Internet — and then I call Lee Benson.