I hate the Twilight phenomenon. And I hate waiting to find out the endings to movies. So I have Twilight fans to thank for them forcing many people on the internet for taking down links to the script for Memoirs. God people, could you just not ruin things for everyone? We get it, you think that Pattinson dude is hot and shit but don't screw it up for people like me who just wants to read a script. And arguably, I hate that I don't have the patience to wait it out before discovering the twist to the ending in this script. So basically, fuck you all for exploiting my weakness.
/rant over, seacrest out.
Ok, now to my script review of Memoirs, this is the october 27, 2008 version, so obviously, there may be some changes.
Here's the thing, I knew of the so called twist before reading the script and as a result, everything in the script has a more bittersweet tone.
So the story is about Tyler, struggling to live with the death of Michael, his brother. Kind of a lame logline and could easily go into a melodrama. He sulks around all day doing dick and generally not giving a fuck about anything. He gets in a fight one night while hanging out with his buddy Aiden, the asshole of an officer comes and breaks it up and because Tyler pisses him off, throws him in jail. Aiden finds out that the cop has a daughter, and convinces Tyler to seduce her to get back at the cop. But it turns out that they have a lot more in common than they think.
If there's ever been a good reason for women to throw their panties at Pattinson, this movie's going to do the trick. The characters are very well defined. Tyler may sulk around feeling sorry for himself but when it comes to matters of his little sister, he goes a million miles and beyond for her. I really liked how Tyler and his sister Caroline interact. That's the thread of the overarching conflict in this piece, or at least one that is done very well dramatically in my opinion.
It's not really a Romance movie, if you're expecting the traditional guy falls for girl, guy loses girl, and guy gets girl back. Yes, that structure is in here but it's not the most important part of the screenplay. The romance is used to highlight a thematic element, enjoy life for what it is even if it doesn't matter in the end.
What liked about the script is how well drawn out the characters are. It may border on the melodrama but I think the writer does a fine balancing act between realism and over the top. Tyler's still shaken up over his brother's death after all these years, his father is absent, his sister is picked on for being a "freak", and Ally's in the same boat as Tyler, both nursing a still open wound. It doesn't go too far into the grief, but rather this is more of a family drama with a hint of romance intertwined.
I think that some parts of it feels forced, particularly around Ally and Tyler's blow up over finding out why Tyler asked her out in the first place. The relationship between Tyler and Ally doesn't call for her reaction to the truth. They were two people form families that have felt the same pain in their lives, the loss of a loved one. In fact, the setting up of the plot between the two with the "fucking his daughter means fucking him" felt unnecessary, and I think it would've been a little stronger without it. But it's not an overtly big issue.
I don't know if it's just me but I love it when there's a little piece where the dude hits on a woman and just sounds as smooth as satin. It's probably due to the nerd in me but I like it when we get to see these characters be confident and smooth. Something to learn from here I guess, confidence and wit goes a long way in impressing people, but I guess it's just the confidence part. Must apply it to real life...
Arguably, this may come off as a rather bland drama, if it weren't for the ending, I don't think I would care as much for the characters. But I really got into the drama and the personal conflicts. It's a family drama done very well in my opinion, and the family dynamic works very well. There's moments of triumphs and moments of disappointments and people say and do things they shouldn't. I've probably seen this kind of movie a million times but it got to me for some reason. It makes for something, dare I say, compelling.
3.5/5
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