Poetic License (2025)

Interesting facts

• Filmed in: Atlanta

Poetic License is a 2025 American comedy film directed by Maude Apatow in her feature directorial debut and written by Raffi Donatich. It stars Leslie Mann, Andrew Barth Feldman, Cooper Hoffman, Nico Parker, Maisy Stella, Method Man, Martha Kelly and Jake Bongiovi. The film follows Liz Cassidy, a former therapist who befriends two college seniors, Ari Zimmer and Sam Solomon, whose friendship becomes strained when both develop feelings for her.

Production

Poetic License was the first film produced by Jewelbox Pictures, the production company founded by Apatow and Olivia Rosenbloom.

Apatow sought to create a collaborative environment during filming, an approach she said she adopted from her father, Judd Apatow, whose sets encouraged actors to take creative risks. She wanted the film’s comedy to feel grounded and natural rather than forced, and the cast performed extensive improvisation and alternate takes while Apatow continued rewriting material throughout production.

Apatow said that aspects of Donatich’s screenplay reminded her of her relationship with her mother, Leslie Mann, and that she had Mann in mind for the role of Liz while developing the film.

Apatow cited filmmakers James L. Brooks and Cameron Crowe as influences on the film, saying that she wanted Poetic License to have a nostalgic quality while still feeling fresh and modern.

Apatow considered the chemistry between Hoffman and Feldman particularly important because much of the film depended on the friendship between their characters, Ari and Sam.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.