i am coping with this: “Convenient and tidy but a writer with potential. I may be wrong, but I would wager that the writer is either a teenager or a college student, or both. It reads like it was written by someone who is young and lacks the life experience to add the depth and richness her story and characters deserve for this kind of plot. Millie’s redundant cheerful food-making for the girls shows a two-dimensional appreciation for what parents are and do; the other parents – Dale and Nora – are treated two-dimensionally also, as if written by a person who is neither a parent or full-grown adult. Only more life experience can cure these ills. It’s a one goal story – essentially, “get to the part where she comes to her parents,” but it begs for more creative twists and deeper layers than that. If I am wrong about the writer’s age, then her writing is immature and she simply needs to write more. But she has potential! The dialog is quite good – not earth-shattering, but natural and funny in spots. The emotional interaction is fairly relaistic. But the author’s understanding and portrayal of Christians and Christian beliefs is cliche and lacks depth or thoughtfulness. Throw-away tags like “fundamentalist” and “Republicans” and “Seventh Heaven” references says more about the author’s bias and agenda than about a thoughtful understanding of her characters and conflicting views that conflict with the gay/bi/rainbow views. This movie would have a very limited audience because the story is just two insular and convenient, too “small” and self-promoting – not universal and mature enough for a broad audience.” thanks to the folks at trigger street.
my grandparents heard about this other screenwriting thing and passed the tip to my mother who passed it to me. unlike greenlight, you don’t need to pay anything — you commit to reading 2 scripts. once you’ve done that, you get to submit your own. your reviews are posted as are other contestant’s reviews of yours. it’s a little stressful, if instructive (and i’m trying hard to focus on the instructive part).
the other review thus far: “A book maybe…? Certainly not a feature film — indie or studio. The writing is good and there are some really nice lines but that’s about it. It’s one long conversation. Nothing happens, and that’s not good considering the medium. The author has something to say but needs to be a bit more compelling about how it’s said. Yes, I’m a guy, but you gotta give me something I can sink my teeth into for for 8 bucks a ticket.”
on a scale of “shrugg-off-able” to “crushing,” these register around “doubt-inducing.” maybe i’ve jumped the gun on this whole screenwriting thing. or maybe i shouldn’t let the opinions of someone whose bio reads “I write screenplays. I eat pizza. I drink beer. And I miss Dean Martin.” shake me to the core.