Hey folks, Harry here with Elston Gunn, who decided to take a look at a script and review it on up here. YEAH! Our lucky day, I love it when Elston gets to do more than just the Weekly Recaps... He's a great guy! Now, strange enough, I've read this as well. It's pretty good, however, I feel it isn't quite as strong a project as FANBOYS by Ernie Cline. Unfortunately, a bit of Ernie's sail gave out upon the sight of Jar Jar, personally... I've been trying to get him motivated again, he's got a great script... it would make a GREAT movie. If only he'd GET OFF HIS FUCKING ASS AND MAKE IT! Carpe Diem!
To call 5-25-77 a coming-of-age story would be an understatement. To
say it’s simply a comedy about STAR WARS would be wrong. To say it’s the
journey of a seventeen-year old boy named Pat who yearns to one day be a
filmmaker and who tries to share his love of films with the people in his
life would be a good start.
Patrick Read Johnson (director of ANGUS, creator of DRAGONHEART) has
written a script that will speak to film lovers and wannabe filmmakers
across the board. The lead character, Pat, is a daydreamer, yet he makes
things happen. He comes from a broken home with lots of siblings and goes
to a school where, of course, popularity is power, and those who are openly
passionate about movies are few and far between. When he was a boy, Pat
would make little movies in his backyard for his parents and friends to see.
His dad was his worst critic, but his mom was in awe. When Pat was older,
his mom arranged for him to go to California to visit a movie set and meet a
hero of his, who gave him an invitation to come back. Which brings us to
the morning of May 25, 1977 where Pat wakes up--from a dream that only a
sci-fi lover can have--with only one goal for the day: to see STAR WARS.
However, Pat didn’t just want to see STAR WARS, he wanted his
girlfriend and best friends to see it as well...or anyone for that matter.
It’s important for him to share what he knew would be a great experience
with these folks. But, sadly, no one can go when he wants to see it. Thus,
a long, wild journey across a small town in Chicago commences. Think along
the lines of AMERICAN GRAFFITI and less of DETROIT ROCK CITY. Pat’s
girlfriend has to work (for his nemesis, no less), there’s a mix-up with
some money, a funeral to attend, some love to be made, a hand to get unstuck
out of a girl’s mouth--a little Murphy’s law to say the least.
The script is funny. Heartwarming as it may be, it is a comedy after
all. There are fresh jokes and great use of old ones. Not to spoil
anything, but my favorite comes from a scene taking the parallels between
sex and baseball to a hilarious new definitive level. Timing is everything
and if it’s pulled off here, the scene will be a classic.
After some flashbacks, dream sequences, missed showings of STAR WARS
and a wild party, Pat finally admits why he is obsessed with watching and
making movies, and why he wants to escape his small town to live out his
ambitions--a good moment. I don’t want to give anything away, but near the
end of the script I wondered, “Will he ever get to see STAR WARS?”
Surprisingly, I also asked myself, “Does it really matter?” What did matter
were a couple of underlying messages: “family matters, friends matter, doing
what you absolutely have to do matters.” Pat didn’t want to be a filmmaker,
he *had* to be one. Yeah, it may be cliche, but even this cynic was letting
it sink in.
If I’m not mistaken, this script will be produced independently with
hopes of distribution somewhere down the line. I don’t know. What I do
know is if there is as much heart in the directing as there evidently was in
the writing, 5-25-77 could be a cult classic. It’s all there: love, hate,
high school, death, comedy, sex, friendship, family, confrontations, growing
up and life decisions--not to mention a fresh soundtrack (finally, a 70s-set
story without “Disco Inferno,” “I Will Survive” or the Village People) and,
of course, STAR WARS. I feel it’s almost a story tailored to the readers of
Ain’t It Cool News or Dark Horizons or Cinescape or Coming Attractions or
any website that devotes itself to movies and movie news. Geeks or not, we
love the movies, that’s why you’re reading this--odds are you’ve dreamed of
making them too. A friend of Pat’s told him, “To everyone else, movies are
something to do when you’re tired of real life. To you, real life is
something to do when you’re tired of watching movies.”
Just be on the lookout for this one. It at least helps show some of
you aren’t alone in cringing whenever someone says, “Hey, it’s just a
movie.” 5-25-77 was a good read and I anticipate it’s screen translation.
I was compelled to think of movies that have excited me like 2001 or PLANET
OF THE APES did for Pat--movies that also made me want to be on the other
side of the process. It’s hard. For me, SUPERMAN started it all, I
suppose. How about you?
Elston Gunn
elstongunn@hotmail.com
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