Schrader at his best – tough, uncompromising. The female characters are either nags (wives wanting money) or whores, but fortunately he doesn’t spend much time on them. The men characters and situations are however evocatively drawn. (This was a characteristic of many top screenwriters from the golden age of the 70s. eg John Milius, Oliver Stone). It uses the basic structure of a heist movie but does it in a fresh way: seedy Detroit in recession hit 70s, the constant desire for more money, the abusive union, oppressive management. Of the three leads the best character on the page is Zeke – angry, bitter, political, full of wind and crap; next best is Smokey, super cool, wasteful of cash, not as tough as he thinks he is. The white friend isn’t as complex as either of these, but there’s some terrific support, including the dodgy union guys. The murder of Smokey is as effective on the page as it was on screen – actually you can say this about the whole script.
No comments:
Post a Comment