2006 Calvin Awards: Best Screenplay
February 23, 2006
BoxOfficeProphets.com
The second place finisher, Syriana, also deals with a topical theme, that of the interconnected relationship between the United States and Middle Eastern oil producing nations. An incredibly complex web of interactions is painted by the script, with no one player seeing the entire picture. Using a cast of about two dozen important characters, ranging from impoverished Muslim job seekers in the Middle East up to bigwigs in the CIA, a chain of events is set in motion that leads to tragic consequences. The complexity is on the level of a Greek play, with Stephen Gaghan's mastery of plot and character making each action believable and inevitable.
The global hits keep on ticking in third place, which goes to The Constant Gardener. A conspiracy thriller about pharmaceutical companies and the third world, Jeffrey Caine's adaptation of the John le Carre novel combines the plot of a potboiler with a tragic romance between Ralph Fiennes' diplomat and Rachel Weisz's firebrand activist who shows him the light. We seem to like them bleak and cynical around here.
In case you hadn't noticed, we're kind of fans of Joss Whedon and his various projects here. His clever and witty dialogue drove his three television series to incredible popularity, at least until they were cut down before their time. So it was that the big-screen adaptation of his Firefly series, Serenity, also shared that attention to the spoken word, along with his trademark rich characterization. To be perfectly honest, we'd probably have loved anything that he gave us, but it lived up to almost all of our expectations.
We turn to a lighter side of the cinema for our fifth place finisher, The 40 Year-Old Virgin. Steve Carell and Judd Apatow created one of the most gut-busting screenplays in recent memory. Centering on the extremely long delay in "hitting a home run" for Uber-geek Andy Stitzer, the screenplay for this film balanced its humor with wry social commentary on just how sex messes with men's heads. It was this unexpected insight that lifted the movie from a mere wacky comedy into the summer's surprise hit.
Sixth spot goes to Frank Miller's own adaptation of his graphic novel, Sin City. Weaving four stories together in an orgy of depravity, death and was unforgettable for anyone that dared venture into its showings. Seventh spot goes to the screenplay for Hustle & Flow, which was essentially Rocky for Pimps. Watching DJay's transformation from low level hustler into music mogul was inspiring, especially in how it focused on the redemptive power of creativity.
Next up in eighth place is the screenplay for Junebug, which captured with note-perfect accuracy the interplays of a Carolina family and the effect of newcomers on roles so deeply entrenched that they're almost written in stone. Ninth spot goes to the screenplay for Brokeback Mountain, a movie that details the difficult and forbidden love between two cowboys over a period of decades in Wyoming. The characters of this screenplay carried the day, along with a heartwrenching story about the costs of love. Finally, in a wild swerve, we go to the screenplay for Batman Begins, which presented the most psychologically sensible explanation for the vigilante super hero to date, as well as offering up some plot surprises for even the most jaded of comic-based movie fans. Gritty realism carried the day here. (Reagen Sulewski/BOP)