Noah Baumbach: Almost Always Almost There

When certain writers develop a trend it can either be a good or bad thing. Either way, it makes them appear as though they have a 'type.' Noah Baumbach, whose film credits include The Squid and the Whale, Margot at the Wedding, Kicking and Screaming (1995, not the terrible Will Ferrell one), and The Life Aquatic (as writer), seems to be one of those 'type' writers. His type? It seems to be self-destructive characters.

Self-destructive characters, for me, are some of the most interesting to watch. The characters make choices that I (almost) never would, yet I understand why they do, and know that for them, it's not a choice at all.

Three of his films will be used as examples. Though, all of them are great, but two of them have small idiosyncrasies that keep them from rising above just a 'movie.'

The Squid and the Whale is about a lot of things, but the core of the story is that a high school kid named Walt is dealing with his parents' divorce and the conflicting pressure they both put on him to read more, recite their opinions, and do what they want. Walt leans more towards hid dad's view, which is pessimistic, and Walt's younger brother Frank leans towards his mom's view, which seems optimistic. Now, watching the film, how do we judge which child is clinging to the right side? That is one great thing the film does, but also, look which side Walt, the protagonist, goes towards. Walt may have had a window to take the 'path of least resistance,' but with divorce and controlling parents it's hard to not pick a side. He chooses the negative, self-destructive side.

Margot at the Wedding is Noah Baumbach's best film to date. I admit, I haven't seen it in a while. I have been meaning to buy the DVD, but keep putting it off; so forgive my skimming on this movie. This film shows Margot going to her sister's wedding and how Margot, played perfectly by Nicole Kidman, gives us every negative emotion in the book. She just can't let things be, and has to have trouble in her life.

Kicking and Screaming, from 1995, is about a group of self-destructive characters who, at some point, realize they do need to get a grip on life. The film is about four friends who have just finished college and are in that state of limbo between hanging around campus all day and finding a career. This film is a comedy, but do not doubt the seriousness of how these characters throw away any instance of taking chances with their lives and resort to hitting on college freshman, even though they are 22. I guess one can't judge if that's something that happens on the side, but the characters in this movie substitute that for their future. It's eerie.

Yet all of these films barely miss the mark for me. The Squid and the Whale, while accurate and intelligent, seems to lack soul. Margot has soul, and is the best of the bunch, but I can't place what's off about it. I need to see it again. Kicking and Screaming, while very funny, does not resolve. Now, I do not need a resolution to be on screen--God, no. That would be insane. But I need a hint.

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Another Instance of: Writers Getting Shafted

As I said in my review of 'Valkyrie,' the film pairs up director Bryan Singer again with writer Christopher McQuarrie. They previously worked together on 'The Usual Suspects.'

Yahoo! has posted an article about how Singer and McQuarrie had a huge argument over the ending of the movie. Or, rather, the interpretation. The interesting thing is that they didn't even realize this until the movie was finished.

My real point, though, is this: Look at the tags for the bottom of the article. "More on:" We have: Bryan Singer, Kevin Spacey, Tom Cruise, The Usual Suspects, X2: X-Men United

Tom Cruise is vaguely mentioned because of 'Valkyrie.' Kevin Spacey's importance to this article is even more sparse. The same goes for X2.

Now let's look who is not mentioned in the tags, who also happens to be the most significant player in the whole article. Oh, yeah. It's Christopher McQuarrie, the writer. Shocking, I know.

I know on Yahoo! and sites of the like, they cater to celebrity gossip. But in an article like that, I would think the author has some interest in actual film, and would at least give the writer some credit. "Oh, but he doesn't have any other tags, so why does it matter?" You have to start some time.

This makes me mad.

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A Thing About Actors

I was browsing the IMDb page for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and the top user comment begins like this:

When I first heard that Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett's new film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was destined to join the "sweepers" at the 2009 Oscars....

People are clueless. A film does not belong to actors. Actors are a part of the process of making a film, but if a film belongs to anyone, it would either be the Director, the Producers, or the Writer.

I understand that actors make the money. When was the last time a Will Smith movie didn't make 9 figures? Writers are behind the scenes to most of the public because most of the public doesn't care who writes the movie. Because of this, writers are replaced on whims and treated poorly in Hollywood. Which is a shame, because they, in a sense, own the movie. They conceive it and nurture it from the beginning, figure the whole mess out, make it coherent and interesting, and then sell it. Then, the director makes it look good and the actors give the material a little interpretation and the editors fix pacing issues... etc. But again, most people don't think of this.

I am reminded of two lines from two great film.

The first is from All About Eve. Tension arises in the film and Margo Channing (a top theater actress) argues with Lloyd Richards (a top theater writer). The basic argument is that Margo gives the boring play life, but Lloyd says what she does to it ruins it (at this point Eve is surfacing as a great actress). Lloyd says, "There comes a time that a piano realizes that it has not written a concerto." Ah, yes. Very true. The actors have not written their material--they are just reading someone's work. They are tools. As Hitchcock said, they should be treated like cattle.

The second, and slightly more humorous, is from Shakespeare in Love. Geoffrey Rush's character is asked who William Shakespeare is, and Geoff says something like, "Nobody, he's the writer." Hence, what I said earlier.

/end rant

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