FrankenScript :: Lee Gabel's Screenwriting Journal/Blog

Here’s a low budget film that doesn’t look like it. Every dollar is up on screen and invested in the story. The screenwriter and actor Leigh Whannell (he plays Specs in the film) stated at the Toronto Film Festival that he had a list of horror cliches posted next to his computer so he would [...]

Here’s a story about good cops and bad cops. It feels like many films that have come before. The same but different, but in this case, not different enough. We know almost from the outset who is good and who is bad. This is a smart move in that it builds suspense as things slowly [...]

I did not read the book, but I imagine it’s better than the film. Books usually are. So in saying that, the book must be really good because this film is quite entertaining. The characters are all unique, and McConaughey’s performance is solid and believable, a refreshing change from the dreck he’s been in over [...]

This film slowly eats away at you as you learn more and more. Then it takes a right turn off the bridge, over the guardrail and into murky waters. Without giving too much away, complications arise without explanation. The last 30 minutes don’t make a whole lot of sense, and it made me angry. I [...]

I’ve often wondered about films that begin with a horrific incident, only to then step back in time and tell the story leading up to that point. If the incident is compelling enough, it’s a good hook. Sometimes it’s not needed, and here I think the story would have gained more power had that incident [...]

You won’t be disappointed watching this film with a big bowl of popcorn. The main character, played competently by Bradley Cooper, plays the “everyman” well and his decisions are logical, for the most part. The De Niro storyline seems placed only to give the film an impactful ending, because it’s the thug storyline that offers [...]