Genre: Sexual Thriller (A tad bit sexier, and a tab bit more violent than the other Eszterhas scripts, but overall it's in the same vein)
Premise: Detective Nick Curran investigates the murder of a famous rock star. A beautiful, crime writer Catherine Tramell could be involved, which of course means Curran has to become romantic linked with this woman.
About: In a blaze of glory reminiscient of Paul Schrader's marathon Taxi Driver writing sessions, Joe Eszterhas wrote and sold the script in 13 days for $3 million to Carolco Pictures (Cutthroat Island, Showgirls). The film was a blockbuster and spawned a crappy sequel.
Writers: Joe "Taxi Driver" Eszterhas
I'm gonna set this up in a bit of a different style today. But first of, even though I'm pretty ambivalent about this script (well written, not my cup of tea), it is truly amazing Joe Eszterhas wrote this thing that quickly. I'm tempted to think there's something else going on behind the scenes like he already knew the entire story or had the whole plot worked out because it's alarmign to think somebody could move at such a quick, and productive rated. Hell, most of Taxi Driver ended up using improved dialogue. For speed alone, Basic Instinct is impressive.
Now, here's what I wanted to do today. Eszterhas has a set formula he follows every time in his scripts, I saw it all this week and I'm almost to the point where I can define it. I want to apply Basic Instinct to this Eszterhas mold, and rate it accordingly.
Things I've Noticed In Every Eszterhas Script:
An opening that's slow and wordy (at a bar in Jade, a detective scene in Basic Instinct, a newspaper scene in Beat The Eagle)
A sharp, brutal inciting incident (an ice pick murder in Basic Instinct, a dead body, a burning building, something that's not all that weird or violent)
A protagonist whose profession makes them investigate (a detective a few times, a journalist, a person doing their taxes, Basic Instict uses the detective idea again)
A character with a tarnished reputation (a person having an affair, a detective screwing the woman he's investigating, a showgirl turned hooker, a disreputable reporter)
A character addicted to sex (a hooker, an erotic novelist, a showgirl)
A murder weapon that's an inanimate household object (a walking stick, an ice pick, etc.)
An ending where the character bucks the system ("Screw you Las Vegas", "Screw you newspaper", "Screw you world", "Screw you IRS")
The reliving of scenes from the past, no real present action scenes (via video tape in Jade, memory in Basic Instict, taxes in Beat the Eagle, the details of the event in Dieshot)
A protagonist involved with someone who may be a murderer (either sleeping, business or screwing)
I could go on, but ... hmmmm. Is it possible Eszterhas actually comes up with unique stories this quickly or has he possibly found one formula (Dieshot, Beat The Eagle, Jade, Basic Instict, Silver) to repeat over and over again. I'd very likely. Is it possible this system fell apart on him until he made one crappy film after another? Very likely.
Scooby Doo (Complete Crap)
[X] - Atilla (Poor, Few Redeeming Qualities)
Wedding Crashers (Mediocre)
Hot Rod (Good)
Definitely Maybe (Pretty Darn Good)
Isla Prospects: I can't see anybody but Sharon Stone in this role, so Isla is almost an impossible consideration.
What I Learned: Much like it is for pop artistis and popular novelists, the really great screenwriters can sometimes fall into the trap of writing the same story over and over again with slightly different twists. Having just finished my fourth Eszterhas script, I'm beginning to see this guy isn't so much a writer as a trained monkey who does the same trick over and over and over....he's like the energizer bunny of sexual thrillers.
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