Unromantic Romantic Film

My friend Molly wanted me to review this romantic dramedy script that she’s writing. I went through it and came up with some notes and called her to tell her what I think of it.

Boring story so far, yes, but here’s where it gets less boring… for me at least.

Molly hit me with something I wasn’t ready for, she wants me to direct it.

While I like the script, it’s not exactly what I normally work on, a romantic comedy/drama. I’m more about dramas (aka misery) without a hint of romance. I didn’t know what to say, I didn’t think it was in my wheelhouse, to borrow a baseball term, not my forte.

But I said I would do it. Every chance to direct and not have to pay for it myself, I gotta take it right?

The more I think about the script, the more I like it.

Sure it’s a movie about romance, but not really. It’s more like the opposite of romance, what is that called… that’s right reality.

There aren’t nearly enough movies that tackle the real parts of human relationships, and if they do, its usually with a big Hollywood ending where the two people who are meant for each other but can’t seem to make it work finally figure it out and live happily ever after. This doesn’t have that basic mandatory ending, and I (aka misery lover) loves me a not perfect ending.

But here’s the predicament, I think the script still needs work. Maybe a couple drafts more. There are some serious character arcs that need to be resolved. There are a couple characters that could be flushed out. There is a great possibility for two of the supporting roles to get meatier and help the story. The dialog is too on the nose right now… etc. etc. etc.

Usually, I would just write the shit myself, but this is Molly’s baby and the whole reason she wants me to direct it is because she wants to have something she wrote made. And if I tackle helping rewriting it, then she might not feel like it is hers, which the whole thing is hers, I just want to augment that. Hmmmmm…. What do I do?

Hopefully you will see an awesome unromantic romantic film coming from Molly and I very soon.