Genre: Drama/Comedy
Premise: The young president of a boutique publishing house must convince a crotchety old reclusive author to come out and do a promotional tour for his first book in 30 years.
About: This project was recently put together, pairing Michael Caine with Aubrey Plaza. The script was originally one of the winners in the 2015 Nicholl Fellowship Screenplay Contest. The film is being directed by newcomer Lina Roessler, who’s directed several well-received short films.
Writer: Anthony Grieco
Details: 107 pages
I was at the self checkout today, scanning my honey baked ham, when a checker came up behind me and quietly asked, “Sir, do you need a bag?” Without hesitation I blurted out, “should’ve cut the Burrg scene Baby Yoda!” The poor woman had no idea what I was talking about and slowly backed away. It goes to show just how much this opening Mandalorian episode has scarred me. So I decided to jump into a world as far away from Star Wars as possible. A script about a writer? With Aubrey Plaza attached? And no jawas. Good enough for me.
20-something Lucy Skinner recently inherited New York’s best boutique publishing house from her deceased father, who started the company 40 years ago when he discovered an unknown writer named Harris Shaw. But things are not going well for Lucy. After a series of failed serious books, she’s shifted the company focus to more juvenile fare. But their latest release, Dragons of Orion, isn’t moving any copies. Skinner needs to do something fast or she’s going to lose the company.
With the help of her assistant, tightly-wound Ben, Lucy realizes that Harris Shaw – the very gentleman responsible for the publishing house existing, is still under contract to deliver a book! It’s been 30 years since anybody’s seen the guy but a Harris Shaw novel carries some serious street cred. So off her and Ben go to Harris’s remote home, only to get screamed AND shot at.
But Lucy can’t give up. Big publishers are breathing down her neck, offering money to buy her out, and at a certain point, she’ll have to do it. When Lucy realizes Harris is in deep financial trouble himself, she plays up how a best seller can fix it all. It just so happens Harris has a finished novel. But, according to him, it’s terrible. Not to worry, Lucy says. It’s not about quality. It’s about creating buzz. And so off they go.
However, it immediately becomes clear to Lucy that Harris isn’t the best pitch man. He drinks and smokes at every book reading, touts that everything in the book is b.s., and will occasionally toss the book on the floor and start urinating on it. Luckily for Lucy, these embarrassing episodes start going viral. And Harris becomes a minor celebrity.
But they’re still not selling any books! “You have to start reading for people,” she tells him. And what parts should I read, he asks. Lucy stares back blankly. It’s clear that Lucy hasn’t even read the book. Eventually, as usually happens in these movies, Lucy and Harris find common ground and begin promoting the book properly. And the book moves up the charts. But it isn’t enough to cover all the money Harris owes. Which means Lucy must make a tough decision. Does she leave Harris to fend for himself? Or sell her publishing house and bail him out?
Best Sellers is an okay script that doesn’t quite know what movie it wants to be. Sometimes it feels like a true-to-life independent film that’s making a statement about the human condition. Other times it feels like one of those glossed up Hollywood versions of indie movies. The kinds that star Hugh Grant and have enough money to include a cheesy pop song in their trailer. Which is surprising to me because the Nicholl usually celebrates the former. Not the latter.
I will say this: The writer made a good choice to focus on Lucy. Remember that when you’re writing about writers, you’re entering into very boring subject matter. There’s nothing more boring than watching people write or listening to people talk about writing. The only time anybody’s been able to liven up a writing story is when they cut to the writer’s imagination of whatever they’re working on. And, unfortunately, that’s been done too many times.
By focusing instead on Lucy, the script becomes more ACTIVE. And that’s what you’re looking for in any screenplay. You’re trying to find the most active plot line. That means following a main character with an IMPORTANT GOAL that has HIGH STAKES attached to it that must be achieved with some URGENCY.
From there, your directive is to put obstacles in your hero’s way that make achieving their goal difficult. Doing so creates DOUBT in the reader that the goal can be achieved. And that’s the reason people watch. Is the uncertainty. It’s this tease that the hero probably won’t win which makes you hope that they somehow figure it out. The big script obstacle is baked right inside Best Sellers’ meal. Harris. He doesn’t want to do this. He fights and complains and resists in every scene. This is a great formula for writing a good story.
In contrast, look at yesterday’s awful pilot for The Mandalorian. Where was the obstacle? Did we doubt the Mandalorian at any point in the story? He picks up a guy who is such a dolt, he opens a giant cabinet of guns which he could use to kill the Mandalorian… and just closes it. Nope, I’ll accept being taken in, he says. Great obstacle writing there Favreau. The only time there’s even a hint of doubt is in the final scene, when they’re fighting off the town members. Not suprisingly, that’s the only scene in the episode that works.
Sorry for the detour. I’m so disappointed by that let down of a show.
One thing you definitely want to include in these indie character-driven screenplays is a good character-driven twist. A lot of writers think that a twist is “below” their “serious” drama screenplay. Like it’s a cheap ploy that sell out directors like JJ Abrams depend on. But a well-constructed character twist can really elevate an indie film. This one has a good one. The whole time we keep bringing up the fact that Lucy’s dad is gone and left her this publishing house. Then she gets an emergency call late in the script, goes to a remote care center with Harris, and we’re shocked to see her father, who has a serious form of dementia. You realize in the moment that Grieco (the writer) never outright said that the dad was dead. This not only gave the script a late jolt, but it added a more complicated layer to the story, since both of these characters have a complicated relationship with this man.
And, actually, Grieco does some of his best work in the final act. A lot of the overdone comedic stuff (gotta piss on another book – zoinks!) is pushed off to the side in favor of the characters and what they’re going through. Some of you are probably wondering if that late-script Harris illness is a bit too convenient. But that plot point works if you adequately set it up. Harris is literally the most unhealthy person you’ve ever seen onscreen. He’s created a modified belt holster that allows him to have a bottle of whiskey attached to his hip at all times. So it’s not surprising when we find out that his insides are failing. But yeah, if that sort of plot reveal comes out of nowhere, it won’t work.
I wanted to love this. It had the elements of being a really good script. But its lack of commitment to a clear tone kept getting in the way. Still, I thought it was fun and worth checking out, especially if you like these kinds of movies.
[ ] What the hell did I just read?
[ ] wasn’t for me
[x] worth the read
[ ] impressive
[ ] genius
What I learned: If you get stuck in your screenplay, take a step back, look at all your characters and ask yourself, “Who is the most active character in my script?” What you might find is that it’s someone other than the hero you chose. If that’s the case, ask yourself what your script looks like with that other person as the main character. That’s not to say your script will only work if they become your hero. But you at least want to imagine the movie through their eyes. Because you might find that the script does get a lot better if they’re leading the charge.
