Thompson talks to Arndt

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"If you start too high with comedy, there's nowhere else to go. Three jokes to a page can be monotonous. Little Miss Sunshine is subdued. By starting low you're able to add a bit of absurdity and meet the characters as real people, not trying to wring comedy out of them. You don't have to like them at first as long as you buy the reality they're in. It's okay to be boring for 20 minutes as long as you are laying the groundwork for things popping on page 21." -- Little Miss Sunshine screenwriter Michael Arndt to Hollywood Reporter columnist Anne Thompson in her just-posted "Risky Business" column.

The only thing bothersome thing is the title --- "'Closet screenwriter' Arndt comes into light.' It comes from a quote from producer Albert Berger, saying that he never knew Arndt (whom Berger knew when he worked for Matthew Broderick) was a "closet screenwriter.' People are always skimming and reading on the fly, and Thompson had to know what the first thought-spasm (as opposed to the first considered thought) would be.

The other thing I didn't care for is Thompson's description of Arndt's apartment as "cheap" -- i.e., small, dingy, cockroach-infested. I've stayed there and by NYC standards it's a nice, decent-sized crib.

Here's my own Arndit interview which ran two or three weeks ago.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on November 17, 2006 at 1:30 PM

comment #1

Melquiades says ...

I would never assume the phrase "closet screenwriter" in a headline suggested the person profiled is gay.

Posted by Melquiades at November 17, 2006 2:42 PM

comment #2

donnyboy says ...

Let's just hope he doesn't pull a Robert Towne and write one good script, and then start being a stars' little bitch (Beatty, Cruise).

The guy has a voice, keep it locked up in the closet.

Posted by donnyboy at November 17, 2006 3:47 PM

comment #3

MASON says ...

Robert Towne wrote a lot more than just one good script.

Posted by MASON at November 17, 2006 3:56 PM

comment #4

jeffmcm says ...

Wasn't this script heavily doctored over the years by Dayton/Faris/unknown script doctors before it was finally in good enough shape to be greenlit?

Posted by jeffmcm at November 17, 2006 4:10 PM

comment #5

MASON says ...

Steve Conrad did a rewrite when it was in development hell. But his work was all thrown out and they went back to JA's script.

Posted by MASON at November 17, 2006 4:20 PM

comment #6

bmcintire says ...

I know it's just a (pointless lazy use of) filtering on the picture at left and right, but the "For Your Consideration" shots of Ryan Gosling make him look pregnant. Please make it stop before aspiringcrackaddict claims paternity.

Posted by bmcintire at November 17, 2006 4:25 PM

comment #7

donnyboy says ...

Towne turned John Fante's ASK THE DUSK (a great book) into a crappy New Yorker psychobabble social class story. Utterly putrid.
THE LAST DETAIL is one of the most overrated movies of all time, it just goes nowhere....
Wait, MASON, are you speaking of PERSONAL BEST?
Oh, your right, sorry.

Posted by donnyboy at November 17, 2006 4:29 PM

comment #8

MASON says ...

Chinatown, Reds, Shampoo, the Last Detail (overrated to you, not to me), the underrated gem Without Limits, fantastic uncredited work on the Godfather, etc...

Is Towne worthy of the legendary status so many have bestowed upon him? Probably not. But I think he deserves just a little more respect than you're giving him.

Posted by MASON at November 17, 2006 4:59 PM

comment #9