FrankenScript :: Lee Gabel's Screenwriting Journal/Blog

Cop out. Yes, that title is fitting. Kevin Smith didn’t even try to make this film good. The direction is sloppy, the editing is sloppy, the continuity… overall the film’s a mess. I’m surprised it came from Kevin Smith. Perhaps this is what happens when a career-long writer-director directs a film he didn’t write. Smith [...]

It should be obvious what happens when you stretch something, anything, too much. It breaks. That’s the certainty when you start out with an extremely thin premise like MacGruber. A lame Saturday Night Live sketch that can hardly survive its five minute lifespan, stretched with more of the same and other unfunny jokes added for [...]

The best part of this film are the creature visual effects. Unfortunately, except for the Sleestaks, the creatures can’t talk and make jokes. That might have saved the film. Everything else in this tired waste of time is completely unfunny. This should have been called the Will Ferrell Show, and while I enjoy Will Ferrell, [...]

What the hell did I just watch? Some have said that the film making duo Neveldine/Taylor are on the cutting edge of 21st century filmmaking. Low budget and shooting on video, yes, I would agree. Perhaps this is what young moviegoers of today enjoy. I still say you need coherent visuals and a solid story [...]

This is the end result when capable actors are paired with a crappy script. The characters populate the story for no other reason than to be killed off one by one. Where’s the fun in that? And although there is a lot of action going on, not much actually happens, except people dying. Michael, played [...]

This is not a comedy. This is a drama with comedic moments trying really hard to be a comedy. A lot of what happens in this film can be seen as very true to life. Plus, most of the time I, the audience, felt like I was in therapy. That’s not fun or funny. With [...]