Will there be an Inception review?

That's up to you.

I think it's time. I think we all agree it's time. Inception needs to be reviewed on Scriptshadow. I know this script is out there because they've already started shooting it (under a different name). My April Fools Day joke was convincing enough that I've literally received a thousand requests for the script. Some liked my made-up version so much they've even encouraged me to write it (I did think it was pretty cool if I do say so myself). With the most highly anticipated movie debuting its footage today at ComicCon, it seems only natural we get a review of the most coveted script in town.

Now here's my promise to you. You, person out there, who has the script. I will not post it. I promise you that. All I want to do is read and review it. So you can send it through your e-mail or an anonymous e-mail or whatever means necessary, if your'e scared. But just know that I'm not going to spread this out there. My inbox awaits you. Do the right thing. :)

Up In The Air

Genre: Drama
Premise: A professional who specializes in "career transition counseling" is on the verge of accumulating 5 million frequent flier miles.
About: Based on the novel by Walter Kirn, this was adpated and is being directed by Jason Reitman (Juno) for a release later this year. It will star George Clooney, Jason Bateman, and Vera Farmiga. The script was a hot property last year when Leonardo DiCaprio got attached and it later landed on the Black List. Because Reitman is both the writer and director, there's a good chance this draft stayed relatively intact.
Writer: Jason Reitman (originally adapted by Sheldon Turner)


I put this one off because I'm the anti-frequent flier. I fly once or twice a year and I hate every second of it. I'm kinda fascinated by these people who spend their entire lives on airplanes, in rented cars, in hotel rooms, because I always ask myself: What are they running from? Clearly, if they liked their lives, they'd be home more, right? That seems to be the inspiration behind the character of Ryan, played by George Clooney.

Clooney's flyin high

Ryan is a man so appalled by the notion of "home", he couldn't tell you his address if you spotted him the first three numbers. Ryan's priority is and always has been his work. Companies hire him to come in and do their housecleaning. And Ryan, who has the process down to a science, can fire 30 people in a day and not bat an eye. It's not that he's cruel. He genuinely cares about these people and their futures. But he loves the wonderful lifestyle this always-on-the-move job provides him. Ryan is perpetually 33,000 feet above you, me, and everyone else.

Recently, Ryan's found himself approaching the 5,000,000 mile frequent flier mark. Only 7 people in history have ever achieved it at the airline and Ryan's about to become the 8th. Reaching this point gets you ridiculous perks like your name on a plane and the kind of celebrity treatment reserved only for - well, for celebrities. Ryan purchases nothing or does nothing unless it increases this ever-escalating total of miles.

Unfortunately, Ryan's high flying lifestyle is about to make a ditch landing in the Hudson River. A brash attractive 23 year old Ivy-League grad named Natalie is hired by the company to do some cost-cutting. And Natalie comes up with a doozie. Instead of *going* to these companies to fire people, what if they could do it over video chat? Ryan is outraged by even the mention of such a practice, but his boss likes Natalie's out-of-the-box thinking and before Ryan knows it, he's scheduled Natalie to follow Ryan around the country for a few weeks so she can learn firsthand how to fire people. Ryan's perfect "on-the-move" lifestyle and 5,000,000 mile achievement is about to be crushed by some ignorant 23 year old Ivy League ditz.

In the coming weeks Ryan and Natalie try their best to work together but they're the exact opposite in every way. She hates being away from home and is eagerly anticipating her marriage. He hates being *at* home and is eagerly anticipating the day she's not around. And no, this isn't a Hollywood romantic comedy so you can forget about the two hooking up. Instead, the story focuses on the unlikely friendship that forms between them. They find that they do actually have one thing in common - they're both lost souls. And no matter how much sense their current philosophies on life seem to make for them, they're both afraid that they're missing out on something else.

One of the better subplots of the script is Alex, the female version of Ryan, who meets up with him all over the country for layover bootie-calls. The two know very little about each other other than that they love the thrill of being on the move. Whereas Ryan and Natalie rarely agree on anything, Ryan and Alex agree on pretty much everything. It's the ultimate no-attachments relationship.

Vera will play the part of Alex

When a family wedding starts pulling Ryan back to that ugly cloud of attachent he's worked so hard to avoid in life, and Natalie's words start to give him a new perspective on settling down, Ryan finally sees what everybody has known about him forever: That the 20 years he's spent running around the country were less about embracing life and more about avoiding it. He finally understands what he's missing and to prove it, he jumps on a plane and flies to Alex's hometown to surprise her. He wants that commitment. But when he gets there and she opens the door, let's just say he experiences some turbulence. And that's what I liked most about "Up In The Air." There's no flight plan. And you're never quite sure what city you're going to land in.

I'll be honest. I expected to hate thing thing. Who cares if someone gets 5,000,000 frequent flier miles?? Thankfully, that whole schtick is more of a story hook than something that actually plays into the plot. The script is more about drifting and our obsession with distraction. It's about growing up, the power of denial, is the grass really greener on the other side? It's about selfishness and family and never knowing if you're making the right choice.

Up In the Air really won me over in the end. It's not perfect. It drifts a little. But in a weird way, the drifting mirrors Ryan's life, so it kind of works. It reminded me of a more serious Jerry McGuire - and I think Cruise would've been a better fit than both DiCaprio or Clooney. But if Clooney can pull this off, he may be up for some awards come Oscar time (it shouldn't be hard. How many nominations do they have now? 30?) This is the film that "The Terminal" wanted to be and one of my most anticipated flicks of the winter.

[ ] trash
[ ] barely kept my interest
[ ] worth the read
[x] impressive
[ ] genius

What I learned: Is 110 the new 120? - Up In The Air may clock in at 124 pages but that's because Jason Reitman only has to impress himself. I have been seeing so many 100-110 page spec scripts lately. It's so rare that one of the chunkier ones sneaks through that you begin to wonder if 120 is becoming the screenplay equivalent of standard definition. Of course, thrillers and comedies are naturally shorter. If you're writing a drama, you can eek into 110+ territory. But I'd still look to keep it under 110. Readers are just used to it. And after being yelled at and ridiculed for 9 hours, these poor souls have to go home and read 3 professional scripts before they reach yours - the unknown writer - the one script they've been dreading and the one they know if they don't like by page 20, they're getting some shuteye. So don't give them a reason to tune out before they've tuned in.

The Low Dweller

Genre: Drama
Synopsis: A man with a dark past must exact revenge on his brother's killer.
About: Sold for 650k against 1.1 mil. To star Leonardo DiCaprio. Ridley Scott to direct. The writer sold the script all the way from Pennsylvania. But don't be fooled. Inglelsby spent 2 years at the prestigious American Film Institute (great school btw).
Writer: Brad Ingelsby

I'd still prefer a sequel to Titanic

No. 4 of 5 on our Top-Selling Scripts of 2008 List. Because you stingy script-horders won't send me "The Long Run" (AHEM! AHEM!) it looks like this will be our last drama of the week. Enjoy (aka I hate you).

I was really dreading this one. I already tried to read it once and it didn't go well. By page 13 I was actually considering watching The Bachelor instead. That's never a good sign because I only mildly occasionally watch The Bachelor. It's usually by accident if I'm flipping through the channels and happen to leave it on ABC at 8pm on Mondays. It's always by chance though. Believe me, I could care less about the show. But I will say this: Jason really screwed over Melissa. I'll leave it at that.

And I don't think Molly is emotionally available enough for Jason and I worry how that's going to affect Ty. Okay I'm done. I just wanted to be on the record about that.

The (S)Low Dweller was purchased when none other than Jack Dawson (known by some as the celebrity-eschewing Leonardo DiCaprio) became interested in the material. Scripts that are bought for actors are always interesting because an actor doesn't look at the whole story when he's looking at a script. He tends to look exclusively at the character. This is all fine and dandy but a story has to work as a whole and sometimes these vanity projects stink of Oscar bait. Check out "Seven Pounds" if you don't believe me. But it's a good thing for Inglesby that DiCaprio became interested. Because if he hadn't, I'm almost certain we'd have never heard of The Low Dweller.

I don't know how many of you watch Entourage, but The Low Dweller reminds me of those two hicks that E represents - the ones that ended up selling their script for a million dollars? This is a small town movie about small time people. We meet SLIM somewhere in rural Indiana (is there anywhere in Indiana that's not rural?), his clothes stained with fresh blood, his mind still blank from alcohol. We find out later he's killed a man but we don't know who or why. After four years in jail, he's released back into a world that's forgotten him.

He reconnects with his brother and the rest of the people he left behind - all of whom he seems to have strained relationships with. The Low Dweller is heavy. I'm serious. There isn't a single smile in the script. I'm getting depressed just thinking about it. When his brother is killed for skipping out on a gambling debt, Slim grabs a couple of old buddies and heads out on the road for a little revenge (if only he'd called Dan Minter!). The man he's going after, SAM, is a really bad guy who, for some reason, likes to wear a fedora. During this time Slim tries to mend the relationships he destroyed during his "troubled" past.

The writing here is very good but the film feels like it's lost in cliches. Small town with shady characters. Guy owes a gambling debt. Collectors are tired of waiting to get paid so they kill him. His brother (with a dark past) comes after the killer. I'm not saying you have to have a completely original idea to write a good screenplay. But it helps.

Basically The Low Dweller is a revenge movie and it takes way too long to get to the revenge part. The first 20 pages could've been condensed into 3. If you want to read a great movie about revenge, look no further than my Top 25 List and download The Brigands Of Rattleborge . Now that's a revenge movie. This is Revenge Light, and I fail to see what caught DiCaprio's interest here besides another opportunity to use a southern accent.

The script makes a late comeback (with a revenge for the revenge) but the final shot falls short. This felt like an amalgam of a few films: Fargo, No Country For Old Men, and History Of Violence. I like all of those movies but the problem with The Low Dweller is that it doesn't do anything nearly as well as any of them. This sounds terrible but The Low Dweller is kind of like the ugly non-smiling stepchild here.

But if you liked any of those movies, you might as well check out The Low Dweller. Who knows? Maybe DiCaprio saw something in it that I didn't and it'll turn into a great movie. It definitely has its admirers as I think it was pretty high on The Black List. Just bring something to entertain yourself during the read - like a gameboy - cause it's sloooooooooooo-oooooooooow.

[ ] trash
[x] barely kept my interest
[ ] worth the read
[ ] impressive
[ ] genius

What I learned from The Low Dweller: If you're going to write a revenge movie, you have two jobs. Make sure we like the person who gets killed and inspires the revenge and make sure we detest the killer (so that we'll want to see him killed). Fail on either of these fronts and your revenge movie doesn't work. If you have a somewhat mean guy killing an annoying victim, where's our incentive for the hero to get revenge?