Reel and Roll Awards: Best Screenplay 2019

Not the strongest year for Best Adapted Screenplay which was in all honesty quite top heavy, and personally I think the Academy did a pretty good job with four of the nominees being in my top 10, with The Two Popes being quite an enjoyable example of essentially a pope buddy dramedy that works rather well. Only the ludicrous nomination for Joker sticks out like a sore thumb. Well instead of that they probably could've nominate Hustlers for its entertaining enough pseudo-Wolf of Wall Street exploration of strippers partaking in a life of crime,  Richard Jewell's solid enough straightforward biopic that works best when honing in on the title character and his predicament where it has some genuinely great moments, the efficient and affecting finale to the current phase of MCU with. Avengers: Endgame with the second act being a particular highlight in terms of the story construction, and A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood which while slight does offer an affecting and often rather interesting use of Mr Rogers as essentially a guardian angel to our jaded protagonist.

5. El Camino 

It doesn't come close to hitting the heights of Breaking Bad in terms of its writing, but that's okay because that frankly would be an impossible task. What it does do is provide a natural continuation of the tale of Jesse Pinkman, and makes such good use of the pre-existing universe, particularly in the brief reprises of characters and how they all influenced and contributed to Jesse's life that all feel like properly organic inserts, particularly in his interactions with Todd and Ed. The plotting itself is very simple and straightforward but that's not the point really, where the strengths of the screenplay lies is in how it plays Jesse off every situation and gives you even more insight into the character as you root for him to come out of it okay. 

4. Jojo Rabbit

Waititi's style will always be a divisive one, particularly with the tricky subject matter he deals with here, and that extends to his writing where he brings a real daring and balance to his approach in adapting the story of a young Nazi fanatic by focusing largely on the absurd nature of the idiocy of such fanaticism. It's often very funny in this regard particularly in its more direct mockery of Hitler, the colour given to many of the side characters especially the adorably sidekick friend and the wacky Captain. What stands out even more though is the dramatic side of things where I think is where the film truly excels most, in particular when it comes down to showing how Jojo's relationship with his mother and the girl in the attic, in effect, comes into play in his transformation, which contrasts well with the more overt approach taken to the comedic scenes, and creates quite the affecting blend.

3. The Farewell

I've put it in this category despite it being campaigned in Original screenplay at the Oscars since Lulu Wang based it on a radio story she wrote for This American Life. This is a downright brilliant screenplay that does many things with an approach that is first and foremost very interesting and compelling in its exploration of the central character of the grandmother - who is beautifully crafted to be not just some narrow loving caricature but feels like such an organic, wonderfully written real character - and her family converging upon her, the cultural divide between the Asian American Billi and her Mainland Chinese relatives, and the 'lie' that takes an emotional toll on them all. It's often quite a hilarious screenplay, in the most unassuming of ways which avoids the usual indie tropes, but what's most impressive is the emotional undercurrent that it sneaks up on you which makes the scenes where it hits you on that front, hit all the harder. 

2. The Irishman

Well firstly as expected Steven Zallian crafts a great screenplay, and this is another Scorsese film with endless quotable lines. Whether it's the hilarious 'I do' 'who?' exchange between Keitel and De Niro, the 'you're late sequence', the constant reiteration of 'it is what it is', etc. are all extremely entertaining quotable scenes which rank among the likes of Goodfellas and Wolf of Wall Street. This is all tied together by the overarching tapestry of Frank Sheeran's personal history contrasted against the vast history surrounding him of the union boss Hoffa and the gangster life of the Buffalinos. It creates a continuously moving narrative filled with such colour despite its (deliberately so) colourless protagonist, before veering off into the brilliant direction of the epilogue which creates this lingering nostalgia for the past, but in a deliberately unnerving and even heartbreaking way. It's a great screenplay that creates its sense of place and time and characters, but above all connects them all to the overarching idea of a life led following others. 

1. Little Women 

Where Lady Bird was a more traditional retelling of the young adult coming-of-age story, in a good way, Little Women is a more ambitious, daring and altogether excellent switcheroo of Louise Mary Alcott's classic novel as she take s a great source material and makes it her own, while capturing all the required essence of the original. Everything you love about the novel is right there in the screenplay but through the back-and-forth structure makes the highlights hit all the more different and in just as captivating an emotional fashion as in the novel, whether it's comparing and contrasting life with and sans Beth, getting all the more insight into the characters of Laurie and Amy, the clever touch of meta commentary via Jo's submission of manuscripts that brings a whole new depth and layer, and the genius inclusion of Alcott's own letters into Jo's dialogue that's simply put, marvellous. 

1. Little Women 
2. The Irishman 
3. The Farewell 
4. Jojo Rabbit 
5. El Camino 
6. A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood
7. Avengers: Endgame
8. Richard Jewell 
9. Hustlers 
10. The Two Popes

Best Original Screenplay is efinitely the stronger category here overall. With Waves while I do have overall reservations with the story structure, its heights in crafting two uniquely powerful arcs is undeniable even if they don't cohere perfectly. Honey Boy is at certain points a fairly remarkable endeavour of self-exploration by Shia LaBouef, again not a perfect screenplay but in its central father-son relationship it does create quite the compelling, often tragic and heartbreaking dynamic, while Luce offers compelling if at times a bit unwieldy social commentary to go along with a solid enough mystery narrative, and some fascinating characters particularly toverachieving student with the possible darker side and his teacher. Knives Out is just a very fun mystery screenplay and I've discussed that before alongside 1917 which though minimalist in its intentions does have a very strong screenplay, some rather hard hitting dialogue - Benedict Cumberbatch's few choice lines are particularly memorable - and its exploration of Schofield's arc is actually rather powerful, and rightfully minimalist approach.

5. Portrait of a Lady on Fire 

A fantastic screenplay that succeeds where films in this genre so often fail which is giving a strong enough backbone through the screenplay to support the visual presentation of passion. The brewing love between the two protagonists is sensitively crafted with precision, mostly through just very naturalistic interactions that capture the right sort of realism and when it takes detours into the stylistic and literary, it feels right for the characters we've gotten to know. While silence is often essential for films like this to work, what contrasts with it is equally important and the film captures the fine balance between the two, and one particularly brilliant touch comes towards the end in the form of a book which is simply an inspired touch.

4. Marriage Story 

Truly vivid, often funny and often heartbreaking, and most importantly even-handed look at divorce proceedings. It has heart yet is never romanticised, and delves into a the central Charlie and Nicole who do love one another, detailed beautifully in the opening letters that open and close the film, and there's just so many lovely little touches in there between the harsher moments to suggest their love for one another beneath the resentment and bitterness, that makes the final confrontation all the more hard hitting. Then there's the side stuff with the family which is a mixed bag but for the most part hits the marks, the lawyer stuff which is often very entertaining and adds nuance by showing how there is no right or wrong between the two sides, only just the painfulness of the drawn out affair, and I have to give so much credit to Baumbach's writing which in itself drew me to tears more than a few times.

3. Uncut Gems

Above all the screenplay is just such a brilliant character study which however never uses that to compromise the high-wire thrilling plot, and vice versa. It is such a fascinating exploration into the character of Howard Rather, and his toxic yet utterly absorbing addiction to gambling with money and his own life. It creates such a sense of history to each of his interaction with his wife, his in-laws, his kids and his mistress while creating the right sort of intrigue in his dealings with both the shadier sides of the mobster heavies and the glamour of the NBA star. Speaking of the latter it's amazing how the Safdies and Ronald Bronstein managed to fashion such a natural way to segue the NBA stuff into the narrative that's the icing on the cake to the third act, which somehow concludes on a note that is both upbeat and downbeat while being utterly satisfying.

2. The Lighthouse

Might be damned to the depths of hell for not giving it the win, and quite frankly I probably should consider it because this is a downright amazing screenplay which grants the film such a distinctiveness. In that the 19th-century Maine-based dialogue is a tough sell and a daring approach to take that entirely pays off, as such an elaborate and poetic means of crafting these interactions between the two wickies. The dialogue is thick, vibrant, often coarse and consistently brilliant particularly when characters come to barbs with one another. Robert Eggers presents us with beyond that a layered Promethean narrative that takes its influences from Gothic fiction but fashions it into its own beast. It creates this uncertainty and intrigue by placing you alongside Pattinson's character who also has secrets of his own, and makes for such a terrific nightmarish trip down insanity. I should also note that it is possibly the funniest film of the year with some of the dialogue which is remarkable in itself since the scenario doesn't immediately lend itself to humour.

1. Parasite 

Parasite's screenplay is a brilliant puzzle put together in a way that provides both hysterical and haunting sequences in equal measure though not in the way you'd expect, with such a strong vein of social commentary implemented so seamlessly into the narrative. In a way it almost becomes hard to describe what the film is about by just how tightly wound and covertly elaborate the narrative is as it unravels and unspools. You get two wonderfully detailed family dynamics, sketching its characters and how they interact and complement each other so well, as well as what they represent in terms of the 'social commentary' aspect of the film without bogging them down. The way that the characters integrate and find themselves shifting within the social dynamics of the film is so elaborately drawn, the twists and turns to seamlessly implemented, and particularly worth noting is how everything comes together in the end in a way that both makes sense and is genuinely powerful. One of the best screenplays of the decade, no doubt. 

1. Parasite
2. The Lighthouse 
3. Uncut Gems 
4. Marriage Story
5. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
6. 1917
7. Knives Out 
8. Corpus Christi 
9. Honey Boy 
10. Waves