2010 Calvin Awards: Best Screenplay
February 12, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
What would cause a man to become so devoid of humanity that he willingly choose to spend the body of his days traveling? Why would he reach a point in his life where he finds the process of firing complete strangers to be a mark of career success? And what would he do if he met a couple of strangers who caused him to question his existence and forced him to look in the mirror and make an honest evaluation of what he has become? These are the questions Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner pose in Up in the Air, and the answers revealed in the film are so profound that we had little choice but to select the title as Best Screenplay of the year.
We were enthralled by the emotional ties that were gradually revealed in this film. Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) has been on the road so much that he is approaching 10 million miles of air travel, a number the character points out has been reached less frequently than man has walked on the moon. Along the way, he has disconnected from his family, which creates an awkward situation when his sister's wedding approaches. In addition, he is facing the irony of having his job eliminated after a career of performing the same task with others. In meeting his too-young replacement, he grows to realize what a professional dinosaur he is. There is also a new woman in his life and her overt sexuality perfectly matches his ordinary love ‘em then leave town pattern. In many ways, she is the female version of him and their symmetry is what sets him on the road to personal disaster. The ultimate traveler is forced on a journey of self-discovery and the ride is mesmerizing. Reitman and Turner manage to avoid all of the pitfalls that ensnared the previous iteration of this film concept, In Good Company, and provide a much more profound tale of emotional departure.
"Could I have another glass of your delicious milk?" At this moment early in the proceedings of Inglourious Basterds, the viewer is introduced to the face of evil in this film. No, it isn't Hitler, who is portrayed as a cartoonish villain in order to reinforce the idea that the higher powers in the Axis were not as scary as the men in charge of day-to-day operation. Men like Hans Landa. From the first scene, he is shown to be a meticulous, vicious "Jew Hunter" who proudly claims his nickname as a sign of vocational competence. When he lets one little girl escape the dairy farm, the events of the entire film are laid out in one chilling scene that encapsulates the genocidal horror enforced by Germany in World War II. Quentin Tarantino finally has a story that is right within his wheelhouse and he doesn't miss, knocking every aspect of the script out of the park. From discussions of moviemakers of the 1930s to the joys of knife-carved tattoos to the combustibility of film prints, the writer/director operates at his highest level of efficiency to date in producing his most complete Hollywood film. It misses being Screenplay of the year by only ten votes.
The rest of BOP's top five in the category are District 9, Up and The Hurt Locker. District 9 is a rare screenwriting accomplishment in that it manages to pay homage to at least a dozen celebrated movies yet somehow makes all of the blended ideas into a singularly original presentation. Up demonstrates a bit of symmetry with last year's winner in the category, WALL-E, in that the key scene that reveals the life of Carl and Ellie is wordless. After that, Dug and Alpha start talking and everything gets lost in a hail of giggles. Stating the obvious, Pixar has mastered the art of storytelling. With regards to The Hurt Locker, this is arguably the most challenging script on our list. The process of writing tense scenes involving bomb defusion is an arduous one as the scribe must anticipate the easiest ways to reveal the crisis situation to the viewer. There are clips floating around online that show Kathryn Bigelow speaking in awed tones about writer Mark Boal's ability to implement touches like fake trigger wires into the detonation sequences in order to maximize drama. Every time Jeremy Renner's character takes off his armor, the viewer sucks in their breath and that's a tribute to Boal.
Our nominations for An Education and (500) Days of Summer not only represent a pair of unheralded but engaging indie films but also the yin and yang of writing accomplishments. The scribe of An Education is Nick Hornby; mayhap you have heard of him. BOP certainly has and named a movie based on a previous novel of his, About a Boy, the best film of the year in the early years of The Calvins. His latest creation, An Education, somehow humanizes a thieving sexual predator in a manner that gives the audience a perfect example of how a teen girl like Jenny could be seduced by his charms. Meanwhile, the writing team of (500) Days of Summer has exactly one other credit to their name...and it is The Pink Panther 2. (500) Days of Summer has a...let's say different tone, and a rather harsh opinion of romantic entanglements. The taglines proudly bill this aspect of the movie with such statements as "This is not a love story." and "Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn't." Yes, we have all been there and this is probably why the words of the script resonate so deeply, particularly the cinematic masterpiece that places the lead character, Tom Hansen, at a party where everyone else is celebrating his doomsday scenario. Hansen's pain is identifiable and thereby universal, which makes his character the male equivalent to Jenny in An Education. The symmetry in their pairing on the list is serendipitous in this regard.
Our final trio of selections are for the movies State of Play, Fantastic Mr. Fox and In the Loop. State of Play's complexity creates an impossible amount of moving parts to keep juggling without giving away the overriding puzzle contained within the story. What is particularly notable about this script is that repeat viewings shine a spotlight on how meticulously crafted the political machinations are. Fantastic Mr. Fox is a celebration of family, friends and even character flaws. The titular lead suffers from hubris while also being prone to self-destruction; meanwhile, his wife knows he won't change but she marries him and hopes for the best anyway. Their cub is understandably ambivalent about his place in the world due to this combination of events, exactly the sort of understated character behavior that has made Wes Anderson a BOP fave. Finally, In the Loop is unmistakably British in all the best ways. This film possesses a caustic wit and a politically cynicism that borders on calling out of Mr. Optimistic, Aaron Sorkin, for his fervent belief in the integrity of government officials. It is also quite possibly the movie with the most swears in the history of cinema, which is a clever subversion of expectations in and of itself. In the Loop is also a fitting nominee in combination with State of Play, which was a BBC mini-series before becoming an American film. In the Loop was a BBC series before becoming a British film. Clearly, BOP loves British television, but you knew that already from way back when we used to beg you people to watch Spaced.
This was a banner year for quality screenwriting. Several worthy films fell just short of nomination. Scripts we liked a lot but not quite enough include Where the Wild Things Are, The Hangover, Away We Go, Star Trek, Sherlock Holmes, Precious, Summer Hours, Zombieland and The Brothers Bloom. (David Mumpower/BOP)
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