At the time it was covered, Lynn Siefert's script was called "Blue
Maaga," which is Jamaican slang for "trouble." The script
had been around for a while, but Dawn Steele was trying to get it made.
For better or worse, she did.
SYNOPSIS
DERICE BANNOCK, 20, is a Jamaican sprinter who can't quite win. Along with
pals SANKA, YUL and JUNIOR, he races pushcarts on the streets. They tend
to crash a lot. Derice's Olympic dreams seem dashed we he fails to qualify
for the 100 meters. Yet he's going to the Olympics anyway, the Winter Olympics,
if he can just get together a bobsled team. No one on the island has heard
of bobsledding, but his poster campaign attracts a lot of interest--until
people find out it means sliding down an icy chute on a sled.
After a few defeats, the team manages to convince former U.S. bobsledder
IRVING SMUIN to coach them, against his better judgment. Derice, Sanka,
Yul and Junior improve their starting time considerably, learning to jump
into their makeshift sled as it careens down the Jamaican streets. Through
shrewd fundraising, the team earns enough money to attend the qualifying
meet in Austria. The team has never seen snow before, much less chutes of
ice. Sanka falls for U.S. figure skater DEBBIE LAWRENCE (Debi Thomas). The
team borrows an extra sled from the U.S. team, who do not consider them
a threat. They rechristen the sled "Blue Maaga," Jamaican for
"trouble." Sanka parties with beautiful women from around the
world. After a disappointing first heat, the team pulls off an impressive
second round, ending up 19th overall. Just good enough to qualify for the
Olympics.
Jamaica goes wild in celebration, but the U.S. tries to stop the Jamaicans
from competing at Calgary, proclaiming the team an embarrassment to the
sport. After a passionate appeal by Irving, the Olympic committee allows
them to compete. Sanka hooks back up with Debbie Lawrence. Derice finds
out his wife is pregnant. After the first run, they're in 13th place overall.
But on the second run Derice loses his rhythm and the sled crashes. The
team carries the sled over the finish line to wild applause. They may be
out of it for this year, but watch out for 1992.
COMMENTS
The most obvious concern with BLUE MAAGA is whether a good beer commercial
makes for a good movie. The Miller Lite commercial was fun and irreverent,
making us cheer for the underdogs and the absurdity of a Jamaican bobsled
team. The script is able to carry this concept into a feature-length script
surprisingly well, by establishing a tight structure and funny moments.
But the magic of the beer commercial was that the team was real. In the
script, characters are obviously fictitious, and a series of subtle problems
begins to emerge.
Strip off the veneers and the gags, and the premise is troubling. A paternal
white American turns four silly black men into bobsled champions. The script
teeters on becoming a monkey show at times. Unlike Eddie Murphy films or
other black-themed comedies, we're not laughing with our heroes--we're laughing
at them. One is left with the impression that all Jamaicans are silly children
who couldn't possibly tie their shoelaces if there weren't good white people
to take care of them. The script is subtly, if unconsciously, racist. While
it tries for fish-out-of-water, it ends up fish-in-the-fryer.
It's a shame, too, because the structure and dialogue is often quite good.
While Sanka's romance with the U.S. skater is somewhat sloppily handled,
most of the scenes have a genuine affection to them. But any rewrite would
have a lot to overcome. Our heroes don't need to be serious by any means,
but all the gags can't come down to how ignorant and naive they are. Although
we root for the Jamaican team, we can't help feeling quite a bit superior.
PASS
This was the first script I ever loved. It was the first script that
was so good that when I got to the end, I went back and read it cover to
cover. As fate would have it, a year later I would end up writing the book
version.
At the time it was covered, this script was in limbo -- Oliver Stone was
not yet attached, nor were any stars. If you've seen the movie, you'll notice
that it differs quite a bit from the script, which was more a ha-ha-funny
satire than a world-as-I-see-it satire. The structure was quite different
as well.
SYNOPSIS
When REDNECKS start harassing MALLORY KNOX in a New Mexico coffee shop,
husband MICKEY opens fire. Together the happy couple kill everyone in the
diner except for a PINBALL COWBOY left to tell the people that Mickey and
Mallory Knox did this.
At the station, police detective JACK SCAGNETTI is given orders to escort
two prisoners to the Nystrom Insane Asylum. DEWIGHT McCLUSKY of the California
Prison Board explains Mickey and Mallory are going to the asylum because
no prison will take them. If some "accident" were to befall them
along the way, so much the better. PHIL WURLIZTER, superintendent of the
jail, makes arrangements for the transfer.
WAYNE GAYLE, host of "American Maniacs," meets with Mickey in
the visiting area. Mickey is pleased to learn his ratings beat Ted Bundy's.
Mickey agrees to a televised interview. At the TV station, Wayne's crew
celebrates: SCOTT, the cameraman; ROGER, the soundman; and UNRULY JULIE,
Wayne's assistant. They work furiously to get their footage in shape for
a special one-hour episode.(What follows is footage documenting the criminal
career of Mickey and Mallory, interspersed with stand-ups by Wayne.)
Mickey and Mallory are apprehended at a Circle-K in St. Paul. Interview
with BISHOP, a 7-Eleven survivor. Surveillance camera footage illustrates
his tale. JUDGE STEINSMA explains that Mickey defended himself at the trial.
Interviews with three LONG-HAIRED GUYS: "They're way cooler than Manson."
An INTENSE COP swears a lot. A LAW STUDENT explains his admiration. Musclemen
NORMAN and SIMON had their legs sawed off by Mickey and Mallory, but have
no hard feelings. Survival of the fittest, they say.
A movie called "Thrill Killers" is based on their life. The ACTORS
talk about how they prepared for their roles. Clips of the movie are interspersed.
Interview with NEIL POPE, the writer and director, who calls it a Wagnerian
love story. The ultimate anti-heroes are now international icons. In London,
Japan and France, young fans dress like their heroes. The REDD KROSS video
"Natural Born Killers" tops the charts.
GRACE MULBERRY, late teens, testifies against Mickey and Mallory. In his
cross-examination, shot entirely in closeups, Mickey asks how he could possibly
have defeated her brother TIM, a martial arts expert. Grace says Mickey's
the devil incarnate. Mickey agrees, and kills her with a pencil through
the heart. JUDGE STEINSMA sentences Mickey and Mallory to double life sentences,
never to see each other again. The death penalty wasn't available. Even
in their incarceration, they continue to kill guards and psychologists.
New doctors find the couple insane, and order them sent to the asylum--"Lobotomy
Bay."
End of the TV footage, into the interview. Scene cuts back and forth between
"reality" and the black and white film from Scott's camera. Prison
boss Wurlitzer wants eight deputies in the room for the interview. Wayne
talks him down to four. Scagnetti assaults Mallory in her cell. She breaks
his nose. He sprays her with mace. Mickey evades Wayne's questions. Wurlitzer
is called away by an emergency--a riot in the prison. Unruly Julie is sent
out for food. Mickey tells a joke. At the punchline, he grabs a deputy's
shotgun and kills Scott and a deputy. A standoff between Mickey and Scagnetti.
Scagnetti flinches. Mickey breaks Scagnetti's fingers.
Wurlitzer tries to control the riots. Mickey and Wayne go on the air live.
They find Mallory singing Girl Scout songs. Wurlitzer learns Mickey is loose.
Mallory kills Scagnetti. With Wayne as a shield, they make it out of the
prison, into the news van. In the woods, Mickey is filming with Roger's
camera, black and white. The sound is out of sync. Wayne finishes his interview.
Mickey and Mallory plan to use an "underground railroad" of their
fans to move across the country. The interview finished, they kill Wayne.
COMMENTS
There are some obvious concerns about this script.
The protagonists are mass murderers who kill defenseless citizens in particularly
gruesome ways. The antagonist (or is he a protagonist?) is a thinly veiled
Geraldo Rivera, host of "American Maniacs." The structure is wholly
unconventional, skittering back and forth in time, alternating between a
subjective and a God's eye point of view. The script obsessively directs
from the page, and characters show zero development.
These would all be valid concerns if the script didn't work so well. Somehow,
it manages to play this BONNIE AND CLYDE story for laughs, doing for the
outlaw genre what HEATHERS did for the John Hughes generation.
NATURAL BORN KILLERS is hard to analyze, but easy to love. In its structure,
characters and story line it seems to break so many of the rules, one wonders
if it's even playing the same game. Beyond the snappy dialogue and flashy
setups, it's hard to say what exactly its charm is. Perhaps the only reassuring
bit here is that one would have the same difficulty explaining the charms
of BOB ROBERTS or THIS IS SPÏNAL TAP, two films with a kindred spirit.
Marketed correctly, KILLERS could be a big hit with the MTV generation.
Like HEATHERS, it also score as a cult video rental. But the potential for
disaster is relatively high, and the film could miss its mark much as BUFFY
THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. The script also works in the same terrain as KALIFORNIA,
the upcoming Brad Pitt/Juliette Lewis release. With these considerations
in mind, this excellent script receives a
MAYBE (qualified)
At the time it was covered, Ron Nyswaner's script was called "At
Risk." Neither director Jonathan Demme nor stars Tom Hanks and Denzel
Washington were attached.
SYNOPSIS
In JUDGE TATE's office, lawyers ANDREW BECKETT and JOSEPH MILLER (JOE) are
arguing an injunction. Andrew, handsome and clean-cut, wins the case. Dictating
to his secretary ANTHEA, we see tiny blotches on his face. Senior partner
SEIDMAN transfers Andrew to intellectual property casework, an up-and-coming
area. Seidman and WHEELER, another partner, notice Andrew's blotches, which
Andrew tries to cover up with makeup. His lover, MIGUEL, meets him at the
emergency room, where Andrew is suffering from severe diarrhea. Needing
to get a memo to the courthouse, Andrew has his assistant search for the
file on the computer. It can't be found. Despite his condition, Andrew races
to the office, frantically searching for the paperwork.
A month later, Andrew goes to Joe's office: he has AIDS, and claims he was
fired because of it. He tells Joe about his final days at the office, in
a flashback that Joe sits in on, commenting. Joe doesn't want to touch Andrew.
Declining the case, Joe goes to the doctor, worried that he might have contracted
the HIV virus from Andrew. The doctor assures him that he couldn't have
gotten it from casual contact. Joe's wife LISA argues that he's homophobic.
Joe bumps into Andrew at the law library, where Andrew is trying to sort
through the details of discrimination law. As they begin talking over approaches
to the case, the library clears out. Joe agrees to take the case. Wheeler,
Seidman and the rest of the partners at Andrew's old firm are issued summons.
At the pretrial hearing, Joe demands back pay and a full reinstatement for
Andrew. BELINDA CONINE, handling the case for the law firm, says that's
absurd. Joe counters with one million five and a letter of exoneration.
No deal.
As Andrew and Miguel walk down the moonlit beach, they remember one of their
first dates. SARAH BECKETT, Andrew's mom, attends the opening remarks. Joe
seeks to prove the following: Andrew was and is a brilliant lawyer; his
employers discovered he had AIDS; they panicked and created an excuse for
firing him. Belinda argues that Andrew was disorganized, deceitful, and
now wants someone else to pick up the tab for his sexual recklessness. Joe
gets a hostile witness to admit he was pleased with Andrew's work. Anthea
argues that Andrew was fired unfairly. Joe asks every witness whether they
are gay. Jurors turn to the camera and confide to us their feelings about
the case. Andrew got AIDS after a trip to a gay theater. Miguel does not
have it. Andrew and Miguel throw a costume party, inviting Joe and his wife.
Joe feels very uncomfortable.
Belinda grills Andrew on the stand. He remembers the yuppie from the theater.
Andrew goes into the hospital, but the case continues. After much discussion,
the jurors find in favor of Andrew, awarding him over five million dollars.
On a TV in a Fudrucker's family restaurant, Sarah Beckett asks why in a
world so messed up, people are so concerned about who sleeps with whom.
And normal life just continues in Fudrucker's, undisturbed.
COMMENTS
The major concern with AT RISK is not the AIDS subject matter, which is
handled with remarkable honesty and grace, but the lackluster arena in which
the story unfolds. While RISK has a lot to offer as a social commentary,
its courtroom structure robs the story of an emotional center, leaving a
disappointingly conventional script.
As testament to the equality of people with AIDS, AT RISK succeeds remarkably,
aligning the audience squarely with its gay protagonist and the otherwise
normalcy of his life. But as a courtroom drama, the script is simply a tangle
of legal cliches. The extended trial sequences become a cold and impersonal
process that robs primary characters of valuable screen time. It all comes
off as little more than an episode of L.A. LAW. A great episode, to be sure,
but not a motion picture.
AT RISK lacks the emotional context of AN EARLY FROST or LONGTIME COMPANION,
both of which take a more personal look at AIDS and its effects. While dividing
the focus between Andrew and Joe makes sense, neither character is fleshed
out enough to be emotionally engaging. As lawyers in trial, they each spend
so much time being ruthless and professional that we get very little sense
of their true motivations. It is only when they stop being lawyers that
any real emotions are displayed: the library, the party, the hospital. We
need a better sense of Joe coming to terms with Andrew, his disease and
his lifestyle. For instance, we need to see him interact with Andrew's lover,
Miguel.
For all the script's protests otherwise, the trial really is quite straightforward,
and could be presented much more efficiently, clearing time for character
scenes that seem to be missing. Miguel, Anthea and Andrew's mother could
each do with another scene, while more could be developed for Joe's wife,
Lisa, as well.
Writing is fairly good throughout, with believable dialogue and mixed sympathies
for the "villains" who fire Andrew. The ending is particularly
haunting, with Sarah's voice floating over a disinterested crowd. With considerable
revision, the script could move beyond its social conscience into an honest
and moving story about two men coming to terms with their expectations.
That is, a movie rather than a message. As it stands now, the screenplay
is quite a long distance from that point.
PASS (qualified)
At the time it was covered, Jodie Foster and Richard Gere were attached.
A remake of the French film THE RETURN OF MARTIN GUERRE, the adaptation
was penned by Nicholas Meyer and Sarah Kernochan. The draft covered appears
to be solely Meyer's.
SYNOPSIS
When a man returns to a small Southern town after the Civil War, a farmer
(BUCK) is surprised to learn the traveller is JACK SOMMERSBY, who has been
missing and presumed dead for years. Jack's wife LAUREL is battered by mixed
emotions. This man is almost a stranger to their son, LITTLE ROB.
Jack, late 30's, explains he's been in a Yankee prison. He certainly looks
like the man they once knew, but thinner, and more gentle. A head injury
during the war makes him forget things from time to time, but for the most
part he remembers the townsfolk, and anecdotes about each of them. In their
bedroom that night, Jacks seems like a stranger to the quiet Laurel, who
keeps her eyes open as they make love. She explains that a lawyer has been
here, an Englishman, helping her while Jack was gone. His name is OLIVER,
and he wants to marry her. Jack shows her the monogrammed handkerchief she
made him before the war, his only means to remember her during the war.
Crying, she comes to him.
Jack's dog JETHRO is found dead, probably old age. The boot cutter, DICK
JACKSON, is surprised to find Jack's foot has shrunk two sizes. Over Oliver's
protests, Jack convinces the town to convert their cotton fields to tobacco.
Laurel wonders why Jack seems so much better educated. He explains that
one of his bunkmates in prison was a schoolteacher, well versed in Shakespeare.
Jack teaches Little Rob and some black children how to read. Laurel announces
she's pregnant.
A man comes past the fields and argues that the real Jack Sommersby lost
an eye in battle. Jack sends him away, but Laurel has already overheard.
As a test, Laurel wears a dress she hates to see if Jack remembers it. He
doesn't, but suddenly remembers the story behind it. Laurel explains her
worries to REV. POWELL, who tells her she's just delusional from being pregnant.
Regardless of whether or not this is Jack, she loves this man more than
she ever loved her husband.
In bed one night, Jack questions her suspicions. She argues that she has
a right to wonder. She says she hates him. Oliver overhears the argument,
and tries to increase her suspicions. Mounted KU KLUX KLAN riders burn a
cross in their lawn, angered by Jack's sympathy with the freed slaves. Oliver
confronts Jack; they fight until Laurel breaks them up. Laurel has the baby,
a beautiful baby girl. At her baptism, FEDERAL MARSHALLS arrest Jack for
a murder in St. Louis.
Jack's lawyer WEB explains the details of the case. He is accused of killing
a man in an altercation behind a hotel before his return home. A guilty
verdict would mean execution. At Oliver's urging, Laurel begs Jack to admit
that he is not really Jack Sommersby, and could therefore not have killed
this man. Jack swears that he truly is the man she married.
Nevertheless, Laurel convinces Web to try to prove Jack is lying. Jack cross-examines
witnesses who explain why they doubt he is the real Sommersby. Suddenly
a man comes into the court, his eyes bandaged: the REAL JACK SOMMERSBY.
He identifies our Jack as Horace Townshend, a schoolteacher from a nearby
town. He calls Laurel to him and strikes her for infidelity.
Laurel visits our Jack in prison, where he explains why he maintained the
deception: a chance for a drunk to start a whole new life. She forgives
him; his wrongdoing was the only thing right in her life. Jack is hanged
on the public street. Laurel and her two children walk quietly away.
COMMENTS
An untrustworthy hero and a passive heroine make for a high-wire act with
many near disasters, but the final trial sequence rewards our suspended
disbelief. Although the flashback sequences sometimes rehash a bit too much,
the script effectively plays on the audience's divided loyalties.
Although we more or less trust Jack, our sympathies lie firmly with Laurel,
concerned that this man might not be what he seems. We see much of the second
act from her point of view, but spend the third act bouncing between various
witnesses. More screen time in the trial sequence could better sketch Laurel's
character arc from timid housewife to passionate defender. For instance,
Jack's cross-examination is a heartbreaking moment that deserves longer
play. One wants to see Laurel more passionately defending her side: fighting
for and against Jack at the same time. In the present script, Laurel never
gets a soliloquy. This might be an opportune time.
This reader has not seen the original, but Sommersby's French heritage is
hard to spot. The script reconstructs the Reconstruction with spare but
telling strokes: the switch to tobacco, the legal upheaval, and the roots
of the Ku Klux Klan.
Only in its tragic ending does it reveal its European roots. While the South
seems to have a special affinity towards tragedy (GONE WITH THE WIND, Tennessee
Williams' plays), here the outcome seems quite avoidable. When our hero
is hanged, our lovers separated, we're simply not satisfied. It just seems
too sudden, too unexpected. At no point up to the hanging did it ever seem
that hopeless, even when the real Jack returned. The trial and hanging sequences
need a serious rethink, to either (a) find a way for Jack to live, or (b)
better signal the despair ahead. While the latter option could be a cathartic
tear-jerker, one still hopes to see some glimmer of hope for Laurel.
A conventional Hollywood ending shouldn't be discounted either, with Little
Rob driving Jack and Laurel off into the sunset. One would also like to
see Oliver get what he has coming. True, sad endings worked for GONE WITH
THE WIND and CASABLANCA, but scores of other good movies have lived happily
ever after. You don't hear anyone complain. Either way, the third act needs
restructuring to better meet its chosen end.
With the above concerns noted, this script deserves strong consideration,
especially considering the talent attached.
MAYBE
The Quentin Tarantino buzz was just beginning when I covered this script.
RESERVOIR DOGS had come out to controversy and acclaim in Los Angeles, but
the rest of the world hadn't heard of him.
Looking back on this coverage, I think it's a bit harsh -- I greatly enjoyed
the movie, which departs little from the script except for some untangling
of timelines. Tony Scott's direction was glossy as always but he got great
performances. And Brad Pitt's honey bear bong alone is worth the movie.
But I'm not the first to note that PULP FICTION seems to be a better constructed
version of the same movie.
Note: When I refer to NATURAL BORN KILLERS, I'm talking about the script
I had covered. That picture wouldn't be made for several years.
SYNOPSIS
In a smokey Detroit bar, a young hipster named CLARENCE WORLEY is trying
to pick up on an older woman named LUCY. He talks about "Jailhouse
Rock" and admits that if he had to--that is, really had to--he'd fuck
Elvis. What a coincidence: she would too.
In a dingy hotel room, DREXL SPIVEY, FLOYD DIXON and BIG D are cutting cocaine
and talking about oral sex. In a shootout, Drexl and Floyd kill Big D and
steal the cocaine. Clarence arrives at his father CLIFF's trailer home,
bringing his new wife ALABAMA. While she gets beer, Cliff explains he's
in deep trouble. Having killed Alabama's pimp (Spivey) a few days ago, goons
are chasing after him. Cliff, a former cop, says he'll check it out. Clarence
and Alabama are driving out to stay with DICK, an actor friend in Los Angeles.
That night, goons FRANKIE, LENNY, and TOOTH-PICK VIC kill Cliff on the orders
of VINCENZO COCCOTTI. Finding Dick's address, they take off for LA.
At lunch with Dick in LA, Clarence remembers how he met Alabama. (What follows
is an extended flashback.) After a triple feature of kung fu movies and
some pie at Denny's, they go back to his apartment and have sex. In the
morning, Alabama reveals to him that she is actually a prositute, sent by
some of his friends as a joke. But she really likes him, and vice-versa.
They get married, but Alabama's pimp (Spivey) keeps harrassing her. Clarence
goes to Spivey's house and shoots him at an opportune moment. Taking a suitcase
he thinks is Alabama's, he is surprised to find it full of top-grade cocaine.
Back in the present time, Dick thinks he can help Clarence unload the cocaine
to a powerful movie producer named LEE DONOWITZ. ELLIOT BLITZER will help
make the deal. In a phone conversation with Donowitz, Clarence uses only
movie metaphors in talking about the drug deal. They set up a time to meet.
While Clarence is getting food, Alabama is being beaten up in her room by
VIRGIL, another creep. After an extended and very violent fight, she kills
him with an improvised flamethrower and his shotgun. She and Clarence flee.
COPS nab Elliot and wire him to record the drug deal. Clarence is completely
cool while dealing with Donowitz, but admits his nervousness to ELVIS, who
talks with him in the bathroom. The cops break into the main room. The thugs
chasing Alabama break in right after the cops. In a bloody shootout, nearly
everyone is killed. Clarence is shot through the head. Blasting her way
out, Alabama takes the cash and drives away. She nearly commits suicide,
but then keeps driving.
COMMENTS
TRUE ROMANCE fails to live up to the expectations set by Tarantino's previous
efforts, RESERVOIR DOGS and NATURAL BORN KILLERS. Many of the structural
idiosyncracies and dialogue twists that made the other scripts such a delight
here feel like gimmicks, sleight of hand to conceal a weak storyline.
Following a doomed couple, ROMANCE charts much the same course as WILD AT
HEART, and offers few new attractions. Forced characterizations that worked
well in the testosterone-driven DOGS and KILLERS fail to ignite any romance
between Clarence and Alabama, neither of whom ring true, either separately
or together.
The extended flashbacks and multiple points of view feel out of place in
such a straightforward story, and detract from the main tension by allowing
the protagonists too much time out of the loop. As long as the characters
are in a flashback, we know that they can't be killed, or else they could
not be alive in the present time.
Similarly, dialogue is also not up to par. While the thugs speak as well
as ever, Clarence and Alabama have absolutely no romance to their words.
While Clarence's Elvis speech at the introduction is funny, it much too
closely recalls Nicholas Cage in WILD AT HEART. The physical manifestation
of Elvis in the final battle scene is similarly troubling: too comedic and
too cliche at the same time. And after HONEYMOON IN VEGAS, one would hope
we've seen the last of the King for awhile. Please, God, may the cosmic
Elvis quota be filled.
While Tarantino's strong writing skills come through in many of the scenes,
there are simply not strong enough characters or story lines to recommend
TRUE ROMANCE.
PASS
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email John August at august@primenet.com