Picked up this memo off the wire about 10 minutes ago. Alistair was the first to write back, but my telephony has been ringing with positive word, so it looks like Ron Howard has done a good one again. I'll get out of the way here cause there's a lot of writing to read here, but first I must remind you that this was a rough cut, this is not the finished film, and this is the opinion of a single person. There is some plot stuff given away, thus I must warn of SPOILERS, don't read if you don't want to know. Overall Alistair liked it, but thought it need some trimming. It looks like this film is coming along great!
MEMORANDUM
FROM: ALISTAIR MACLEAN
TO: HARRY, CHIEF OF DETECTIVES
A. Maclean checking in as promised with the ED TV preview. A fun viewing and will say that the film has potential for greatness, but is not great yet.
Backing up.
Made over a dozen NRG heavies. Dumb bastards might as well wear neon signs. Slipped by them with relative ease. Eyeballed a dead ringer for Shane Black in the crowd, but didn't have a chance to confirm. Very crowded.
Bad ju-ju from the suits. Loads of them there---and I do mean LOADS. More like a screening for the execs families than a test screening. Last four rows were roped off for 'em. Loud, obnoxious bunch.
Nameless rep intro'ed the film, warned of incomplete tv fx, but this investigator didn't spot any problems. Film in remarkably good shape for a workprint.
You know the film's plot, no need to recap. THE TRUMAN SHOW minus the "conspiracy."
MMcC is Ed.
Woody Harrelson is Ed's brother Ray.
Jenna Elfman is Ray's ex-fiance who Ed falls in love with
Ellen DeG - the producer for Ed's show.
Rob Reiner - head of network programming.
Film starts . . . first half hour is a disaster. Scenes jumpy, nothing funny at all---a load of failed gags. Lots of loud, fake laughing from the last four rows and NRG reserved seats from elsewhere in the theater.
Very funny when Jenna Elfman breaks up with Woody and MMcC realizes that he's in love with her. Movie takes a drastic turn for the better.
Problem is that the film's funny moments are damn funny---but most of the non- comedy moments really drag. Film clocked in at two hours, but felt like 2:45---very frustrating because for every slow moment, there was also a great laugh. You'd get excited....then bored. Excited....then bored. Everything about the film's plot, characters and nuance is extremely predictable until the ending---nothing predictable about the ending. More on that later.
NOTE TO BABALOO AND YOUR SILLY PARTNER: Don't try to inject heart into your screenplays. They're funny, but there's nothing really signifigant there. Your latest crime? Let's examine the evidence:
Middle of the film moves along fine until there is a series of incoherant plot twists meant to unveil the importance of Ed's family. At the begining, we find out that Ed's dad left when he was 12 and hasn't seen him since. Fine. We've seen it before, but fine. Then, from nowhere, in the middle of the film dad suddenly appears again and dad is . . . . . (drum roll) . . . . . . Dennis Hopper (who was replaced as Cristophe @ the last minute on TRUMAN.)
Dad doesn't seem to want anything or serve a purpose except to spurn some incoherant argument between Ed and his mother about the story she told him about how his father left/was kicked out/was really a nice guy---I really don't know. Then later, Ed visits his father, who fondly remembers a story of when Ed was a child, but Ed points out that the story wasn't about Ed, but about Ray.
!???!
What the fuck is that? That was it. Hopper in two scenes, then he disappears for about half an hour until he mysteriously dies off-camera, spurning another inchoerant argument between Ed and his mother.
Sorry if that summation seems abrupt and confusing, but so was the subplot. Blindsided me out of nowhere and disappeared in a viscious, Warner Bros-esque hit-and-run.
NOTE TO RON HOWARD: grab the razor blade and hack Hopper out of the film completely. You'll solve all those problems and make the middle of the film run far smoother.
However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. There is a very predictable subplot about the network keeping Ed on the air by seizing a loophole in Ed's contract even after the contract expires, but the way Ed turns the tables on the network is both "Laugh Out Loud"-funny and "Hmmmm....hmmmm....that was pretty clever"-funny. The last 20 minutes are flawless.
NOTE TO UNIVERSAL SUITS: The ending is perfect! You heard the audience cheer! Don't touch a fucking thing!
The audience: really dug the film. After the disaster that was the first 1/2 hour, they really got into it.
NOTE TO HARRY: Liz Hurley has a babe-a-liscious bit part as the love-interest the network tries to set Ed up with when he and Jenna break up (that's not a spoiler---believe me, you knew it was going to happen.) There's a great sequence where they are about to have sex on live-TV to cheering fans (as in, the fans have surrounded the building and are cheering them on as the cameras roll), and the way the sequence plays out is by far the funniest of the film.
Performances are all good, but got tired of Jenna Elfman crying (she does it four or five times I believe---lost count.) Ellen recovers nicely from the debacle that was the begining and she has a scene-stealing scene at the end of the film that'll make you forget about MR. WRONG and think about how nice it must be to nail Anne Heche.
Great technical film all around. Howard's directing had the perfect touch. Unlike the ultra-heavy handed approach he's taken on his last few films (this ain't RANSOM or THE PAPER) the directing here was completely invisible. Like SPLASH, he cleverly moves the camera to draw every comic nuance from the scene without making a show of it. Some elaborate camerawork seemlessly connects television transmissions to what is happening "live."
The film's only problems came in the cut. Nix the father subplot and clip out a few other spots (I think you know what they are, Ron) and you'll have dynamite.
Suits were very happy as the audience exited the theater. Grazer smiling like a million bucks. Didn't spot the man, but saw his dad. Smart money says he made a quick exit before the big fade out because the instant it was over, every head in the theater turned around for a peek at Opie Cunningham.
It's not the GUNS OF NAVARONE, but it's a nice peice of work.
Respectfully Submitted,
Alistair MaClean.
