Saturday, February 7, 2009

I Smell Something Foresty Here...


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Eric Roth, the guy who wrote the Oscar-winning screenplay for Forest Gump, has given us a very Curious Case to say the least. You see, he's also the writer of this year's blockbuster Oscar nominee The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Before I saw Button, I'd heard that it was quite a bit like Forest Gump. As I ogled Brad Pitt in scene after scene, the similarities somewhat eluded me, maybe because Button seemed to ring so hollow. It wasn't until I saw this video that I started cracking up.

So what was going through the mind of Eric Roth? Was he consciously plagiarizing himself, trying to catch that storm in a teacup again? Or does a writer, at some level, simply tell the same story over and over again? A curious case, indeed.

10 comments:

dannie said...

i havn't seen curious case of benjamin button yet. i heard it was really long, so i'm holding off on watching that alone.

Luuworld said...

that's funny! i didn't know the same guy was behind both films!

But a while ago, i saw the trailer for button, and i thought wow- this film seems alot like forest gump. and since i thought forest gump was shitty film, i made up my mind not to waste my money on button.

J.T. said...

I actually liked Forest Gump though I've never been a huge fan of Tom Hanks. I've always loved Brad Pitt and thought he deserved a better vehicle. Button, at 2 hours 45 minutes, was about 1 hour too long.

Raven said...

I think a lot of writers tell the same story over and over. But a lot of them/us try not to use the exact same beats in every story. :|

Luuworld said...

raven: that's a good point. a lot of writers do write the same story over and over, but i guess some do it better than others.

like paul auster, one of my favorite authors. i think there are a lot of similarites between his books especially when it comes to the main protagonists, but his books still come across as different and enjoyable, though.

J.T. said...

I just looked up Paul Auster on wikipedia... he sounds fascinating, and depressing, to say the least. I can't imagine that this kind of reading lends itself to a cheerier disposition in the cold gloom of Scandinavia.

Luuworld said...

you had to look up paul auster? hm. i thought he was big in the us. but maybe not....

he's not that depressing, really.

Joey said...

this Button = Forest Gump observation has been pretty across the board. that's what everyone that's seen been telling me. I'll probably just rent it.

J.T. said...

Luu,

Paul Auster could be very big. I don't read much contemporary literature. My favorite writers are Jane Austen, Somerset Maugham, Oscar Wilde. I know, kind of old-fashioned, but I love the wit and marvel at the control of language.

Joey,

Button is probably best seen on a big screen, although I had to RUN to the bathroom twice during the movie... really very long.

Raven said...

Luu,

I had to look up Paul Auster too. He does sound intriguing. I think writers tend to repeat stories because there's some issue they're struggling with that they keep exploring over and over through their writing. In Auster's case, at least based on the Wikipedia article, that certainly sounds true.