By Michelle Donnelly · January 8, 2015
There are certain elements that make a story great and even more elements that make a screenplay great. It helps to start with a worthy premise which will only then becomes fully constructed through its characters, story, structure, dialogue, description, pacing, theme, voice and originality. A brilliant screenplay does not always translate into a brilliant movie, as it’s only one part of the cog, but admittedly an important part of the cog. Therefore, outstanding screenplays are valuable learning tools for an aspiring screenwriter. By dissecting their individual parts, one can learn how those who are masters of the craft create inspired material. With this in mind, here are my picks for 2014’s best screenplays (both adapted and original).
Editor's Note: You can read these screenplays HERE.
10. Wild – Nick Hornby
Adapted from Cheryl Strayed’s book of the same name, screenwriter Nick Hornby gracefully helps us to understand Strayed. To understand what has brought her to this point in her life and why it seems as if she’s torturing herself. She’s on a hero’s journey, to redeem her wrongs and discover her true self. Hornby uses flashbacks as a tool to tell Cheryl’s story. We learn of her tribulations. Divorce, death, sex and drugs, she is responsible for her plight, but she is strong and we respect her for her desire to climb out of despair. With just the right combination of humor and emotion, Hornby engages the audience without making light of the seriousness of her predicament.
9. A Most Violent Year – J.C. Chandor
J.C. Chandor’s newest film is about an immigrant family and its struggle to keep its business afloat during the 1981 crime spree that hit New York City. It’s not your typical crime story. It’s suspenseful, but it’s also about the strength of the characters. Anna Morales is a woman who does what she needs to do. A businesswoman in a distinctly male business, she is no pushover. Her husband, Abel Morales, continually professes his desire to do the right thing, paradoxical considering his business has practiced shady bookkeeping for years and his wife comes from a family of mobsters. Pace is the key here and Chandor creates just enough tension to keep us intrigued, but not too much that we become frustrated.
8. Locke – Stephen Knight
Stephen Knight’s script is not only original but also incredibly daring, and the resulting film succeeds even though it was ripe for failure. The movie takes place over real time, films the reactions of one actor and counts on the skill of actors who never appear on screen. An intriguing premise even though it’s benign in its subject matter (a married man determined to do the right thing after an indiscretion with another woman). The script successfully maintains its pace, quite a feat considering it’s basically a series of phone calls. The key to the story is the reality that Locke’s life is transformed within an hour and a half drive. It’s a daunting prospect and Knight successfully conveys the inherent fragility in life.
7. The Theory of Everything – Anthony McCarten
Anthony McCarten, an accomplished playwright and novelist had reportedly been in talks to acquire Jane Hawking’s second memoir, “Travelling to Infinity – My Life with Stephen” since 2004. The project was well under way before director James Marsh arrived. Marsh was attracted to the story because of its perspective. It’s less a story about Hawking’s disability or his scientific accomplishments, than it is a story about their relationship. Marsh surmises that by shedding light on Jane’s point of view, you present an unusual perspective on Hawking. McCarten does well not to glamorize his subjects. We see them fallible, as human and even if they prove that sheer desire isn’t enough to overcome the highest of life’s obstacles, we see the power that comes from their resilience.
6. Boyhood – Richard Linklater
While much of the magic of Linklater’s film is the physical transformation of the characters over the twelve years it was filmed, his screenplay showing their psychological transformation must not be discounted. Linklater’s gift is giving the audience real stories. The family in Boyhood endures real conflict, but how they handle it changes over time. Their emotional responses are affected by their age, their experiences and where they are in life, all of which Linklater lays out in pure and honest detail. It’s a most original look on an unoriginal subject.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=IiDztHS3Wos%26nbsp%3B
5. Whiplash – Damien Chazelle
Writer/director Damien Chazelle has crafted an unusual way to tell a story about artistic desire and an obsessive drive to achieve greatness. Whiplash’s dialogue is witty and its characters fascinating with jazz instructor Terence Fletcher leading the way. Part sociopath, part creative genius we’re never quite sure if his maniacal tendencies are meant for good, or done simply because he enjoys torturing his students. In several emotionally heart wrenching and tense scenes, Chazelle convey the lengths student Andrew is willing to go to obtain his goals. While it’s easy at points to feel less than empathy for Andrew, our desire for him to succeed never diminishes.
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson
If nothing, Wes Anderson has one of the most original voices in his profession. He constructs fanciful worlds that truly allow the audience to get away, all while telling an artful story. Anderson’s world is precise, intricate and The Grand Budapest script does well at capturing its uniqueness. The title doesn’t exactly hint at the adventure he intends to take the audience on, but he creates a remarkable story that is suspenseful and entertaining with intriguing characters that embody good, evil and innocence. M. Gustave, in particular, is distinct in his voice and his eccentricities pleasantly shine bright.
3. The Imitation Game – Graham Moore
Andrew Hodges’ insightful, scrupulously researched biography of Alan Turing had gained high praised well before Black List winner Graham Moore’s adaptation. Amazingly, Moore was able to condense Hodges’ 768-page book into a 117-page screenplay that quite skillfully portrays Turing’s spirit. Turing’s tone is formal, somber and condescending, all of which come across very early on during the opening voice-overs. The story provides many twists and turns and tension mounts as we become fully invested in these characters success. The Imitation Game script almost reads like a novel and is as intriguing as one too.
2. Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
As a screenwriter, Gillian Flynn is unique for two reasons. One, she adapted her own novel to a screenplay and two she provided a much needed boost to the female presence in the field of screenwriting. For good reason, most screenplay adaptations are not penned by their original writer. Deconstructing ones own work in order to cull the vital elements necessary for the story while creating fully formed characters is a daunting task. Further, the elements required to tell a story in novel form are radically different than the brevity and succinctness required in a screenplay. On all fronts though, Flynn is successful and in tantalizing detail, Gone Girl tells the sordid tale of a marriage gone wrong.
Trailer Credit: MOVIE Clips
1.Birdman or [The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance] – Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo
While the Birdman story is not the most original concept (comeback story), the writers infuse it with such originality and an almost frenetic pace that it perfectly matches the movie’s single shot approach. With smart and economical dialogue, these characters don’t seem like us and that’s exactly the way the screenwriters want it. The characters inhibit a different world; they are artists, or striving to be artists, and hence the real world doesn’t apply to them. The script perfectly melds an almost campy humor with a seriousness that is made clear through Riggan’s desire to succeed. With an unexpected climax, it very quickly eases back into a heartfelt story about characters, who although flawed, we root for.
Trailer Credit: MOVIE Clips
Michelle Donnelly · January 7, 2015
