Bad script or fraud?

Question

I want to join in on the sniping, but I can't figure out what the consensus is.
Do the majority of people on this newsgroup think the script *by* "Scott Drake" is badly written or do they think it's not really his script?
(Or, maybe, they think it's not really his script AND it's badly written?)
The 'ol enquiring mind thing.

Usenet · Accepted Answer

It seems to be the case that Justin Zackham wrote the script and it really did sell. And Scott somehow or other got his hands on it and passed it off as his own. Of the people on this newsgroup who did read it, some thought it was really great, some (me, for example) thought it had flaws but would attract a star because of the well-drawn characters and pithy dialogue, and some thought it just sucked. Which goes to show how very subjective script evaluation can be.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I want to join in on the sniping, but I can't figure out what the consensus is. Do the majority ... they think it's not really his script? (Or, maybe, they think it's not really his script AND it's badly written?)[/nq]
Some of us don't think about him at all.

alt.flame Special Forces
"One is always considered mad when one perfects something that others cannot grasp." Edward D. Wood, Jr.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I discovered this board a few days ago after I read about THE BUCKET LIST sale in Variety. And although ... ever responded to Schlockhack with "You don't even know the *** pieces in play?" Maybe he doesn't. But others do.[/nq]
It amazes me that people who haven't ever posted before on a group show up and decry a script that just somehow managed to lure Rob Reiner, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman onboard as a "bad script."

Who cares what "Scott Drake" says? If he's rude, if he's right, if he's wrong, if he's whatever, the fact remains it's a good script and he emailed it to others to read. Maybe it was illegal what he did.

Like that ever stopped anyone in Hollywood.
I'm glad I read the script and I'll go see the movie.

If you don't like his posts, don't read them. Other than a killfile, yakking about it is like watching down the street in Dodge City in the middle of a multiple gunfights and saying you don't like all the lead flying around.
This is Usenet.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Let's be honest: it's never just the script that lures Hollywood talent to projects; I think it's usually money and ... that director it still doesn't mean TBL is a good script. All it means is the script got made.[/nq]
Oh sure. Nicholson and Freeman pick them so badly. Why should they care about something as silly as a script?
[nq:1]The real reason for posting my feelings on the entire issue is the same reason why someone else reposted all ... could be one of the last films of his career that is filled with, in my opinion, cookie-cutter, studio slop.[/nq]
That cookie-cutter, studio slop you're sneering at will probably make a couple hundred million, partially because it will heavily appeal to Baby Boomers, the second biggest audience.
[nq:1]But my opinion of the script doesn't matter because I do not finance or green light movies. And I don't ... the level of character shown by "Scott Drake" everyone for that matter reflects who those individuals really are.[/nq]
You could be right about that last statement but there's another angle possible here. This group has often enough been in need of a serious intellectual *****. Just your comment above about "slop" is an indication of the kind of sneering, chain-smoking, espresso-drinking pseudo-intellectualism all too often seen here.
So maybe "Scott" got sick of it and just went off?

Maybe it's just me, but if a script is actually about something that matters - and this one was - and Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman star and Rob Reiner directs...
I'll see that movie.
So under whatever circumstances, I'm glad "Scott" sent it and I got to read it. When's the last friggin time someone on this newsgroup shared a script about to be in the trades with anyone who wanted to read it?

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Jack Nicholson (11 Oscar nominations for best actor 3 ... nomination number five for their parts in "The Bucket List".[/nq]
[nq:1]I've seen this argument a couple of times in this thread, and it just doesn't hold water. Having exceptional actors ... going to have to have a more substantive argument than 'Freeman and Nicholson liked it so it must be good.'[/nq]
That's very funny, ha ha. I love it when someone posts and thinks they speak for "people here" - it's like a political going on about "the American people" as if that person's party owns them.

It was a good script. It wasn't a good script for the snobby indie Jim Jarmusch anarchist school of film and society, but it was a good script for anyone who likes mainstream Hollywood movies with some spirit.

Nicholson made some truly bad stuff in the past. I don't recall him being in anything bad in a long time. In fact, he seems to be consistently great in everything I can recall that he's made lately. Even Anger Management. The same goes for Freeman.
PJJ's right.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]It was a good script. It wasn't a good script for the snobby indie Jim Jarmusch anarchist school of film and society, but it was a good script for anyone who likes mainstream Hollywood movies with some spirit.[/nq]
I didn't read it - so this is in no way a comment about TBL.

I'm just speaking in general here.
Tastes vary. There's nothing that's universally loved by everyone. As I've pointed out before, everybody passed on "Raiders of the Lost Ark" before Paramount picked it up.
Other very good scripts languish for years, sometimes never getting picked up. (William Goldman wrote that he doesn't see a qualitative difference between the scripts of his which sold and those which didn't.)

One of the worst scripts I've ever read is coming soon to a theater near you. 2000 screens, I think. And it's freakin' horrible - not "art house snooty" horrible, but cliched characters, bad guys who behave inconsistently. Huge logic gaps. Long boring stretches. Bad action sequences. You name it.
In this context, I think saying, "It was a good script." period, full stop, is sort of silly.
[nq:1]Nicholson made some truly bad stuff in the past. I don't recall him being in anything bad in a long ... be consistently great in everything I can recall that he's made lately. Even Anger Management. The same goes for Freeman.[/nq]
Maybe this depends on what your definition of "a long time" is. Mars Attacks!, Blood & Wine, Hoffa. Personally, I thought About Schmidt was boring as all ****.
Freeman: Lucky Number Slevin, The Big Bounce, Dreamcatcher ... Freeman actually comes across as one of those guys (like Michael Caine) who'll do pretty much anything which meets his asking price.

Reiner, hasn't it really been about 10 years since he's done a film that most people would agree was good?
Again, none of this is a commentary on "The Bucket List" - which I haven't read, and could be great. I just think this "You didn't like this, therefore you're an idiot!" line is silly. Anybody who's been in this business for any length of time has been dead wrong about some scripts - I know I sure as **** have.
And, of course, people were reading TBL in a highly critical way because the guy who was pushing it (and, at the time, making like he was the author) is an obnoxious liar. Skip, do you really think you'd be able to give something by Blair or Jaybee a completely fair shake? (I'm not saying that I think they're obnoxious liars, but I know that's what you think of them.)
-Ron

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]It was a good script. It wasn't a good script ... for anyone who likes mainstream Hollywood movies with some spirit.[/nq]
[nq:1]I didn't read it - so this is in no way a comment about TBL.[/nq]
Then shut up. The title of the thread is "bad script or fraud" - get off your soapbox unless you're on-topic.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Then shut up. The title of the thread is "bad script or fraud" - get off your soapbox unless you're on-topic.[/nq]
Glad to see you're so secure in your position that you're willing to defend it.
-Ron

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I want to join in on the sniping, but I can't figure out what the consensus is. Do the majority ... his script? (Or, maybe, they think it's not really his script AND it's badly written?) The 'ol enquiring mind thing.[/nq]
I haven't read it, but I'll guess it's not his script, and the real writer would probably not appreciate his script being passed around on a newsgroup before it's produced.
I also guess it's above average cause this is a tough crowd and for some of you to like it means, to me anyway, that it's at least pretty good, and if Freeman and Nicholson are attached then I am impressed.

But I haven't read it.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I want to join in on the sniping, but I ... script AND it's badly written?) The 'ol enquiring mind thing.[/nq]
[nq:1]I haven't read it, but I'll guess it's not his script, and the real writer would probably not appreciate his ... at least pretty good, and if Freeman and Nicholson are attached then I am impressed. But I haven't read it.[/nq]
Perhaps you don't understand (maybe a number of people here don't understand) that this kind of thing goes on all the time on the sly in Hollywood. Scripts get copied and passed around. These days with PDFs they get emailed around.
So was it kosher what "Scott" did or the way he did it? Probably not.

Still, the fact is, some people got to read a script that went for $700,000 shortly after Scott arrived and shared it.

I'd venture a guess that not many people on this group get that kind of opportunity often, certainly not the ones not here in town.

People who are serious about selling screenplays read scripts that are hot, and like it or not, they read them anyway they can.

Bad script or fraud?

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