Ranking Oscar Nominees/Personal Ranking: Best Original Screenplay 2016

The Nominees:

5. The Lobster

Not going to lie, I kind of forgot this film was a thing and placed it in my ranking of 2015 films. It's an okay screenplay I guess, the first half actually has some interesting touches with the side characters and the creation of the strange world of the hotel, it's not quite John Wick-levels of innovation, but fairly creative I'd say. The second half though is extremely aimless, and fails to both make a lasting impression and resolve the story in a tonally and structurally coherent fashion. I don't hate the nomination, but I can certainly think of other much better options.

4. La La Land

An underrated aspect of the film, perhaps, because amidst all the dance and song it's easy to lose sense of the plot. It's a very simple script in many ways, focusing upon two characters and their hopes and dreams, but works very effectively for the film. You always know how they stand on their up-and-down journey to finding success, the romantic dialogue is very old-school and flows trippingly off the actors' tongues, and though the best scenes of the film are indeed the 'wordless' or singing sequences, each 'dialogue' scene also helps enhance the film.

3. 20th Century Women

Beautiful screenplay, and as a Mike Mills apologist in general (I really, really like Thumbsucker and Beginners, indie cliches and all), I feel no need to defend the film since it's received a fair share of deserved praise, especially for its tender and heartfelt, but often quite hilarious, screenplay. This coming-of-age tale set in the 70s, brimming with change and radicalism, is in turn a rather radical screenplay itself, using Mills' unique blend of narration/stream of consciousness, quotes from contemporary texts on feminism, sex and music, and gently humorous and often poignant conversations between characters, to give form to a rather 'slice of life' film. Each character feels perfectly explored and given insight into, and though nothing overly 'dramatic' happens in the course of the film you still feel invested in their plights. My favourite scene, a particularly awkward dinner scene where Abbie (Greta Gerwig) rouses up a confessional session for all at the table, is a particularly good example of this.

2. Hell or High Water

Imperfect screenplay in that a few lines are a bit on the nose, particularly in the philosophizing of the Texas rangers, that oddly written waitress/pseudo-Coen Brothers scene, makes this a little less assured than Taylor Sheridan's script for Sicario. I'd argue that it reaches higher heights, though, in its mesmerizing depiction of a very unique sort of neo-West, and its parallel relationships of the two brothers and the two lawmen. I particularly loved the writing behind Tanner, the violent and absolutely irredeemable older brother with such a strong love for his little brother Toby, and the gentle, good-natured quips by Marcus Hamilton on his partner's Mexican and Comanche heritage that always feels in good spirit, if that makes any sense. Characters who could otherwise be simplistic caricatures are vividly realized, and the tones of humorous rapport and tragedy in the writing never feel out of balance, even if the lines don't necessarily hit the mark each time.

1. Manchester by the Sea

Incredible screenplay. I know some take issue with the whole 'Patrick trying to get laid' subplot and the relative swiftness of his subplot with his mother, but I personally thought these were nice little touches to the screenplay, adding a bit of levity in terms of the former, and a bit of genuine discomfort (intentional I'd say) for the latter. The screenplay is rather brilliant in the first half building up to that revelation of Lee Chandler's past, while still retaining a very low-key sense of calm and distance in terms of setting up these characters we're to get to know. For example, though I may not have been as enthused with the character of Randi, the ex-wife of Lee, as some, I never felt she was underwritten or under explored. The film, though, is compelling in its depiction of relationships, between ex-spouses, brothers, even the less interesting scenes of the teenagers shooting the breeze don't feel out of place. It all felt very realistic to me, added to the character of Patrick, and added another layer of depth to the film in terms of how characters coped with suffering. My favourite aspect of the screenplay, however, is of course the relationship between uncle and nephew. The writing is absolutely hilarious at points (they're first conversation about whether or not Patrick's girlfriend can stay over), at other points rather cutting and deep in how close it digs deep into the soul, and that dinner table scene where Lee tells Patrick he 'can't beat it' is an absolute masterclass in minimalist dialogue, so much said with a few choice words; they don't need to say 'I love you', you feel it so strongly.

Personal Ranking:

HM: Swiss Army Man, The Edge of Seventeen, Hail, Caesar!

It really was a strong year for screenplays of the 'original' variety. All three films above are hilarious and in their very different ways, heartwarming films that find their laughs in rather strange situations. In Swiss Army Man, a farting corpse, in The Edge of Seventeen a depressed teenager's plight, in Hail, Caesar! a rather kooky version of 50s Hollywood with the overarching communist subplot behind it.

Swiss Army Man has some rather fabulous lines which convey the desperation of Hank's life with the optimism of Manny's 'life', references to Jurassic Park, and just an all-round gusto to its sheer ridiculousness that's so strangely affecting. I loved it all the way through, and even the lacklustre end is somewhat made up by with the strength of the plotting and dialogue.

The Edge of Seventeen is so enjoyable in its deconstruction of high school tropes, Woody Harrelson's abrasive teacher gets some hilarious lines, and the ending is like Swiss Army Man oddly affecting.

And Hail, Caesar!'s vignette style is rather splendid in nailing down the rather specific period of its characters and storylines, and milking them for all their comedic gold. The confrontation between Western star Hobie Doyle and director Laurence Laurentz is undoubtedly some of the funniest dialogue ever written by the Coen Brothers.

5. Captain Fantastic

I put this over Swiss Army Man mainly because though both films somewhat falter towards finding a resolution to their storylines, Captain Fantastic I'd say builds up to it better. Both are great screenplays, nevertheless. It's a very funny script in its own distinct fashion, in terms of the clash between the survivalist family and the ordinary citizens they encounter, but it goes a step further in creating quite the thought-provoking conflict between Ben Cash's personal idelogies, and the ideologies of 'society' which, unlike many cutesy indie films, are presented in an eloquent and rather convincing fashion. Which is to say the film never takes a specific side, it always balances out the conflict with equal weight to both sides of the argument. Then in depicting the bonds between the Cash family, and their specific storylines - Bo's heartbreaking realization that he's so ill-equipped to handled normal interactions with people his age in particular - it never feels shorthanded in any regard. Plus there's absolute gems like Ben's discussions about Lolita with his children, Ben's darkly hilarious but also rather heartfelt eulogy to his deceased wife, and Bo's cringe-worthy but rather sweet 'proposal' to a girl he's fallen for. A fantastic screenplay to a film that continues to stick quite well with me.

4. Eye in the Sky

Like Captain Fantastic and the other Captain film this year, the conflict between two sides of an argument is brought so vividly to life in this taut thriller about the British government's handling of a potential suicide bombing mission, and the collateral damage that will ensue. Drone warfare and Just War Theory is fascinating stomping ground for a writer to sink one’s teeth into, and Guy Hibbert’s work here is excellent in depicting both sides of the do/do not dilemma. It never descends into depicting one side as heroic or the other side as villainous, but rather very accesibly presents all sides to the argument, where all the characters stand in this argument, and help make the film move towards an incredibly powerful conclusion. A precise, methodical but also rather fascinating script that packs quite the emotional punch.

3. Hell or High Water

2. Manchester by the Sea

1. Paterson

You have high stakes and tragedy in the rest of the screenplays I've discussed here, but as per Jim Jarmusch, here's one where the biggest sort of conflict is a dog tearing apart Adam Driver's notebook of poetry - oh, and I guess Everett the melodramatic actor who is lovelorn, and pulls a gun on himself, but it's a toy gun and Driver swiftly dispatches him, and all of this is handled in a rather lighthearted fashion.

Someone asks you what is Paterson about, you tell him or her it's about a bus driver who writes poetry, a week in his life, more likely than not the response will be 'sounds like the most boring film ever'. It really isn't, though, in fact I'm thinking of writing a full article to explain why it's one of the best films of the year. This is a film that makes Loving look dramatic, it's the most low-key film of the year, where absolutely nothing out of the ordinary happens. Paterson from Paterson is kind of just a normal guy who happens to write pretty good poetry, has a happy if uneventful life with his wfie and his cute dog Marvin, goes to the bar every night to chat with some easygoing normal folk (except Emerson, but even he's much more tolerable than most insufferable actors), and even when he bumps into odd figures like an aspiring rapper at the laundry, or a Japanese man who chats to him about William Carlos Williams, it's all rather natural and never feels conventionally 'quirky', so to speak.

The screenplay really drives the whole film and Driver's performance, and everything coheres together so beautifully. It's always kind of happy and joyous and is frequently absolutely hilarious (Emerson's dramatic monologue at the bar and the barman's response, Paterson's asides to Marvin the dog, Paterson's boss with his list of personal problems to which Paterson is at loss to respond), but there's also something more to it.

For example, a scene where he discusses a little girl's poetry with her is quite sweet and endearing in its own way, but there's also something oddly profound about how it affects Paterson. And that penultimate scene, though also very funny, is also strangely moving as a sort of love letter to poetry writing, William Carlos Williams, and both Patersons at the same time. Plus the poems really touched the literature student in me with how wonderfully written they are. It's a screenplay I feel more and more enthusiastic about the more I write about it, and if I could ever write something 0.000001% as unassumingly brilliant as this, I'd be as happy as Marvin with pie.

1. Paterson
2. Manchester by the Sea
3. Hell or High Water
4. Eye in the Sky
5. Captain Fantastic
6. Swiss Army Man
7. 20th Century Women
8. La La Land
9. Hail, Caeser! 
10. The Edge of Seventeen