Well here's the 'Biggest Name In Tinsel Town's' opinion of the RONIN script. Hopefully he'll find it in his heart to bestow it upon me someday, but for now we only have the word of the Biggest Name in Tinsel Town. Of course keep in mind, drafts change, and opinions differ. Take note, he also thought the Titanic script was 'utter garbage' when he first read it 2 years ago. So take this as you will...
Had I felt the "Ronin" script was any good at all, I would've sent it to you much earlier. I got a hold of it back in September '97 and let me tell you, I was not the least bit impressed. Now, keep in mind, I was one of the few who got a hold of the "Titanic" script two years ago and quickly dismissed it as utter garbage (hey, gimme a break, it was an early draft!), so not always is my review the one to go by. Anyway, on with the scoop.
I don't understand the appeal of this script! The copy I have is dated May 21, 1997 by J.D. Zeik with the words "POLISH" underlined in captial letters on the front cover. God save them if this is their shooting script. It's utterly pathetic. The opening sequence has various international agents assembling at a bar to get orders to perform a secret mission. When the agents inquire who the dark-haired Irish girl is that shows up with all the info, she replies "The name is Deirdre, and I'm running this show." Later she "stares down at these tough guys-letting them know who's in charge." Ugh!!!
In any event , the group of specialists are contracted to obtain a "package" in a mission that goes awefully wrong due to doublecross. It is then that the story kicks into high gear, twisting and turning in a dizzying yet very predictable way. For instance, it goes without saying that if you're main character suddenly winds up in the sack with Deirdre for no apparent reason, he's gonna get double crossed by her later. And if this guy didn't see it coming from a mile away, then what's a bone head like him doing in the secret agent business in the first place!!! If that's their idea of a clever plot twist, I think I'll go back to renting Steven Seagal's action epic masterpiece, "Under Seige 2". Anyway, the story doesn't give much to the words espionage, intruge, suspene, mystery, and action. Can you tell I didn't like this script at all?!
So how is it that what I consider to be an aweful script end up a big budget hollywood pic with big names? Beats me!!! My thinking is that Deniro signed on to this picture for big money to compensate himself for taking scale on Tarantino's "Jackie Brown". Perhaps MGM rushed this film into production in full force because the company is riddled with debt and needs to make a strong stance in front of its investors/competitors. That my sound odd to you, but its common among big picture studios.
Lastly, reading this script reminded me of that little indie pic "Batman & Robin"- yeah they got Schwarzenegger, yeah they got Clooney, Silverstone, MacPherson, Vendela and yeah there was plenty of flashing lights, explosions, and stunt action to make the trailer look good, but when you finally got to see the movie, you realized there wasn't much more to the film to give it any resonance whatsoever! Thus you wished you saved the money you spent on movie tickets to buy George Lucas's remastered with extra footage video rerelease of the THX digital remastered rerelease of the released letterbox edition of the original boxed set Star Wars trilogy. Ahh hell, just wait to till it comes on DVD.
------------------The Biggest Name in Tinsel Town
