The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)

Plot: It's the early 1930s New Jersey. Cecilia uses the movies to escape from her already sad and increasingly sadder life. She is in an unsatisfying marriage to out of work Monk, who hangs out with his friends rather than look for a job. He treats her poorly, including often hitting her, but out of circumstance, she probably will never leave him. She is currently the sole breadwinner, a waitress at a diner. But her daydreaming at work, specifically about the lives of those she sees on the screen, gets her fired from her job. The latest of those movies is a lighthearted romantic comic adventure called the Purple Rose of Cairo, which she has now seen several times. During one of those screenings, Tom Baxter, a secondary but pivotal character in the movie, he a self described poet, explorer and adventurer, walks off the screen into the audience, stating that he has seen Cecilia at several screenings before, and has fallen in love with her. As such, Tom and Cecilia take off together. This action causes many problems: the other characters on the screen can't continue without Tom, studio executives are concerned about anything libelous that Tom may do for which they would be legally responsible, and they are concerned that other characters from the movie will also walk off, not only at this theater but at others where the movie is being screened. Cecilia also sees it as being a problem as although she likes Tom and being with him, knows that he's not real. Another person who sees it as a problem is Gil Shepherd, the up and coming young actor who portrays Tom, and who sees Tom's move as potentially destroying his career. But as Gil gave Tom life in his portrayal, there may be some of Gil in Tom. So when Gil heads to New Jersey to try and persuade Tom to go back into the movie, Gil, a real person, may also also see in Cecilia what Tom sees in her.