Screenplays and the new Bush movie

If you've never sat down and read a screenplay, I highly recommend it. You'll instantly realize why so many people attempt to write one. Not only does it appear exceedingly easy to compose -- at its simplest form, a screenplay consists of dialogue and set descriptions -- but it's also very enduring. The idea of putting dialogue and action down on paper while imagining how it would play out on screen is fascinating. I would suggest reading any easy piece first, one that is very dialogue-driven, such as Pulp Fiction. It's a quick read, and a good example of how a really clever and original plot can unfold into an incredible movie.

Anybody reading a script for the first time will also be surprised by how boring it may seem. It's not anything like reading a book, where readers expect extreme levels of scene setting, dialogue and character development to keep the plot flowing and the story interesting. In a screenplay, the dialogue is often short -- you don't want to bore the audience with actors talking and talking and talking -- and a lot of the character characteristics in terms of mannerisms, styles of speech, etc. are left up to actors. I'm no expert, and I've never worked on a movie, but from what I've read actors generally don't like to be told how to act by screenwriters.

I bring this up because last night I read the first few pages of Oliver Stone's movie "W." The pages were apparently leaked on the Web and posted by Hollywood Reporter. A bunch of movie-related sites have the entire script and are weighing in, trying like to me to figure out whether it sucks or not. It's hard for me to tell directory from a script whether a movie will be a dud; I just don't have the experience needed for such judgments. But from my limited perspective, the dialogue seems trite and obvious, and the scenes appear unrealistic (a scene of Bush and his inner circle sitting in a room trying to think of the right term for "Axis of Evil" is one example. More likely, a speechwriter just thought of it while working on the State of the Union).

Anyway, you be the judge. The leaked part of the script is here. Take a look; it's only a few pages long. Tell me what you think. I'm interested in more perspectives.

Other impressions are here.