I’ll start by saying I absolutely loved this script and film! It isn’t often that I can read a script in one sitting, but I did so with this one, and I started around midnight, I believe. When I get excited about a story, I have to stop my eyes from scanning down the page to see what happens next, and I found myself trying to do that while reading.

The script and film were pretty much the same, with minor changes in dialogue and songs. I wasn’t surprised, as Drew Goddard wrote and directed it. I may be a bit biased because he’s a writer from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, and I tend to follow and enjoy work made by Buffy alumni.

I couldn’t help comparing this film to Last Night in Soho. Both focus on the 60s, with music being a major part of the film. I enjoyed the characters in this film more. Even the ones I hated, Billy Lee and Rosie, I was still intrigued by.

One time, some friends and I were chatting about Mortal Kombat. One was OBSESSED with finding out what happened to the baby in the beginning, after Scorpion slaughters the village. My other friend and I were trying to explain to him that it wasn’t important to the story, so that’s why it’s never addressed again. I couldn’t understand why he cared so much about that damn baby… I get it now because I’d gladly watch a movie about the backstory of these characters… even individual movies… Well, maybe not Darlene (I feel she didn’t have much of a backstory, but if a movie came out about her, I’d watch it.) Emily and Rose were the ones I was most curious about. Miles was a close second.

I wanted to know more about what happened to Rosie to make her so loyal to Billy Lee. Granted, it is implied what happened, but it seems like a story worth telling. Same with Miles. Such a tragic character, and then end when he finally gets to repent for his sins… It was so beautifully done.

I also love when watching something gives me inspiration for my own writing. I’ve had an idea I’ve wanted to tell regarding sisters. They have a love/hate relationship, initially inspired by Nina and Anna Williams from Tekken. This film, and the dynamic of Emily and Rose, has given me a new angle I can take with my own story.

The only thing I regret is not watching this film sooner. From what I read, it was a box office flop, and I hate that I contributed to that, because I loved this film. If you haven’t seen it, I didn’t spoil much… so go watch it!

I’ll start by saying I’m a HUGE fan of Edgar Wright. I was a fan before I even paid attention to writers and directors. He has such a way with music (if you haven’t watched Baby Driver, go watch it). Though I’d watched Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, it was really Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World that solidified my love for his work. That film was so inspiring to me as a writer.

Anyway, I say all that to say, Last Night in Soho was a leap of faith for me. If I love his other work, I’ll love this one, right? Now, I don’t want this post or any of my posts to bash a film. I never want to say a film is a bad film, not that I think this is a bad film, I just think it isn’t a film for me.

To sum up the film briefly, a young woman named Eloise, who goes by Ellie, goes to London to study fashion design. She seems to be able to communicate with the dead and when she rents a room for an elderly lady, those abilities kick into overdrive. She starts “reliving” a woman’s life from the 60s, a woman called Sandie, had big dreams of being a star. She trusted the wrong man and becomes a prostitute to support herself.

Before watching the film, I read the script, and it didn’t pull me in like others have. It felt like a chore to read, so I worried I’d feel the same about the film itself. The visuals and music did a lot more for me than the script alone, which didn’t come as a surprise to me… Nonetheless, I didn’t connect to the film.

I’ll put it bluntly (and I think it’s fair for me to say because someone can easily say the same about a script I wrote… if anyone were to read it.) The whole time I watched the film, I couldn’t help but think I was watching a lesser version of Black Swan. Or a version of Black Swan that I didn’t connect with as I connected with Black Swan.

When I watch a film and don’t fall in love with it, I like to go online and read reviews and watch video analysis, because I want to make sure I didn’t miss something. When I first watched Midsommar, I wasn’t a fan, but after research and a few analysis videos, I liked it. This wasn’t the case.

It all starts with Eloise. I don’t like her. I don’t connect with her and I never understand why she is doing the things she’s doing. I also wish there had been a bit more exploration of her powers. How they work and what not. It was confusing because I felt I didn’t know the rules to them. Eloise reminds me of Nina from Black Swan. Both start the film very meek, and change throughout the film. Where I could understand Nina’s change, and her descent into madness, Eloise’s was confusing for me. It was also unclear to me why she bonded so closely to Sandie. I understood they were both went to London to make their dreams come true, but that seemed to be where the parallels ended for them.

Maybe it was an issue of the story I thought was interesting wasn’t told. I would have loved for Eloise to see her mother’s journey. It would have been more of an emotional connection for the two characters.

It also felt like the film took a while to get going. There was a lot of time spent with her schoolmates, and they didn’t really end up being important to the plot. Then the twist at the end… If you haven’t watched the film, you shouldn’t be reading this… but nonetheless, we’re going into spoilers.

Ellie sometimes is living as Sandie as she dreams, but as the film goes on, she sees things when she is awake (again, how her powers worked weren’t clear.) She sees Sandie being murdered, and now wants to avenge Sandie’s murder… However, she learns the elderly lady she is renting a room from is Sandie… Even though she saw Sandie get murdered, it was actually Sandie murdering Jack, her pimp… Which begs the question, if that vision can be incorrect, how does Ellie now that any of it is what actually happened. Sandie started murdering her johns and now decides to murder Ellie, and the guy she likes, who just so happens to be named John. There were also these ghost men chasing Ellie around… and even though she never they were hallucinations, she still would run from them and/or try to attack them… almost stabbing a schoolmate in the face.

The beginning of the film eludes to Ellie suffering from hallucinations in the past due to her powers… So, a big thing for me was, why didn’t she call her grandmother and/or leave London? I get it, you have a story to tell, but for someone so meek, it didn’t make sense that as soon as things got out of hand, she didn’t contact her grandmother.

Anyway, Sandie is going to kill her, and goes into the room where she killed Jack, and all the other men, and she sees the ghosts.. and then decides not to kill Ellie and to just let herself die. I don’t know. The whole time, I just felt like there was something I missed that made everything click together.

It wasn’t a bad film. It looked great. It sounded great. I thought everyone did a great job, acting wise… I just couldn’t connect to the story, and Ellie’s motivation and behavior didn’t make sense to me. If someone reading this loved the film and wants to tell me how they interpreted it, I would love to have a conversation. Maybe my love of Black Swan is what kept me from enjoying it fully?

Assassination Nation was a wild ride. Many moons ago, I saw the trailer for it and knew it was a film I’d want to see. But then I didn’t see it. While randomly going through HBO Max, I saw it and added it to my list. Killing two birds with one stone, I also had it be my script of the week. The script and film are more or less the same. Some bits are moved around, and there’s some dialogue added to the film, but no major changes. For those who haven’t watched the film… stop reading and go watch it! The basic premise is someone starts hacking the town of Salem and leaks EVERYONE’S texts, emails, etc. They start with the mayor, then the high school principal… and then the residents of the town. Eventually, the town decides it is the fault of four teenage girls and the town descends into madness. Assassination Nation says what I believe Zack Snyder thought Sucker Punch would say. This is the story of four teenage girls, led by Lily, who are trapped in a patriarchal society and rebelling against it. If you read my Saw post, you’ll remember I said Saw V felt preachy, with the whole game being played by people who work for an insurance company. Assassination Nation was preachy, but didn’t feel preachy, if that makes sense. A lot of the time, it wasn’t like characters were speaking as characters, but more to express ideas or say something about society. For instance, this cheerleader is talking about how technology has ruined the sense of privacy. Younger generations know and accept it, and older generations try to resist it. She then talks about how she has a bunch of followers and how this 40-year-old man buys her things from her Amazon Wishlist. The dialogue is more to tell you about society than it is to tell you about the character, move the plot forward and/or create conflict… but it works with this film. There were parts of the film that made me super uncomfortable. Now, I’ve watched a lot of shit. Sometimes I’ll watch something BECAUSE someone else said it was intense and/or made them uncomfortable. Hell, I watched Irreversible because I read Quentin Tarantino walked out in the middle of it. (Sidenote, that film is brutally violent. There are fight scenes where you see someone’s head get smashed in… but the scene most people talk about is a, I believe, 10-minute rape and beating scene… it was A LOT.) This film gets nowhere near Irreversible, but the discomfort was there, nonetheless. To describe it, I’ll have to get into some details, so if you haven’t watched and are still reading, consider this the final warning regarding spoilers… The first scene that made me uncomfortable was when Lily’s boyfriend lures her to a secluded place, only to have his friends hold her down while he finds out if she has a birthmark on her back. From reading the script, I knew, or assumed, nothing would happen beyond that, but it was so uncomfortable seeing her scream and cry for them to stop… and they keep going. I know it’s a film, but men are trash. The next scene, and not that it was graphic or anything, I was just… shocked. Her parents literally dragging her out of the house once they find out she was sexting Nick. I know it’s a film, but it just seems like such an extreme reaction (especially when it comes to the end of the film.) Pretty much everything after the town decided to catch the four girls made me uncomfortable, especially when Em and Sarah are caught. There are grown men handcuffing them, pulling their hair, dragging them to cop cars. They are crying (their mom is shot and killed in the process). All I could think was, how did everyone feel while this was being shot. Did it feel traumatic for the actresses? Did it feel traumatic for the actors? I would have some trauma having to behave that way towards someone, even if it is fictional. I’d want to comfort them between takes. There’s also the Lily and Nick scene. So, Lily has been texting this guy, ❤ Daddy, throughout the film. We learn that he is Nick, a man in his 40s who lives across the street from her. (Sidenote, he is played by sexy ass Joel McHale, so I’d sext him too.) He can see into her window from his office. She used to babysit for him and his wife, but then they started sexting and she stopped. Well, his shit gets leaked, and once Lily’s boyfriend confirms she is the one Nick was sexting, the town really started to descend into chaos. His wife takes his child and leaves. When the girls are being chased, Lily gets away and he brings her to his house for “safe” keeping. That eventually leads to him trying to rape her. As he feels she ruined his life, and he didn’t even get to fuck her… And that attempt leads to her slitting his throat. But very uncomfortable scene. The film gets comfortable for me after Nick’s death, because Lily discovers his arsenal of weapons. She finds and rescues her friends and they shot and stab the shit out of a bunch of dudes who had it coming. It was great and I felt so happy for them. The film ends with them, and a growing group of teenage girls, ready to take on the men and teenage boys of the town… until the FBI stops it. We learn that the hacker is Lily’s little brother. When his parents asked why he did it, he says “for the lulz.” Fin. Now, something that bothers me about this is, AS SOON as they find out Lily was sexting Nick, no more discussing, no asking why, no wondering if he pressured her into it because he is TWICE her age. Nope, it is kick her out of the house and pretend she doesn’t exist. But at the end, and maybe I’m reading into it, they show the little brother grace for his behavior, despite being told he is guaranteed a life sentence for everything that happened because of him. Again, I could be reading too much into it. It could have just been arranged that way to get that final line… but shitty parents trigger me… ESPECIALLY when their treatment of one kid is different than their treatment of others. All in all, it was a great ride. I thought for sure it was a film written by a woman, and I was surprised to learn it wasn’t. I was even more surprised to learn the writer/director, Sam Levinson, went on to create Euphoria. It makes sense though, the more that I think of it. I haven’t started Euphoria yet, but it makes me want to now.

I’m going to start by saying I love the Saw franchise. It has sentimental value to me, which I’ll explain, so if you’re looking for a blog bashing the series, even the. films I didn’t like as much, this won’t be it. If my blogs haven’t made it clear, I’m a horror fan and have been since childhood. I’m a child from the Blockbuster era and have watched all kinds of horror. I don’t remember how or why I watched the first Saw, nor do I remember what I initially thought of it. The series wouldn’t pop into my mind again until 2006. I was 18, had just moved across the country to Phoenix, Arizona, and had started my college/adult life. A classmate I’d chatted with online invited me to go to the mall’s movie theater and watch the premiere of Saw III with him. Having only watched the first one, he invited me to his apartment to watch the first two before we walked to the mall to see the third. We were BLOWN away! The entire walk home we spent gushing about how much we loved the trilogy. And we were pretty inseparable after that. Shortly after, we became roommates, but he moved out of state before Saw IV came out. We told each other we’d wait until we could watch it together (I did watch it before him, sorry I lied Adam). After that, I started watching the Saw films every Halloween… though I didn’t watch any of the rest in theaters. Now onto the films. Let’s start where it all began, Saw. I’m not sure if it has aged well, but that could just be because I have watched it so many times. Regardless, giving credit where credit is due, that ending was BRILLIANT. It is up there with The Sixth Sense and Fight Club for best twist endings for me. It was a great story, and I loved the intimacy of it all. Saw II is a film I don’t hate, but I don’t love either. I liked that it had a group of people going through the test (we’ll come back to that later.) It was really interesting to see Amanda get tested again. Sidenote, Amanda is EASILY my favorite character in the franchise, and I knew Shawnee Smith from watching Becker. If you haven’t watched Becker, she plays this ditzy assistant (I believe she was an assistant or something along those lines). So, I was VERY shocked to see her as Amanda. Having the “contestants” for lack of better term, slowly learn they all have a criminal background, were all put away by the same person… and that the son of the cop who framed them and put them away is in the house with them, was interesting and added tension. The twist at the end was nice (being that Eric Matthews is in search of his son, but the game was already played, and his son is literally in a safe in the room with him, but he didn’t know it.) Saw III will probably always be my favorite of the franchise. It means so much to me and I LOVED how it adds context to the events that came before (the franchise will do this with future films… and sometimes I liked it, sometimes I didn’t.) There are many things I love about this film, so here we go. Something that is used again (not as well, in my opinion) is playing with the viewer’s assumptions. The film starts with a woman and man in bed together. They are arguing and she gets up to leave. Her name is Lynn and she’s a doctor. As she is heading out the door, the man tells her he wants a divorce. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this because you naturally assume they are husband and wife. You don’t learn until the VERY end of the film that Lynn is cheating on her husband with that man. SO BRILLIANT! For this game, Jeff is playing because he has let the death of his son consume his life… to the point that he is neglecting his daughter. (Another nice touch is Jeff telling his daughter that mommy wouldn’t want to see them like this. It makes the viewer believe the mom is dead.) In my opinion, those going through the game usually aren’t very likable. As I write this, I think the most likable ones were Adam and Lawrence from the first film. I say that to say I didn’t like Jeff. I sympathized with him… to an extent, but he irked me. Maybe I can’t relate because I am not a father and haven’t lost a child… but each part of the game was him encountering someone involved in his son’s death. Now, these people didn’t abduct and kill his son. His son biked into the street and got hit by a car. It was an unfortunate accident… but Jeff treats these people like they purposefully killed his son. One woman was a witness who ran from the scene and didn’t testify, then there is the judge who presided over the case. Finally, there is the man driving the car that hit Jeff’s son. Even in the flashback, you see that this man is pained and in tears for taking this child’s life… Jeff rubbed me the wrong way, and his eventual ending seemed like just deserts. In Jeff’s defense, he does attempt to save them all, even if at the last minute. He saves the judge, but the judge is killed while trying to save the driver. Another twist I loved in Saw III was learning the test was for Amanda. See, Amanda thinks the test is for Lynn, and while Lynn is technically being tested, it is really Amanda. She is meant to be Jigsaw’s legacy, but she makes unwinnable games. I could go on and on about this film, and maybe someday I will. But let’s move on for now. Saw IV I enjoyed. Officer Riggs was a character I liked seeing go through the game. As in, I thought he was a good person. It was a nice take, seeing Jigsaw actively recruit someone. It was also interesting that this film picks up right where Saw III left off. The lesson he is being taught is he can’t save everyone. As such, each segment of his game is essentially telling him to do nothing. The person he sees in his game is in the middle of their own test, and it is up to them to get out of it. As he goes, he seems to be learning, and you have hope for him… until the finale. At the beginning of the film, he bursts through a door and is told you NEVER go through an uncleared door. He does the same in this game and that causes Eric Matthews to get his head smashed by two big bricks of ice. We also learn that Saw III and Saw IV were happening at the same time. Saw V is a favorite of mine. It is probably top 3 for me (III is 1 and Saw is 2). As I stated regarding Saw II, a group going through a game is really interesting to me. The twist I loved about this film was the final two learn, during the final part of the game, that they were supposed to go against their instincts and work together. Naturally, they didn’t, resulting in only two making it to the end. The film also has Meagan Goode and Julie Benz. At this point, let’s talk about Mark Hoffman. He is probably the character I hate the MOST in the series. Much like Amanda did, Mark makes tests more to get people out of the way, making tests people can’t get out of. He was such an antagonist, and I didn’t understand why he kept escaping punishment. Saw VI wasn’t a favorite of mine. This film has something to say, which isn’t a problem, but it felt a bit preachy. Mark Hoffman takes on the head of the insurance company that denied John Kramer’s claim when he was seeking treatment for cancer. It has a twist like Saw III, but it didn’t land the same way. The head of the company, I don’t remember his name, is going through the game, and you see a mom and son, you assume that is his wife and son. There is also a reporter who is at the end of the game with them. When the head of the company gets to the end, you realize the reporter is his sister, his only family, and the mom and son are related to a man who died because his claim was denied, like John’s. Funny enough, this year while watching, I realized the dad was Charlie on Scandal. I felt bad for the head of the company, because he seemed to have learned his lesson, but still died in the end. The real twist is when Jill, John’s ex-wife, puts Mark in the iconic bear trap… but he survives… and the movie ends. Saw: The Final Chapter is my least favorite. It was a 3D film, and I’m wary of 3D horror films. The pinkish, thick blood was also a choice. This film, and VI, had games that involved other people who were basically just there to die. III and IV had people involved in the “protagonist’s” game… but in III, they were there to test Jeff’s need for vengeance and in IV, Riggs was meant to see the others playing their game and how they deserved to be in their test. In VI, for the most part, these were people who just happened to work for the company, and it seemed unfair to punish someone for making a living by working for a company, whose policies they may or may not agree with. Like VI, the people involved with the game had done nothing wrong. The Final Chapter starts with a game involving three people caught in a love triangle. It felt a little… trivial. The purpose of the test is so people appreciate their lives, being in a love triangle didn’t seem a strong enough reason to do so, but, c’est la vie. This film follows a man, Bobby, who claims he survived a Jigsaw test and has become successful from writing a book about it. We learn that Lawrence survived the first film and quickly learn that Bobby is lying. I don’t remember who of his team knew this information, but his fiancé didn’t. He has to go through the test, saving the people who work for him. Surprise, they all die. His fiancé is at the end, and he fails to save her as well. Of all the victims of the series, she was the one I felt the worst for, because she had done nothing wrong, other than love the wrong man. This films always have a B plot where the cops are working the Jigsaw case. In this film, the police are trying to keep Mark Hoffman from killing Jill. They fail. Terribly. And he puts Jill in the bear trap and kills her. It’s towards the end of the film, so you think all is over… but then Mark gets attacked. We discover Lawrence has been helping John since surviving the first film. He locks Mark in the original Saw arena, and the film, and series ends… Until 10 years later when Jigsaw comes out. I really enjoyed the film, and it had some nice twists. It’s 10 years after John Kramer’s death, but the games have started again. Jigsaw and Spiral have more of a police procedural feel than the previous films. This is also a group game, which I enjoy. Each test is for one specific person, as opposed to them working together to solve a problem. The twist in this film is the game we’re watching actually was Jigsaw’s first game. We also learn that the Jigsaw of this game was someone who was saved from the original game. He helped John throughout his games… I didn’t like this. Messing with the past too much is never a good thing in a franchise. It was the perfect amount up to around V. Even bringing Lawrence back for the “final” film was a nice touch. But then having more people be a part of the past makes it harder to enjoy rewatching the films. Finally, as far as we know, Spiral: Book of Saw (though now that I think of it, I’m pretty sure I read that Tobin Bell is returning as Jigsaw). I didn’t hate this film; I didn’t love this film. This felt the most like a police procedural. It also felt more like a psychological thriller than a horror film. My first time watching the film was just the other day. I’ve never been able to guess the twist of a Saw film before. Almost immediately, I had an idea of who the new Jigsaw was… and after a certain “death”, I knew for certain that person was the killer… and at the end, I was right. There was still a bit of a surprised at the end, which was nice. The change of the Jigsaw voice was… hard to cope with. I was VERY surprised that the story was about crooked cops and what not (which is what made figuring out the new Jigsaw so easy, this person was the only one who wasn’t a crooked cop, so it just made since they weren’t really dead.) All in all, I love this franchise. It’s so inspirational how these two filmmakers made this amazing franchise and went on to make other amazing franchises. I’ve gone on long enough. Maybe next year I will write a blog for each film on its own.  

I’ve fallen behind on my script reading and something drew me to read Juno today. I almost read Jennifer’s Body, and for a moment, wondered why I thought the two were connected… I quickly remembered they are both written by Diablo Cody. You can tell too, and I mean that in the most complimentary of ways. The characters have a strange way of talking that just works for the world they live in… much like how Joss Whedon has a way with dialogue.

I can’t even remember the last time I watched Juno, but I know it hasn’t been in the last six and a half years, and I’d be surprised if it was after 2010. It was nice to revisit that story, and there were things that surprised me. I’m not sure if I read the script before, but here are my thoughts. I’d also like to add that I watched the film right after finishing the script.

First, it is such a cute story. If there’s another film like it, I haven’t encountered it. I vaguely remember criticism of the film regarding the way the characters spoke, which didn’t bother me. I will say the zany dialogue was more noticeable to me here than it was in Jennifer’s Body. Also, for some reason, I thought it was Bill Hader who played the clerk at the store when it was Rainn Wilson. Also, I knew the best friend in the film wasn’t played by the actress who played the best friend in Awkward, but the whole time I was reading the script, I envisioned that actress.

I’ll preface, as I did with the Juno post, by saying I’m unsure how to refer to character pronouns, as the character of Juno, a teenage girl, was played by Elliot Page, who has come out as a trans man), so the pronouns I’ll be referring to are that of the character’s not the actor’s. If you haven’t watched the film and are reading this for some reason or another, it is the story of a teenage girl named Juno, but not named after the city, who gets pregnant. At first, she is going to have an abortion, but stops, in part because she learns the baby has fingernails. Sidenote, and this is something I noticed while reading the script for Jennifer’s Body, white is the default, which I’m not surprised by, but it always kinda takes me out of the story when another race is mentioned. In Juno, the character outside the abortion clinic is specifically Asian. I can’t remember if anyone else’s race is mentioned, I know the main character’s race isn’t. It just seems odd to me and I’m not sure if in a good or bad way. Also, when watching the film, I was like, where do I remember this actress from. I went to her IMDB page and she was also in Jennifer’s Body (she is the one that called Jennifer and Needy “lesbigay”.) I love seeing people collaborate again.

I got sidetracked… So, Juno knows she isn’t going to raise this baby and decided to find a nice family to adopt her child. Enter Mark and Vanessa, played by Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner, respectively. They are your quintessential yuppie suburban couple. The film and script don’t say what Vanessa does for work, but I assume she’s a lawyer or deals in the corporate world. Mark writes jingles for commercials, though had, and still has, dreams of being a rock star. Mark and Juno instantly connect. They have similar tastes in music and film, and despite him being in his 30s, he seems to have the maturity of a teenage boy. Mark also gives American Beauty vibes, as he is an older man who is excited and revitalized by getting attention from an underaged girl. Mark and Juno’s interaction doesn’t go beyond an awkward slow dance but is still creepy nonetheless.

During said dance, he tells Juno he is leaving Vanessa, and that ruins the “relationship” the two had. The script, and film, seem to imply Mark thought he and Juno would/could end up together after he left Vanessa… Juno’s negative reaction to this revelation shatters that illusion for Mark, and he remembers, or finally realizes, he is dealing with a teenage girl.

Mark leaves Vanessa, but Juno still gives the baby to her, despite the idea of the baby having this “perfect couple” to adopt it being ruined. And the film ends with Juno and Paulie, the baby daddy, singing a cute little song about how much they like each other. It’s such a charming film and script, I don’t think I’ve come across anything else quite like it.

For those who don’t know, I’m an aspiring screenwriter (I know I’m supposed to just say screenwriter, but I haven’t been writing any scripts lately, so aspiring it is…). I try to read a script a week. It is something I have been doing for the past two to three years. My laptop has various scripts I’ve downloaded over these two to three years. There is drama, horror, action, tv, movies; anything I’ve loved in the past or think I might love, or at least like. So far, I’ve only read one script without first seeing the film, It Follows… I should do a post about that. Recently, I’ve been reading more tv scripts (I feel behind, and they are faster to read), but last week I went back to a classic, Mr. & Mrs. Smith. I forgot how much I love that script, and film, so I also rewatched it. Here are my thoughts.

I brought up the aspiring screenwriter bit because while watching, I thought of my Screenwriting 101 class. Our professor went around the room and asked us our favorite films and whatnot. I remember saying I want to write films like Scott Pilgrim Vs The World and/or Sucker Punch (I know Sucker Punch is DEEPLY problematic, but hear me out). I explained that I enjoy films and want to write scripts that have a hyper scene of reality. My professor responded by saying he hopes I write better scripts than those films (he didn’t mean it in a judgy/mean way, and I ADORE him. He taught me so much about the craft. Thank you, Professor Greene, if you ever happen upon this.) If I could go back, I would have included Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

I really enjoy films that are dressed in another genre’s clothing… if that makes sense. On the outside, the film is an action flick. You get gun fights, hand-to-hand combat, and, of course, explosions… but it’s really a mundane drama about a couple who have fallen into a monotonous routine marriage. It’s all about this couple finding that spark that reignites their passion for one another and it’s dressed up as an action film. It’s a simple (and beautiful) tale told in a hyper-realistic way, and I LOVE it.

I couldn’t tell too many differences between the script I read and the film (I assume the versions I find online are the “final” versions, so it isn’t surprising that they are close to the film… but sometimes they are surprising). Some locations were changed and the big showdown at the end was a little different, but that was about it.

Something I love from a dialogue perspective is a double connotation and/or a conversation that is out of place for the characters to have but makes sense in the situation. An example that pops into my head is a scene from Welcome to the Dollhouse. There are two 11-year-olds, and they have a relationship, but Dawn is “in love with someone else”, so she can’t be Brandon’s boyfriend. And he is asking her to tell her the name of this guy she’s in love with. It’s a conversation you’d expect much older people to be having, but it works within the context of the scene and the film.

In Mr. & Mrs. Smith, the one that stands out is the conversation about their “number”. Even just reading the script, I chuckled at this. It is… maybe a common thing, I don’t know, a thing where a couple will ask their partner for their “number”, meaning the number of people they’ve slept with. The scene plays like that, but the “number” they are talking about is how many people they’ve killed. Jane’s number is much higher than John’s, and he asks how she has so many. She tells him, that sometimes it was two or three at a time. I don’t know, even just typing that I chuckled. I love a double entendre.

Maybe I should go a little more in-depth about the film? But it is from 2005. If you’re reading this, you probably already watched it. If you didn’t, here’s a brief synopsis. Jane and John Smith have been married for five (or six) years. They live in the suburbs and live a boring suburban life. There is a bit of a misleading to make you think maybe they are cheating on each other, again, not out of the ordinary when one lives a boring suburban life… only to realize they are BOTH assassins! Eventually, they both are sent on the same job and have to go against one another… but they don’t realize it at the time… eventually they do realize their opponent is their spouse, and they alternate between wanting to kill each other and wanting to save their marriage (which again, is something I think couples can relate to… though, hopefully, in a more figurative way).

During the film, you learn that the respective agencies they work for purposefully sent them on the same job, in hopes that one would take out the other… It does beg the question, how did it take five (or six) years for these top companies with all their intel to learn that two assassins were married… but that’s a pothole I can live with.

All in all, it’s a great film with a great mix of comedy, action, and drama. It still holds up almost 20 years later. If you haven’t watched it, or haven’t watched it in a while, I highly recommend doing so.