Talk is Not Plot

“I don’t care about plot.” – Rex Pickett, author of Sideways

I know, I know… what a shocker that the author of Sideways doesn’t care about plot.  Now, I haven’t read the novel so I shouldn’t make blanket statements about its lack of plot, but the movie, written not by Pickett, isn’t the most engaging story to grace the screen in the last decade, and the screenwriters actually added plot to Pickett’s novel.

In her 2008 book “And the Best Screenplay Goes to…”, Linda Seger interviews Rex Pickett as well as the screenwriters who adapted Sideways for the screen.  Furthering his argument against plot, Pickett goes on to say, “…three-dimensional characters are the pillars of any good film story, dialogue is the glue, and the story is only the body of the vehicle, not the engine.”

While I fully agree that characters drive the story, there has to be a story present for the characters to drive.  Stage plays can get away with a couple hours of talking, but motion pictures are completely dependent on action.  Characters need to do things, not just say things.

Who am I to question the plot of Sideways?  After all, it won the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay in 2005 and was nominated for Best Picture.  Its IMDb cumulative user rating is 7.8/10.  The movie contributed to higher wine sales and a spike in tourism to the Santa Ynez Valley.  Gross box office receipts topped $70 million on a budget estimated to be $12 million.

There is no question that Sideways achieved the rare feet of critical, audience, and financial acclaim – a huge accomplishment for a movie based on a novel that was rejected by no less than 15 publishers.

But I’m going to conclude that Sideways is an exception, not a rule to try to emulate.  For every Sideways there are hundreds of talking-head plotless drivel-flicks without Virginia Madsen, Thomas Haden Church and Paul Giamatti carrying the weight.

I don’t hate Sideways, but I don’t like it.  And I’m certainly not going to try to write anything like it.  Give me movies about people doing things, not just saying things.  And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

What If...

Perhaps the fastest growing classification of movies, faith-based films have a tendency to sacrifice production value for message. While movies like Facing the Giants and Fireproof have solid messages, they lack in the aesthetic polish audiences get from most Hollywood releases.

With "What If...”, director Dallas Jenkins manages to give audiences an aesthetically beautiful film with wonderful performances on both sides of the camera. The movie feels like a mid-budget Hollywood release, a remarkable feat considering the low budget and tight shooting schedule. Kevin Sorbo has a great presence throughout, and Kristy Swanson, still beautiful as ever, shows off her dramatic chops. And John Ratzenberger's performance is angelic, in a good-old-boy way.

Still, great direction and performances don't make a great movie unless the story matches. Thankfully, the story of "What If...", albeit somewhat recycled, is outstanding. Living a life of luxury and power, Ben Walker (Sorbo) is chosen by God to receive a glimpse of what his life could have been had he made a different decision 15 years earlier. The bulk of the movie is spent in Ben's alternate reality where he learns the true riches of life.

"What If..." doesn't hide the fact that it's a Christian movie. Still, it doesn't hurl religion at the audience with reckless abandon. In other words, it's a movie that even non-Christians can and should enjoy. Without sex, violence, or language concerns, it's perfectly suited for all ages.

Raising the bar for faith-based films, "What If..." is hopefully the start to higher standards for movies delivering messages of the Highest Standard.

I’ve posted the above review with slight variations to Amazon, iTunes, IMDb, and my Examiner column.  I still feel strongly that What If… is one of the best explicitly Christian movies I’ve seen.  The production quality, acting, direction, and screenwriting are what I wish the Sherwood pictures were.  If you saw Fireproof and found yourself embarrassed by the stilted dialogue, wooden performances, and awkward didactic redundancy, give What If… a look and take pride that Christian movies can look like Hollywood and still feel like Sunday morning.

Do it Right

“If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?” – John Wooden

Imagine what the Minnesota Golden Gopher basketball program would be today had John Wooden landed here instead of UCLA back in 1948.  Arguably the best coach in NCAA Division I men’s basketball history, Coach Wooden wanted Minnesota and Minnesota wanted Coach Wooden.  But a snow storm took out the phone lines at the U of M campus and Wooden accepted the UCLA job thinking Minnesota had lost interest.  When Minnesota got through to Wooden, he opted to keep his word with UCLA despite his and his wife’s strong desire to stay in the Midwest.

Would he have won seven championships in a row in maroon and gold like he did in blue and gold?  Of course it’s impossible to know.  But John Wooden was a man of utmost class, truest conviction, and highest esteem, qualities that would benefit any program.

John Wooden was an outstanding coach, but like the admirable Tony Dungy today, he desired to be recognized as a man of God, a man of family, and a man of character before being recognized as a coach.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of seeking status for the sake of status.  To be envied by your peers.  To be rich and famous as a movie star or director or producer.  But what good is fame and fortune if you’re a butthead?

As Jesus said, what good is it to gain the world but lose your soul?

Christian or not, I would hope everybody recognizes just how small they are in this giant world.  Nobody’s bigger than you and you’re bigger than nobody.  I am no more deserving of a successful Hollywood career than the nauseating abundance of reality television stars clogging the airwaves.  But I’m no less deserving of a successful Hollywood career than Howard, Clooney, or Jolie.

But more important than ‘making it’ as I’ve been trying so hard to do for so many years now is emulating John Wooden.  I hope I show class.  I hope I show conviction.  And I hope I am esteemed among my peers.  I’d rather be those things and not make it than lose those things and make it.

At least I can control my character even if I can’t dictate the level of my professional success.

Share

“We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give” – Sir Winston Churchill

I’ll give more generously when I’m more financially secure.  We’re barely making ends meet, after all.

House payments, heating bills, electricity bills, groceries, auto-lease payments, cell phone bills… all those things add up.  Right?

Right.

There are plenty who have none of the above bills to worry about.  Instead, they worry about keeping warm enough to live through the night and finding enough food to live through the week.

Too many kids live in poverty.  Too many kids are sick.  Too many kids are abused.  Too many kids are not loved the way they deserve to be loved.

Too many people are legitimately struggling to make ends meet for me to complain as I type away on my computer.  In my house.  With a full stomach.  (Fuller than it should be, truth be told.)

I am blessed.  Therefore it is my duty to bless others.  I need to give more.  I want to give more.  So what’s stopping me?

Fear.  Mostly fear.

These are tough economic times.  I’m a full-time dad during the day, moonlighting as a freelance actor/writer/director and video producer at night and on the weekends.  I can’t count on regular paychecks.  If my wife were to lose her steady-paying job, we’d be in trouble.

If.

If I don’t get over the fear of what could happen and start sharing more of my time and money with others already faced with something bad that has happened, none of my money in the bank will matter.  Someday I do hope to be wealthy.  Who doesn’t?  Honestly?  I imagine it will be easier to give when I get there, but why wait?

There’s a Bible story of a poor widow dropping two relatively insignificant coins into the temple treasury while the wealthy around her gave much larger sums.  Jesus applauded the woman for essentially giving all she had while the others gave only a small portion of their wealth.

Relativity what it is, true charity demands sacrifice.  My philanthropic dreams are grand, but they depend on achieving significant wealth for myself and my family.  They shouldn’t.  Now is the time to make personal sacrifices for the benefit of my brothers and sisters who are truly struggling.

Are you with me?

If you don’t know where to start, visit Charity Navigator and research until you find a charity you feel moved to support.  Give generously; give wisely; give sacrificially.

Love/Hate

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” – Thomas Edison

Below is an article I recently posted to my Examiner.com column.  Maybe you saw it there.  Maybe you didn’t.  If you did, forgive me for my redundancy.  Then forgive me again.

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A movie's entertainment value is completely subjective.  Just look at detailed user ratings at IMDb and you'll see movies with a high weighted average inevitably have a significant number of 1-star ratings.  Take The Social Network; as of this writing, 8,484 IMDb users scored the movie a perfect 10 out of 10 while 868 scored it a 1 out of 10, the lowest allowable score.

Overall, only 3.1% of people who rated The Social Network on IMDb gave it a 1/10 while the 10/10 ratings accounted for just under 30% of voters.  The numbers are insignificant except for the proof that in any given audience, there will be lovers and haters of the same movie.  Whether the ratings are based solely on the movie's entertainment value or any other number of variables (didn't like the lead actor, saw it with someone who dumped you the next day, in a bad mood when you saw it, whatever), it can be assumed that at least a portion of the lowest ratings were given because the person genuinely hated the content of the movie.

Filmmakers need to accept that any movie they make is going to be loved by some and hated by others.  As long as the lovers outweigh the haters, life should be good.  One would hope that audience response comes down predominantly to the quality of the movie's content (plot, theme) and not petty intangibles (lead actor negatively dominating the tabloids, not enough 'eye-candy').  The content is completely controllable, and most intangibles are as well, so really there isn't an excuse for making a bad movie, is there?

Yet bad movies get made.  More than good ones.  The vast majority of current flicks seem to be wasting away in Mediocreville.  Looking for their lost shaker of salt?

Nobody sets out to make a bad movie.  Even Ed Wood believed his movies were high quality.  And a small percentage of his audience actually agreed - most Ed Wood movies have user ratings on IMDb exactly opposite of The Social Network with the highest number of votes being 1/10 but a measurable number of votes rating 10/10).

The nebulous words here are good, bad, and mediocre.  One cannot definitively apply the word "good" to The Social Network or the word "bad" to Ed Wood's Night of the Ghouls, because inevitably there are audience members who would disagree.  But for the sake of argument, let's call a movie that is widely received in a positive light "good" and a movie generally regarded as poor quality "bad".

What are the most important details in assuring a filmmaker's efforts will result in a good movie?  Ask ten filmmakers and you would likely receive ten different answers.  One detail that I would hope consistently floats to the top is the screenplay.  There has never been a good movie made from a bad screenplay, so the first ingredient in the recipe for a good movie has to be a good screenplay.

Of course, a good screenplay doesn't guarantee a good movie.  Plenty can and does go wrong between pre-production and a movie's release.  But none of the potential roadblocks during production, post-production and marketing make any difference if the filmmakers embarked on a project in which the screenplay was less than great.

Bottom line: Make sure your screenplay is GREAT before proceeding to turn it into a movie.  Your chances of having more lovers than haters in the audience depend on the pages that build the foundation of the picture.