2005 Calvins: Best Screenplay
By David Mumpower
February 17, 2005
Fear of the blank page is the crippling paranoia that leads to writer's block. The people we list here somehow managed to overcome their phobias long enough to create brilliant works of fiction. Chief among them is Charlie Kaufman, who once managed to create one of the weirdest scripts in recent memory. Yet again.
Like the rest of the industry, we are running out of superlatives to toss at the feet of Mr. Kaufman. Every time we assume he can't do it again, he once more manages to surprise. In this instance, he takes the darkest of concepts, a sort of lobotomy, and turns it into a romantic comedy. Well, a romantic comedy by Kaufman standards, anyway. In a year where the entire industry moved to the middle, this scribe stubbornly headed to the outer limits of psychosis in order to create an unforgettable story of sentimentality. Who knew he had that particular weapon in his arsenal?
In second place is Brad Bird. Few thought he could match the emotional resonance of his freshman triumph, The Iron Giant. But Bird did just that by creating characters that are fascinating enough on their own but positively gripping as a family unit. Even the villainous character, Syndrome, is given a reasonable back story that thoroughly explains his inevitable heel turn. Bird's screenplay offers the sort of precision that should be requisite for all comic book adaptations but is sadly lacking in even the better-than-average fare. The Incredibles is near-perfect cinematic entertainment, and all the glory goes to Bird along with his crack Pixar staff.
Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor did not exactly reinvent the wheel with Sideways, our third place entrant. Instead, they tell the story of an alcoholic failed scribe, or, as the species is known in Hollywood, a movie critic. Okay, it's not quite that bad but the representatives on whom the main character is based comprise roughly three fourths of the Writer's Guild. Perhaps it's this prevalence of examples that allows Payne and Taylor to be so demonstrative in their work. Sideways possesses the perfect tone for its lead, struggling but neither hopeless nor beyond redemption. It's a tricky balance but several hundred over-identifying critics can't all be wrong about the end result.
Zach Braff continues to draw praise from the BOP staff for his electric debut in Garden State. His fourth place finish here is indicative of the fact that we respect the words as much as we love the output. When the lead character explains the causality behind his paternally mandated medication, Garden State unexpectedly evolves from a character study into an existential treatise on fate and fortune. A tiny piece of plastic's impact on a boy's entire future is a revelation of bad luck. When that person decides to stand up and accept this fluke for what was/is, it's one of the most memorable moments of 2004, a credit to not just the actor Zach Braff but also the writer.
Before Sunset is a difficult screenplay to evaluate. The movie is a waking dream of failed romance and zeitgeist, but a lot of it is conversational flippancy rather than ordinary script contrivances. It's borderline improv in its execution yet despite this fact, we are awed by the character development demonstrated. After all, the audience has not visited these characters in nine years. We should neither remember them nor instantly re-acquaint ourselves with their charming quirks and frustrating neuroses. How is it, then, that the reunion with the characters of Before Sunrise feels like an unexpected visit from nearly forgotten friends? Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke have achieved the impossible here by creating discussions that are so real it's almost voyeuristic to watch them. It's to their credit that Before Sunset feels more real than all that reality television garbage currently cluttering your television channels.
The films on the outside of the top five looking in are Shaun of the Dead and Collateral. The zombie film merits sixth place for its subtle blend of lateral thinking and extreme violence. Never before 2004 had the genres of comedy and horror been intertwined like this, but the Spaced crew managed to outperform the other BOP faves who had the same idea, Broken Lizard. The scene where Simon Pegg's character blithely walks to work while the living dead walk the streets is a comedic masterpiece. Meanwhile, Collateral's primary achievement is believably turning an innocuous cab driver into a formidable opponent for a wetworks specialist. The riveting face-offs between the Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise exemplify the liquidity of behavior which gradually delimits the guys in the white hats from the no-good-niks in the black ones.
Rounding out the top ten are The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Million Dollar Baby and A Very Long Engagement. The Life Aquatic is the latest in the line of meticulously thought-out and executed Wes Anderson movies. As is the norm, no detail included is accidental. Super-smart dolphins, three-legged dogs and the name on a submarine all offer a sense of purpose that clearly stamps the project as a Wes Anderson piece. Without spoiling the surprise of it, Million Dollar Baby offers a surprising turn toward the end of the film. Carefully crafted characters suddenly see the Etch-A-Sketch that is their lives shaken up and re-drawn. The result makes for a cerebral assault on the senses. Writer Paul Haggis gets bonus points for being fearless in his execution. His stubborn refusal to spare the audience any impact from his devastating punches is the perfect metaphor for a film with the backdrop of boxing. Jean-Pierre Jeunet's most impressive feat in A Very Long Engagement is taking the Amelie idea and putting it through the blender. He somehow manages to make a more interesting character for his muse, Audrey Tautou, to inhabit. All the while he combines the gritty setting of war-torn France with a tale of hopeless, impossible stubborn romance. The effect is not unlike merging 1998's Academy Awards darlings, Saving Private Ryan and Shakespeare in Love, into a single movie of powerhouse entertainment. Any scribe who can do that deserves a spot on our list.
Finishing just outside the top ten are Alvin Sargent (Spider-Man 2), Joshua Marston (Maria Full of Grace), David Magee (Finding Neverland), Shane Carruth (Primer), and Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill Vol. 2).
|
Top 10
|
| Position |
Screenwriter(s) |
Film |
Total Points |
| 1 |
Charlie Kaufman |
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind |
105 |
| 2 |
Brad Bird |
The Incredibles |
73 |
| 3 |
Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor |
Sideways |
58 |
| 4 |
Zach Braff |
Garden State |
50 |
| 5 |
Rickard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke |
Before Sunset |
46 |
| 6 |
Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright |
Shaun of the Dead |
33 |
| 7 |
Stuart Beattie |
Collateral |
32 |
| 8 |
Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach |
The Life Acquatic with Steve Zissou |
30 |
| 9 |
Paul Haggis |
Million Dollar Baby |
27 |
| 10 |
Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Guillaume Laurant |
A Very Long Engagement |
26 |
|
|
|
|
Print this column
