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It shouldn't cause any 'Trouble'
It's finally my time to step up to the plate and review a script. I have chosen the script to Barry Sonnenfeld's upcoming film, Big Trouble. Later today I will also have a report on From Hell. It's some clarification on the script we've reviewed and the finished product. Tomorrow, we'll have a review of the Blade 2 script.
'Big Trouble' Script Review
What more can I ask? Imagine Elmore Leonard's Miami world mixed with Robert Altman or Paul Thomas Anderson's multi-character environments. Shake it, and you would probably get Big Trouble, written by Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone, based upon the novel by newspaper columnist Dave Barry. The film has wrapped production a while ago under the direction of Barry Sonnenfeld (Get Shorty, Men in Black).
Failed newspaper columnist(a spoof of Barry himself), Eliot Arnold (Tim Allen) is now in advertising. Operating as a one man company, he designs ads for two-bits enterprises. Eliot dreams of a better life and a comeback in journalism.
His son, Matt (Ben Foster), is a slacker kid who plays this game of Kill at school. The goal of the game is to spray a victim with a watergun. All you need is someone to witness the kill and that role belongs to his best friend Andrew (DJ Qualls).
Their next victim is hottie Jenny (Zooey Deschanel) who lives with her also hot mother Anna (Rene Russo). She's re-married with Arthur (Stanley Tucci), an asshole who's running around after their maid Nina (Sofia Vergara).
Unknown to Arthur, there's a contract on his life. Hitmen Henry (Dennis Farina) and Leonard have been hired to off Arthur. Their attempted assassination is cut short by Matt and Andrew's kill game on Jenny and the maid who's saved by Puggy, a homeless man (Jason Lee) who lives in the family's abandoned treehouse.
Puggy works for Russian arm dealers John and Leo, who own a seedy bar called the Jolly Jackal Bar and Grill. Two lowlifes, Snake (Tom Sizemore) and Eddie (Johnny Knoxville), have been banned from the bar and are planning their revenge on the Russians. There's also two Miami police officers, Monica Ramirez (Janeane Garofalo) and Walter Kramitz (Patrick Warburton) who are called in to the scene of the attempted 'kill'.
Finally add in a weird dog, an hallucinogenic toad, a nuclear device which resembles a garbage disposal, two shady FBI officers (Heavy D and Omar Epps) who use Special Executive Order 768 dash 04 to it's full use and an obsessed mall security officer and his brother who works at the airport security. The results are a mountain of laughs.
I really liked this script. It's sharp and funny and the many stories are quite interesting. The script doesn't take itself too seriously and that's also good. I'm sure Barry Sonnenfeld should not have any problems directing this film. It resembles his Get Shorty a lot. There's even Dennis Farina playing another smartass villain. The conclusion of the story is an interesting payoff. My favorite characters have to be Eliot, his son Matt, Puggy the homeless strong guy, the idiot duo of Snake and Eddie, the hilarious hitman Henry and the FBI officers. Tim Allen has a chance to shine again after his surprise hit Galaxy Quest. He's the narrator of the story and the center of the entire universe of the film. If the film fails, they'll probably blame him. It's good to see Ben Foster (Get Over It) and Zooey Deschanel (Almost Famous) getting good roles. Zooey is playing this role, only after my love Katie, turned it down.
Now, all we have to do is wait and hope that the test screenings will turn out good. If not, Sonnenfeld and Co. will have scrapped a really cool screenplay.
Updates 'From Hell'
Check back this afternoon...
You Game?
Last year, I created a private group at Yahoo's Oscars Pick'em game. The challenge was really amazing and it was also extremely fun. We're doing it again this time around. In order to join the group, just go to http://moviegames.yahoo.com/oscars, create a pick set and choose "Join a Private Group." Then, when prompted, enter the following information...
Group ID#: 4555
Password: tnmc
Stay tuned...
That's all folks...
Jean-François Allaire (aka DeadPool)
Questions, comments, praise etc. Email me at deadpool@tnmc.org
Jean-François Allaire is TNMC's first columnist. At only 24 years old he has become a respected entertainment journalist, with his columns appearing in Corona's Coming Attractions and Scr(i)pt magazine. He also writes a monthly column in Screenwriters Monthly entitled 'The Last Word.' Hailing from Montreal this young writer is determined to dig up all the details on the movies before they hit your local theater. If you're part of a movie production then you really need to be talking to him.
