Monday, December 3, 2007
Sunday, December 2, 2007
The Dark Backward (1991) - Adam Rifkin
May 24, 1990
THE DARK BACKWARD
Screenplay by Adam Rifkin
Synopsis by Brian Aldrich
MARTY MALT is a garbage man by day and an awful stand up comic by night. His friend and co-garbage man, GUS, a slimy "yes" man and an accordion player, constantly encourages Marty by telling him he's a great comedian. When Marty finds a chewed-up oriental rug in the garbage, Gus gives it away to his ten-ton girlfriend, NICOLETTE. Marty's girlfriend, ROSARITA, is a waitress in a greasy spoon where Marty and Gus hang out. Marty is a rotten comic, but for some unknown reason SYD, the owner/manager of Syd's nightclub, has given Marty two nights a week for ten dollars a night. Marty realizes that the audience doesn't laugh at his jokes, but Gus convinces him that his humor is too sophisticated for the crowd. One day, Marty notices a lump on his back. He goes to DR. SCURVY, a quack with a horny nurse who tries to seduce Marty. The doctor tells Marty it is nothing to worry about, gives him a band aid, and charges him $250. Gus runs into a talent agent, JACKIE CHROME, and convinces him to see Marty's act. After two of Marty's jokes, Jackie is out the door. One day, Marty wakes up to find a third hand sticking out of the lump on his back. Dr. Scurvy tells him it is nothing to worry about. Rosarita leaves him because of the hand. Syd fires him.
Gus gets a great idea to promote the hand as part of Marty's act. Marty continues to tell his dumb jokes as Gus plays the accordion. Gus takes Marty to see Jackie Chrome who agrees that Marty's third hand is a great act. Jackie gets them some club dates and a local TV show billing Marty as "Desi, the three armed wonder comic." Marty and Gus's career actually starts to get off the ground. Jackie tells them about a Hollywood offer, but they only want Marty, not the accordion player. Marty stands his ground for his buddy and the Hollywood people decide to include Gus. Suddenly, Marty wakes up and the hand has disappeared.
Hollywood decides they don't want Marty without the hand, but they still want the accordion player. Gus and Jackie take off for Hollywood without Marty. Marty goes back to his garbage job, but Rosarita has left for good. He goes back to Syd's nightclub. A change has come over Marty. When he does jokes about the arm and what happened to him, he is funny and the audience laughs.
Summary Criticism: While the subject matter is delightfully peculiar, the characters are one-dimensional and unsympathetic. While an intriguing concept, this is an unfunny script about an unfunny character.
The Dark Backward (1991) - imdb
Adam Rifkin - wiki
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Joe Gould's Secret (2000) - Howard A. Rodman - Joseph Mitchell
May 19, 1996
JOE GOULD'S SECRET
Screenplay by Howard A. Rodman, book by Joseph Mitchell
Synopsis by Brian Aldrich
In NYC, in June 1949, JOSEPH MITCHELL, 38, is a staff writer for THE NEW YORKER magazine. He is originally from Fairmont, North Carolina and lives in a flat in Greenwich Village with his wife THERESE and their daughters NORA, 17, and ELIZABETH, 15. One morning on the way to work, he stops at the Jefferson, a diner run by HARRY PANGAKOS, and sees: JOE GOULD, 58, a small, bearded, homeless man who bums meals and money while claiming to record an opus ORAL HISTORY, a written account of the stories of the common man written by the commonest man of them all, a poet in rags. Gould writes these essays in cheap composition books and stores them with acquaintances all over town as well as a huge cache of notebooks hidden at a rural duck farm. Intrigued, Mitchell gets to know Gould, follow him around, meet his friends, see how he survives, listen to his rantings, experience his purity and innocence, and finally evaluate him as an undiscovered artist lost in modern civilization. Mitchell features Gould in a New Yorker article.
Gould becomes somewhat famous. While he doesn't go on Oprah, the locals begin to appreciate him. He gets free meals and extra contributions to the "Joe Gould Fund." An anonymous PATRON pays for his room and food at a boardinghouse. Life gets easier for Gould and he tells Mitchell that he is living like a rich man. However, when Mitchell sets up an interview with a PUBLISHER, Gould fails to show up. So, Mitchell sets up an "accidental" meeting with another PUBLISHER. Gould refuses to cooperate with the Publisher's desire to read Gould's notebooks. Finally, Gould refuses to have his work published prior to his death. Suspicious, Mitchell gains access to some of Gould's notebooks and finds them to contain gibberish. Gould is a liar. When Gould hustles Mitchell for some more fame, Mitchell confronts Gould. Gould is speechless.
Time passes. Gould is back on the streets. Mitchell writes, recording individual history his way. Gould goes to the hospital and is diagnosed with arteriosclerotic senility. Mitchell visits, bringing him money from his regular contributors. They don't mention the secret. Gould sends Mitchell an essay about his own life, explaining his failure to live up to his family's history of success due to his eccentric way of thinking. Mitchell visits again. Gould celebrates his own life for what it has been. They come to an understanding of one another. Eventually, Gould dies. Mitchell accompanies a literary group of Gould fans in search of the hidden notebooks, but he never reveals Gould's secret that they do not exist.
Summary Criticism: An intriguing, colorful central character is the focus of this compelling, literate, and excellently-crafted screenplay.
Joe Gould's Secret (2000) - imdb
Joe Gould's Secret (2000) - wiki
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