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Last weekend, my wife and I were perusing the local video rental store and selected a film primarily because of the cast, which even included a grand dame of the English stage and screen. Neither of us had heard of the film before, but decided to give it a spin. (The film and cast will remain nameless.)
It was a high concept premise-and I could see how a writer pitched the idea and came away with an assignment. It was, however, among the worst films we've watched in recent memory. We kept on viewing in a perverse, hypnotic spell, wondering how much worse can this get. The conclusion? Much, much worse.
The concept itself held promise. In fact, a similar idea resulted in an award-winning dramatic film while this one took a comedic take on the subject.
The script, however, managed to incorporate every movie clich? the writer could dredge up. Plot twists were straight as an arrow. The gags had all been done before and were simply old chestnuts dressed in new clothing. The characters were transparent, cardboard "types." Taken altogether, this was hack work in every category.
Despite the miserable material-the cast gave their all. The performances were the best one could possibly expect from such a script.
It was a vivid example of how no amount of production values and outstanding acting can save poor material. As we hear time and again-the script is king. Strong writing is the starting point for great, even good, motion pictures. And more often than not-bad films trace their roots to poor writing. It is an axiom that has withstood the test of time.
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